The Dragon In The Castle

by Felicity_M

Summary:

When Eli, a sorcerer, is sent to deal with a large dragon inhabiting one of the kingdom's castles, he finds that the "fearsome beast" is not as threatening or hostile as the stories make him out to be. In fact, the dragon wishes to be called Geoff, and he greatly desires to become human. With his wish granted, he winds up learning about the joys of friendship, music, and perhaps even, love.

(It's a Voiceplay fantasy/fairytale AU! If you like fairytales/Disney movies like Cinderella, Beauty And The Beast, and The Little Mermaid, you might like this too!)

Chapter 1

The dragon in the castle did not get slain,

The dragon in the castle was given a name.

 

 

There had been a dragon inhabiting one of the kingdom’s smattering of castles for as long Eli had been alive, if not longer. Once regarded as nothing much more than a minor inconvenience, the dragon had grown – literally – to Unavoidable Problem, and it was decided that the matter had to be dealt with, once and for all. However, when it came the time to select a knight to slay the great beast, there seemed to be many a valiant soldier afflicted with some type of illness or injury.

At least some knights had the integrity to just admit their strong reluctance.

 

And so, for lack of any able or willing participant amongst the ranks of the knights, “the next best thing” was opted for, which apparently was Eli, a sorcerer. Eli wasn’t too keen himself on the thought of fighting a huge dragon, but there wasn’t exactly much interesting to do for sorcerers like him in the kingdom, and who knows, maybe he could find a way to deal with the dragon that wouldn’t involve actually killing it.

 

And so now, here Eli was, pushing open one of the large, heavy doors of “Sunlight Castle” (though almost everyone called it Dragon Castle), completely alone. He couldn’t see the dragon as he stepped inside, and wasn’t sure whether to feel glad about that or not.

“Uh, hello? Dragon?” he called out, his voice echoing inside the thick stone walls.

A deep, thunderous rumbling came in response. “Why are you here?” The words were so close to being a low growl that it was as if linguistic coherence was a mere afterthought that was only acted upon on the way to Eli’s ears.

“I don’t want any trouble,” said Eli, hoping the slight tremor in his voice wouldn’t be noticed. “What’s your name? I just wanna have a talk with you, that’s all!”

A few of the mounted torches flickered ever so slightly as the dragon replied. “Even if I did want to tell you my name, I can’t.”

“You can’t? Why not?”

“I don’t have one.”

“Oh.”

Eli paused, having been genuinely caught off guard by this response, but then continued. “Well that doesn’t seem very fair to me! After all, you seem like an intelligent bea- being, who’s to say you don’t deserve a name of your own? And what about something to distinguish you from any other dragons in the land?”

“I’ve not seen or heard of any other dragons like me in this land, or in neighbouring lands,” said the dragon. “It’s always just been me, in this castle, alone.” Truth be told, Eli had never heard of any other dragons in the kingdom either, but it had been worth a shot.

“Would you like a name?” asked Eli. “Wouldn’t it be nice to be referred to as something other than just ‘The Dragon’?” A small part of Eli’s brain was telling him that he was being ridiculous, and what did he really hope to achieve here? But if talking to the dragon meant that he wasn’t being clawed to shreds or burnt to a crisp, then he would keep talking, at least until he could think of something actually resembling a decent plan.

 

Eli’s thoughts were interrupted by another low booming sound, but it wasn’t the dragon’s voice this time, but the dragon itself, stepping into view (or partial view, at least) for the first time, at the top of a large staircase.

Eli hadn’t been quite sure what to expect when it came to the dragon’s appearance. Sure, he had heard stories, but they ranged from someone who caught a glimpse of an eye, or scales, or a wing through a castle window, to someone claiming that long ago they once “showed that dragon who’s boss”, who were never usually believed, but often made for good entertainment in the tavern.

The dragon looked like, well, a dragon. Eli could see coppery-brown scales, a long neck, and a large pair of wings, but it was hard for him to make out much more in the torchlight without getting closer. The dragon seemed to be looking Eli up and down as well, though with notably less difficulty.

"You don't look like a knight," said the dragon.

"Yes, I mean, no. I'm actually a sorcerer," Eli replied. His inner voice sternly asked him if admitting this was a smart move, but Eli ignored it. What else was he going to do? Attempt to lie to a dragon?

The dragon's eyes appeared to widen ever-so-slightly. "A sorcerer?" he replied, sounding more interested. "So you cast spells, then? You can transform things? Turn one thing into another?"

Eli faltered; his unease not helped by noticing that the dragon had descended down a couple of steps. “Yes, um, I mean, sometimes, I guess? Y’know, it depends on… things…” He trailed off as the dragon took another step down the staircase.

“Could you turn a dragon into a human?” asked the dragon.

Eli wasn’t quite sure what to make of this question, though his inner voice wasn’t helping in the matter. Bad idea! Bad idea!

“Well, uh, I suppose that is something I can do, yes, but uh, it’s not exactly an easy spell and I don’t think I have the right equipment for it right now, I would have to-”

“I may know of an item or two in the castle that you could find useful,” said the dragon, cutting off Eli’s rambling. The dragon was now at ground level, standing mere metres away. Eli could now see two long horns, that jutted out from the back of the dragon's head and curved downwards, almost giving a silhouette of hair. "And I think I would like to be called Geoff."

 

Eli couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "'Geoff'? Really?" he replied.

The dragon moved his head and neck in a way that could perhaps be interpreted as a shrug. "Short for Geoffrey. I found the name in a book once and it stuck with me."

"Are you sure you don't want a name that's more fearsome-sounding? More dragon-y?"

The dragon let out a weary exhale, creating a burst of hot air that blew the hood of Eli's cloak off of his head.

"Well perhaps I don't want to be fearsome," he said. "I didn't ask to be this way, you know."

 

The dragon's expression had shifted slightly. His eyes seemed distant; his face conveying what Eli could only describe as a sad wistfulness. Well, at least I haven't had to actually fight him, Eli thought to himself.

 

“…So, uh, Geoff, you said you might have some sort of magical device I could use?" said Eli, unsure of how else to proceed from this point. The dragon - Geoff - brightened a little, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards.

"Yes, of course, please follow me," he replied.

"Oh, and Geoff?"

"Hm?"

"You can call me Eli, by the way."

Geoff smiled, and his eyes sparkled in the torchlight, showing off shades of green when previously they had appeared brown. He said nothing in response, instead turning away from Eli and tilting his head back in a "this way" gesture.

 

---

 

“So, have you been in this castle your whole life?” Eli asked conversationally, while Geoff led him through large stone corridors, which had only just enough space for the large dragon to fit with minimal discomfort.

Geoff didn’t respond immediately, as if taking a moment to decide how to answer.

“I have lived in this castle ever since I was quite small, yes,” he responded. “It was easier back then, in some ways. Not as many people were scared of me, and it was easier for me to move around. Occasionally people would come to the castle out of curiosity, and on a few rare occasions, people would come more than once. Like there was this little girl that read to me a few times, but one day she never came back, and I don’t know why… Anyway, we’re here.”

The two of them had reached a small room, that reminded Eli of some of his years studying as a sorcerer-in-training, except this room was dustier. Eli stepped inside the room and looked around. His eyes quickly landed on a large glass orb, about the size of a globe – a Booster Sphere.

 

Booster Spheres, as the name suggested, could boost the power of a spell cast by a magic-user. The beam of a spell would enter into a glass prism in the middle of the sphere, which would amplify the spell’s energy, before it exited out the other side of the sphere at full concentration. Ideally, a Booster Sphere could be used when a spell otherwise required the participation of one or even two additional magic-users to be successful. However, large glass orbs were not exactly easy to carry around, and in some cases, too much magic energy entering the sphere could break the prism inside.

The Booster Sphere in the room seemed like it hadn’t been used in a long time, if at all, but otherwise seemed to be of high quality and in good condition.

“Have you found something that might help?” Eli heard Geoff ask from just outside the doorway.

“Hm? Oh, yeah, I think so,” Eli replied. For a brief moment he had forgotten about what had been asked of him. Well at any rate, there was no way Geoff could fit inside the room. Eli found a small table and dragged it out into the corridor, positioning it in front of Geoff. Then he lifted up the Booster Sphere, and very carefully carried it out of the room, placing it on top of the small table. Oh boy, he was really doing this, wasn’t he?

“Now this spell, it uh, it’s not exactly a 100% transformation. Like you will definitely look like a human, totally, but you’ll still have some dragon…ness, inside you, and it’s possible for the spell to be reversed,” Eli tried to explain, feeling like he wasn’t doing a great job of it. Just because he knew how to cast a spell didn’t mean he always knew the exact results of it in all circumstances. Geoff, regardless, gave a satisfied nod.

“I can live with that,’ the dragon replied.

Eli took a deep breath. “Alright, here goes then.”

 

When it came to spells that were directed at a specific thing or individual, such as a transformation, there were two parts to the incantation. The first was the “spell-specific” half, which had to be recited for that spell every time, word-perfect of course. The second half was “target-specific”, and required a bit of creativity on the magic-user’s part. It didn’t have to be anything overly long or fancy, just something to focus the magic at the target and/or specify what the spell was actually meant to do. Something that rhymed was usually a decent go-to, and so when Eli cast the spell to change Geoff from a dragon into a human, his incantation went like this:

 

“Transmutare, nova fieri et diversum fieri,
Semel unum, aliud fies!

Let scales become skin, let talons become feet,
Former dragon, human Geoff, it is now time to meet!”

 

Thanks to the Booster Sphere, the magic beam that made contact with Geoff was at least twice the strength of Eli’s initial spell. Starting from the chest region, an iridescent glow began to spread all over Geoff’s body. Geoff looked briefly confused, but then closed his eyes and tilted his head back, allowing the spell to wash over him.

The glow became brighter, until you could barely see any of the dragon for the light that surrounded him, and Eli had to use his cloak to shield his eyes. When he looked again, the glow had reduced, and so had Geoff’s size. The magical light faded away as the figure floated down to the ground, and there, standing in front of Eli, was a man.

Notes:

Eli's outfit, or the cloak at least, is based on his outfit from The Dragonborn Comes video (but without the makeup, and with a thicker beard like what he has currently). Geoff's human outfit (he's clothed don't worry) comes from a different video, which will be described in the next part! Chapter 2 is already written, but you're gonna have to wait till next week to read it! (I hope to have a weekly posting schedule for this fic, so I wanted a bit of a decent headstart on chapter-writing. Don't know how long or short this whole thing will be though).

Chapter 2

Some claws became fingers, some claws became toes,
From the body of a dragon, a human arose.

 

Geoff's human form was, Eli had to admit, quite handsome. His eyes were the same colour as they were in his dragon form, and he had brown hair that tumbled down to his shoulders in soft waves, with a single grey-white streak that bordered the left half of his face. The transformation, thankfully, included clothes as well, and Geoff now wore a mahogany-coloured vest with gold buttons, over a loose long-sleeve white shirt.

Currently, Geoff was gazing up at the ceiling, likely realizing how much further away it now was for him.

"I guess it worked, then?" said Geoff, before a look of surprise flashed over his face. His voice could still be considered deep, sure, but it was certainly far from the almost-earth-shaking rumbles of his dragon voice. Geoff then lifted up his hands, flexing his fingers and twisting his wrists. He touched the sleeve of his shirt, then noticing what he was wearing.

"So, do I look okay, then? Human and all that?" Geoff asked.

Eli gave a friendly shrug. "You seem alright to me, but you can have a better look for yourself if you want!" Eli replied, before casting a simple Reflection Spell at a spot on the wall, creating a round mirror with a swirling glow around the outside, only designed to last for a few minutes.

 

Geoff walked up to the mirror and had a look at himself. He felt his face, felt his hair, turned his head this way and that, and then smiled, turning back to Eli again.

“Eli, you did it!" said Geoff, practically radiating happiness but looking like he didn't quite know what to do with his hands. "I don't really know what to say- I mean, well, thank you. Genuinely, thank you."

Eli couldn't help but smile back. "You're quite welcome," he replied. Then, remembering his original task of Remove Dragon From Castle, he said: "you know, you could come stay with me for a short while if you wanted to. I don't exactly live in a castle, but you could meet my friends, and learn more about being a human, and weren't you saying that it's been a long time since you've had company?"

 

Geoff's smile grew even wider. "I think I'd like that," he said. "I'll show you how to get back out of here, and then you can lead the way!"

 

---

 

Fortunately, nobody saw Eli leaving the castle with Geoff, saving him from unwanted questions, and they didn’t encounter any people until they reached the main town in the kingdom, where Eli lived.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Geoff was looking around so much at everything that he almost wished for his dragon neck again, which was longer and much more flexible than his new human neck. It wasn’t that he was completely unfamiliar with towns and villages – he had read about them in books, and some books even had illustrations of them, but to be walking through one, the smells, the sounds of people going about their day, the cobblestones that he walked on, well, no book could truly compare. He swept his gaze around at some of the people walking by; one person with an apron and rolled-up sleeves; a couple of people carrying bags with loaves of bread sticking out the top; children running by, giggling while chasing each other. He also noticed, though he tried not to make it obvious, that a few people did a double-take as he and Eli walked past, and a couple of women craned their heads around to watch him, before talking in a hushed but energetic manner to each other.

“Eli, do you think some people can notice something, well, different about me?” Geoff asked. He dropped his voice to almost a whisper and leaned closer to Eli. “Do you think they might be able to see through the spell?”

Eli shook his head and gave a small chuckle. “That is one thing I can comfortably tell you not to worry about,” he replied. “It’s not because of what you think, it’s likely just because you’re obviously new here – well, new to this town anyway – and you’re kind of a good-looking individual!”

“Oh. Sure, I guess.”

 

They had reached a house close to the edge of the town, further away from the hustle-and-bustle. The house was made of stone bricks, and had a small garden of plants growing outside it, as well as some ivy climbing up one of the walls. It was two floors tall, and its roof looked like it had been repaired a couple of times. Eli pulled out a key from his cloak, and opened the door, beckoning Geoff to come inside.

Geoff followed Eli inside the house, softly closing the door behind him, but hung back in the doorway, suddenly feeling... what was the word? Uncertain? Shy? He had noticed two other people inside, and wasn't sure if he should wait for some sort of introductory cue before making himself known.

 

One of the figures in the room had light brown skin and dark, curly hair on top of his head, with a short beard to match. He was wearing a slightly-faded orange shirt, and appeared to be fiddling with some sort of lock device, but he looked up when Eli entered the room.

“Eli! You’re back, finally!” he said cheerily. “We were just about to go looking for you!”

“Really?” replied Eli, and Geoff could practically hear an eyebrow-raise in his incredulous tone. “I was under the impression that a certain someone had said no to the idea of ‘ever going near that castle while there was still a dragon inside’!”

The other person in the room held up his hands in a placating manner. He wore a dark blue brocade vest over a light-brown long-sleeve shirt. “Hey, at least I was honest about it,” he said. “In fact, I’m quite confident in saying that I wouldn’t last 10 seconds against that dragon, and the further I away I can stay from any and all dragons, the better!”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Sorry Layne, but you might have to eat your words, Eli thought to himself, feeling slightly guilty. Of course he was going to tell his friends the truth – it was everyone else that he had to think up an explanation for – but that didn’t mean he felt fully assured about the reactions he might receive.

As Eli was thinking about this, Layne caught sight of Geoff behind him. “I didn’t know you had a companion with you on the task?” he remarked.

Cesar leaned over in his chair to see what Layne was referring to, and his face practically lit up. “You made a new friend? Why didn’t you say? Go on then, introduce us, what’s the story?” he asked, putting down the lock he was holding and turning his full attention to the pair.

 

Eli quietly motioned for Geoff to stand next to him rather than behind him, and then took a deep breath in. “Well, let me start by saying that I did in fact take care of the dragon in the castle…”

“Woo! Well done Eli!”

“Always knew you could do it!”

“…by turning him into a human.”

Cesar’s eyebrows practically shot up into his hairline, while Layne boggled, his jaw going slack.

“Y-you… you turned him in… that’s the… he’s th- th- the…” Layne stammered, raising a pointed finger at Geoff while his eyes flicked between him and Eli. Geoff raised a hand and wiggled his fingers in greeting, while giving a small, sheepish smile.

 

Eli sighed. Could be worse, he supposed. “Guys, this is Geoff. Yes, he used to be a dragon – well, the dragon I guess – but he wanted to become human! And Geoff, these are my friends and housemates, Layne and Cesar.”

Cesar narrowed his eyes and tilted his head as he looked at Geoff; wary but seeming more intrigued than anything else. Layne, however, was now staring at Eli with an expression that said, ‘have you completely lost your mind?’

 

Geoff took a small step forward. “If I may…” he began. “When I learned that Eli was a sorcerer, yes, I asked him to turn me into a human. But I never asked to be a dragon! I didn’t want to scare people, and I definitely didn’t want to hurt Eli, or anyone else. Honestly the castle can get pretty quiet, lonely even, and Eli said I could come home with him and meet his friends, but if both of you aren’t fully comfortable with that, it’s fine, I’ll just go-”

“Geoff, wait,” said Layne. Geoff paused, having just started turning towards the door. He turned and watched as Layne got up from his seat and walked over to him.

“I never actually wanted to be a knight, you know,” Layne told him. “It’s just that my mother was one, and it was just assumed – or expected, really – that I would become one too. It’s usually not so bad, but I don’t really like fighting or hurting people either.”

Geoff gave him an understanding smile. “Well if it helps, I’m glad you didn’t come to the castle to fight me,” he replied, “because I’m glad we got to meet this way instead.”

Layne smiled back, and held up a hand in front of him. Geoff looked down at it in slight confusion.

“Have you not heard of a handshake before?” asked Eli, stifling a small laugh.

“Well, yes, but I never exactly found any instruction manuals on them!” replied Geoff with a small huff.

Layne chuckled and dropped the handshake offer, instead giving Geoff a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Seems like you have a fair bit to learn!” he said with a grin. “And who knows, maybe you might be able to teach us a thing or two as well!”

Cesar practically bounced up to Geoff and threw his arms around him. “Looks like we do have a new friend after all!” he beamed.

“Cesar, boundaries, remember?” Eli gently reprimanded him.

Cesar pulled away, looking sheepish but not entirely remorseful. “Sorry, hope you don’t mind,” he said to Geoff. “You’ve probably never been hugged before, have you?”

Geoff, who had indeed been caught off guard by the hug, thought for a moment. “Definitely not as a human, anyway, no,” he answered.

“I may have also told Geoff he could stay with us for a short while,” Eli admitted. “Hope that’s okay?”

Layne sighed, but his mildly-annoyed expression could barely conceal his smile. “Well, you really should have discussed it with us first,” he replied, “but sure – we do have a spare room at the moment, after all.”

 

Before anyone could say anything else, there was a knock at the door. Eli looked startled for a brief moment, but quickly composed himself. “I’m guessing that’s for me,” he said. “Layne, Cesar, can you uh, show Geoff upstairs while I deal with this?”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Eli watched as Layne and Cesar led Geoff up the stairs to the second floor, where the bedrooms were, before he walked up to the front door and opened it. Outside stood another one of the royal palace’s knights, with small dark locs tied back into a small ponytail, and wearing a silvery-blue doublet with dark blue trim. He cleared his throat and unfurled a small scroll of parchment.

“I am here on behalf of the Royal Palace,” he read out, “to receive word on whether the sorcerer Eliezer was successful in his assigned task of defeating the fearsome dragon inhabiting Sunlight Castle.”

Eli raised an eyebrow with a questioning look. “Really, DeeJay? You know who I am,” he said, “and you know I just go by Eli usually.”

DeeJay shrugged. “Hey, just gotta tell you why I’m here. Officially, y’know,” he replied, rolling up the parchment and sticking it underneath his arm. “So, how’d you go? You’re still in one piece, and I didn’t see any fire or smoke coming from the castle, so did you do it?”

Eli did his best to hide the fact that he was quickly figuring out how to word his response. “Well, the dragon is definitely not in the castle right now, and he certainly won’t pose any sort of threat anytime soon, or at all…anymore!”

DeeJay grinned. “Yeah way to go Eli! The Palace will be glad to hear that that castle can finally be classed as ‘fit to live in’!”

“Wait what do you mean?”

DeeJay, who was already about to leave, turned back to Eli. “Oh, you weren’t told? You haven’t heard?” he asked.

“Told what?” replied Eli. “You mean about how the Royal Palace specifically wanted the dragon removed from the castle? I thought it was just because he was just considered too much of a potential danger now?”

“Well, kinda, yeah, but also, I heard that some noblewoman from a nearby kingdom recently expressed interest in moving into that castle specifically – I don’t really know why – but obviously no one would want to live in a castle with a huge dragon in it, would they? Anyway, I better go back and report the good news. See you around, Eli!”

 

DeeJay hopped onto his horse, which was tied up a short distance away, then began riding back to the Palace at a leisurely trot. Eli watched him leave, then closed the front door again, letting out an exhausted exhale. His breath caught in his throat slightly, however, when he turned and saw Geoff standing at the top of the stairs, a hurt expression on his face.

“Ah, guess you heard most of that, then?” asked Eli, suddenly feeling a large pang of guilt.

Geoff looked away, his face downcast. “Guess I’ll be here for longer than I thought, then,” he said. Then he stepped up onto the second floor, and disappeared out of view.

Notes:

@VoicePlay make more fantasy/fairytale videos plz I need more outfit inspo /hj

If you didn't already pick up on it, Geoff's outfit is basically what he's wearing at the end of the Golden Hour video! It's just absolutely *chefs kiss*, y'know? Peak fairytale outfit, 10/10 best Disney Prince.
Layne being a knight is inspired by the Dragonborn Comes video, but his vest is based on the one he wears in the Enemy video. (Also Layne & Geoff Best Friends speedrun lets go!) (EDIT: actually I got confused and was thinking of the vest that *Eli* wears in the Enemy video, but not a single person corrected me on it so eh)
And yes, most if not all side characters in this story will be VoicePlay collaborators, because why not?

Also to clarify, a straight line break in a chapter indicates a timeskip, whereas a "wavy" line break (~~~~~) indicates a POV shift (which may or may not also include a timeskip, indicated by chapter context and stuff)

Hope you're enjoying this; Chapter 3 will be up this time next week!

Chapter 3

In the castle, he had often felt cramped and alone,
But regardless, it was the place that Geoff had called ‘home’.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Layne and Cesar had just been in the process of pointing out the spare room, when Geoff had heard the word “dragon” mentioned downstairs, and he decided to listen in. Maybe it was rude to listen to other people’s conversations, according to some stories at least, but they had been talking about him, hadn’t they?

And now Geoff sat on the end of the bed in the spare room, feeling… what did he feel? ‘Sad’ didn’t seem accurate enough. ‘Disappointed’? ‘Betrayed’ was a harsh word, but…

 

Geoff’s thoughts were interrupted by Layne in the doorway.

“Mind if I come in?” Layne asked. Geoff nodded, then shook his head, unsure of how he was supposed to accurately convey his response to such a question. Layne seemed to understand, anyway, and came and sat down next to him on the bed.

“I guess this house is pretty different to what you’re used to,” said Layne. “A bit of a downgrade from a castle, huh?”

Geoff shook his head again. “It’s not that,” he said. “I mean, sure, the castle felt pretty isolating at times, and it wasn’t exactly designed for a dragon to live in, let alone a large one, but still, that was where I lived for so many years! Had I known I wouldn’t be returning there... well, I would have at least taken some items with me or something.”

 

Eli then appeared in the doorway, looking ashamed. “I’m really sorry, Geoff, I feel awful,” he said. “Yes, my original task was to ‘remove the dragon from the castle’, but when I invited you to come home with me, I didn’t actually intend on evicting you from the castle permanently! I just thought that if someone went to inspect the castle after I returned, and they found you – human you – they might ask questions, and well, I dunno, but my point is, I didn’t know the castle was going to get occupied by someone else!”

“If it makes you feel any better,” added Cesar, poking his head in, “we promise we really are happy for you to stay here. It’ll be fun having a fourth housemate again!”

“Thanks,” said Geoff, not really having the heart to be too upset with Eli, “but I still wish I could have at least taken some books with me.”

“We could get you some new books, if you wanted,” Eli offered.

“Or maybe there’s still time to get some of your own stuff?” Layne suggested. “Surely it’s not like this noblewoman will be moving in immediately, right? Maybe we could go back tomorrow or something, either sneak in or just make some excuse, and nobody will suspect a thing!”

“Really? You think that’d be possible?” Geoff asked.

Layne saw Eli’s somewhat-skeptical expression and shrugged. “Well Cesar can go learn more about this potential ‘tenant’ and when she might be arriving, which he was probably planning to do anyway-”

“It’s true, I was.”

“-and we’ll take it from there!”

“But surely you must have one or two stories of your own, right?” said Cesar. “What’s the castle like? What was it like being a dragon? I wanna hear everything!”

“Whatever you’re happy to tell us, that is,” Eli clarified.

Geoff smiled. “Sure, it’s been quite a while since I’ve had anyone to talk to,” he replied.

“Uh, let’s maybe chat downstairs in the kitchen,” said Layne. “It’s after midday and I don’t know about anyone else, but I could do with some food.” He turned his head to look at Geoff. “I don’t really know what dragons eat, but I’m not sure whether we have any of it, sorry. You’re still free to eat with us, though!”

Geoff shrugged. “I’m not too fussy,” he replied, “and I’m willing to try new things, in case you couldn’t already tell.”

 

---

 

While Cesar and Eli prepared meals in the kitchen (sandwiches, apparently), Geoff told them and Layne about the castle, and how pretty much everything in there was already there when he found the place-

“Wait, you haven’t been in the castle your whole life? You weren’t, I dunno, born or ‘hatched’ there or something?” Cesar interjected.

“You don’t have to answer that,” said Eli quickly, while throwing a reproachful look in Cesar’s direction. “Please, continue.”

-And one of the things Geoff had found in the castle was a library, filled with shelves upon shelves of books.

“Wow, there must have been a real avid bookworm living there before you found the place!” said Eli.

“That, or it was just extra incentive to get anyone to move there,” Layne said with a snort. “I always said the name ‘Sunlight Castle’ was pretty optimistic at best! Uh, no offense, Geoff.”

“None taken.”

Even as a young dragon, reading seemed practically as natural as his ability to understand (and replicate) human speech – which was a good thing, too, because he found himself spending a lot of time in the castle library, for lack of much else to do. He recalled fondly the young girl that visited him a few times when he was smaller. He didn’t know where she came from or why she ever came to the castle in the first place, but she would come to the library, find a book, and begin reading out loud. Often Geoff would watch over her shoulder as she read, following along word by word, and she never seemed to mind. But sooner or later she stopped coming back, and Geoff didn’t know why.

"Well maybe you could do some out-loud book-reading of your own now if you wanted," said Cesar. "Once you have some books again, of course. Anyway, food's ready!"

 

Freshly-cut slices of bread had been loaded with cured meat and various chopped vegetables and leafy greens, then topped with another slice of bread.

 

As they ate, Geoff told them how, as a small dragon, he would sometimes sneak out through a window and into the forest near the back of the castle. Hunting parties occasionally spent time in there, and Geoff would spy on them from a safe distance. On some occasions, the hunted prey animal would get stuck in a tree, or run away too far out of sight before finally collapsing, and the hunters would try their luck elsewhere. This was when Geoff would swoop in and take advantage of the free meat - when you were a young, solitary dragon, you couldn't really afford to be too picky with food options.

 

"Hang on," said Cesar through a mouthful of food. He swallowed and then continued talking. "I don't wanna sound like I'm diverting the conversation here, but can- I mean, could you fly? Like you definitely had wings, right?"

"I did, yes, but they didn't get used very often, or hadn't been for a long while, anyway," Geoff replied.

 

Sometimes, as a very young dragon, he would leap off of staircase banisters and glide down to the floor below, occasionally giving his wings a flap or two to get some extra lift. But proper flying - the type that involved lifting his body up from the ground - didn't seem as easy as reading was to him, and only became more challenging as he grew larger.

It was the "growing larger" thing that was an issue in other aspects of his life, too, such as the food situation. He quickly learned that he would one day not be able to fit through the castle windows, nor conceal himself so easily in the forest, and so he had to make the most of the time he had.

He was never actually a huge fan of hunting himself, but he would sometimes catch small birds, as well as continuing to make use of hunted prey left abandoned. He also stocked up on nuts, berries, and other fruit and edible plant matter he could find. There was a decent selection of books about food in the library, thankfully, and he learned as much as he could from them. He learned how to best preserve food, what plants and fruits were safe to eat and what weren't, and how to cook different types of meat and utilize as much of an animal as possible in meals.

 

"Wow, sounds like you'd be a better cook than Eli is!" said Layne, receiving a light swat on the arm.

 

On rare occasions, people would leave things for Geoff, either outside the castle doors, or, if someone was feeling particularly brave, just inside them. Maybe some people thought he was some sort of deity, maybe some people thought the offerings would "appease" him or something, although he never asked for them, nor acted like he needed "appeasing" in any way.

 

"Eh, you get all types," said Layne, shrugging. "Some people have superstitions; some people might come from somewhere else and have different beliefs or experiences."

 

When people left offerings of gold or jewels or that sort of thing, he would just leave them outside the castle doors, untouched, but when people brought food, well, no point letting that go to waste. (And although the offerings didn't exactly become more frequent at any point, they did soon become more food-based more often, as if the people leaving them had gotten the message). Fortunately, he didn't seem to need to eat as often as a large dragon, but that was perhaps the only good thing about his larger size.

Getting larger meant that the castle felt smaller. In some rooms he had to duck his head and pull his wings in closer to him so to not bump his head on the ceiling or knock anything over, and some rooms he could no longer fit in at all. And though he always kept to himself and tried to stay as quiet as he could inside the castle, it was practically inevitable that people would find out that the small dragon in the castle was becoming a big dragon. And big dragons apparently deserved to be fought, and perhaps even, killed. Still, Geoff refused to engage when people came to face off with him. Sometimes he would tell them to go away, but sometimes he wouldn't say anything at all, and would just conceal himself upstairs in the shadows, until his uninvited guests gave up and went home.

 

Geoff turned his head towards Eli. "I've had knights in the castle, people who wanted to be knights, people who showed up on a dare, a couple of deity-serving types, even, but I had never seen any sorcerers before," he said.

"Yeah, well, a lot of the people who study magic here end up moving to other kingdoms where their abilities might be more sought after," replied Eli, "and most of the ones who stay are the more... academic kind, shall we say; not as much practical application of magic, if you get what I mean."

“So why’d you stick around then?” Geoff asked, taking another bite of his sandwich.

“These guys, for one thing,” Eli replied, giving Layne and Cesar a smile. “And also I happen to be ‘Assistant Sorcerer to the Royal Palace’. I don’t really do a lot, but what’s a Palace without a magic-user or two on staff, y’know? The Palace is how we all met, actually.”

“Do you work in the Palace too, then?” Geoff asked Cesar.

Cesar nodded, grinning. “Sure do!” he replied. “I help with coordinating parties, events, things like that, and I’m the Royal Tailor’s Apprentice’! Ooh, speaking of, you probably don’t own any clothes other than what you’re wearing right now, do you? If you want, I can take your measurements and get you a new outfit made, custom fit!”

Geoff found himself looking over at Eli uncertainly, but Eli nodded encouragingly, and gave him a reassuring smile.

“Sure, that’s really nice of you,” said Geoff, looking back at Cesar.

Cesar clapped his hands excitedly. “Awesome!” he replied. “We can do it in the living room, just let me go grab my things!” And with that, he practically bounced out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

 

---

 

“Now usually when I’m helping take measurements for noblefolk, we get them to strip down to their undergarments,” Cesar explained as he cleared some floor-space, “but you don’t have to, I can manage! It’ll be easier if you take your vest off for the time being, though.”

Geoff put his hands on his vest, looking down at it and realizing he wasn’t exactly sure how to. Thankfully, Cesar appeared to realize this at the same time.
"Oh, right, sorry, here, let me,” he said, moving closer and undoing the gleaming gold buttons down the front of the vest. Then, it was time to measure. Cesar picked up a roll of tape measure, and measured the lengths and sizes of Geoff’s arms, chest, and stomach, stopping in between to write down notes on a piece of parchment paper. Then he got Geoff to stand on a stool so he could take measurements of his legs.

“There, all done!” Cesar said finally. “I’ll take these notes with me to the castle tomorrow and I’ll see what I can do for you!”

 

Just then, there was a chiming noise at the door, and a folded-up letter was slid underneath the door.

“We got mail!” Cesar called out as he picked up the letter and unfolded it. “Ooh, a party!” But then his face scrunched up in uncertainty.

“What is it?” asked Eli, as he and Layne appeared from the kitchen.

“Well, the Royal Palace has announced a celebration tomorrow night in the town square!” said Cesar, but his cheerful tone was somewhat strained. “It’s uh, ‘to celebrate the vanquishing of the pestilent dragon inhabiting Sunlight Castle’.”

“I guess I can understand that,” said Geoff quietly, looking down at the floor. It wasn’t like he hadn’t heard worse things from people who had come to the castle looking for a fight, but he still couldn’t help but feel a small twinge of hurt.

“Hey, try not to let it get to you,” said Cesar, giving Geoff’s arm a reassuring squeeze. “Other people just think like that because they don’t know any better! If they got to know you, I’m sure they’d love you!”

“And anyway, this might be useful, in a way,” Eli added, turning to Geoff. “I can show you around town tomorrow, and most people will probably be so busy helping to organise and get things ready that they might not ask as many questions. We do still need a cover story for you, though – nobody else in town can learn the truth, alright?” Geoff, Layne, and Cesar all nodded. “Okay, let’s say you’re my… cousin – visiting from another land, of course, and your occupation… well, you’ve done a lot of reading, let’s say you’re some sort of scholar, and you’re visiting here because…”

“Because I wanted a change of scenery after being cooped up for so long with my books?” Geoff suggested. “It’s not really a massive lie, after all.”

Eli brightened. ‘Yeah, that should work!”

“I’m coming with you both tomorrow as well!” said Layne.

Eli raised an eyebrow. “Won’t you be wanted at the castle or something?” he asked.

Layne waved a hand nonchalantly. “I think they’ll be fine without me for the day. And anyway, if a relation of ‘The Mighty Sorcerer Eli’ is in town, it’s practically my civic duty to help escort him!”

Eli rolled his eyes, but the corners of his mouth were upturned. “Well you can help buy more food for us then; we have to feed four people again now!” he said. “Speaking of, does anyone know what we should eat tonight? I’m not sure if our current stocks are giving us a lot of options.”

“Would I be able to take a look?” Geoff asked. Eli shrugged, led him back to the kitchen, and opened up the cupboards and pantry. It was no castle kitchen, sure, but the food supplies were no more minimal than what he sometimes had had to make do with.

“Well it’s up to you,” said Geoff after having a look over the kitchen’s contents and thinking for a moment, “but I think there’s enough here to make a decent soup. You could save some portions for tomorrow as well, and if you start cooking some of the ingredients now, they’ll be good and tender by suppertime! I could help prepare it if you wanted – it’s the least I could do.”

“Geoff, if I wasn’t already happy to have you stay here, I certainly am now!” said Cesar.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

After supper (absolutely delicious – Geoff really did know a thing or two about cooking), Cesar sat in his room, strumming his gittern. He was prone to the occasional burst of song even on regular days, but an upcoming celebration always really got him into the musical mood.

“When I wake up, well I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you,” he sung.

“When I go out, yeah, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you.

If I get drunk, well, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you.

“And If I haver, hey, I know I'm gonna be,
I'm gonna be the man who's havering to youuuuuu…”

He trailed off on the final line, as he noticed Geoff standing in the doorway. “Oh hey Geoff! What can I help you with?”

“Oh, sorry, I hope you don’t mind, I was just listening to your… performance?”

From anyone else, this would have almost definitely been an insult, but Geoff genuinely looked like he was searching for the right word. Cesar’s eyes widened.

“Geoff. Don’t tell me you’ve never heard singing before?” he asked.

Geoff looked sheepish. “Maybe a little bit? When I was younger, but that was a long time ago. Would you mind if you sung that again?”

“I would be delighted to!” Cesar replied. He strummed a beat on his gittern, and began again: “When I wake up…” but then Geoff started singing too: “well I know I’m gonna be, I’m gonna be the man who wakes up next to you.” He started quiet at first, as if he simply couldn’t help but sing along, but Cesar gave him an encouraging smile, and he grew more confident. His singing voice was like his speaking voice: deep and with a warm quality to it, and he didn’t seem to have any trouble recalling the lyrics he had only just heard.

“And if I haver…” For the final line of the verse, Cesar decided to throw it completely to Geoff, and Geoff didn’t hesitate for a second.

“Well I know I’m gonna be, I’m gonna be the man, who’s havering to youuuuu.”

He trailed off just like Cesar had, except his voice dipped lower, and Cesar had a feeling that with a little bit more practice and experience, he could quite possibly go even further down than that. Cesar didn’t mention this, though, and instead said, “There’s more of the song than that, y’know. Do you wanna hear more?”

“I’d love that, thank you,” Geoff replied.

So Cesar began strumming again, picking up the tempo, and launched into the chorus.

Notes:

Describing food/meals/cooking is even more annoying than describing clothing, but Geoff is genuinely a foodie and apparnently a very good cook irl, so of course I had to try and include it in the fic.

And yes, this fic includes music and songs! All songs mentioned in the story will be ones that have been covered by Geoff or Voiceplay at some point, whether in full or short/Mini format. And we're starting off with a little bit of "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" - the fact that the vocal arrangement lines up quite nicely is just a bonus tbh. Also a "gittern" is just a bit of a historical ancestor of a guitar - gotta keep that vaguely-medieval fantasy aesthetic going, lol.

Not only is chapter 4 already written, but I'm already over halfway through writing chapter 5! I'm sticking with my posting schedule though, so see you again this time next week!

Chapter 4

Geoff was enamoured by the music being played in the square,
But the sound of new friendships was the sweetest tune there.

 

That night had been the first night Geoff had fallen asleep as a human – and in a proper bed, too. Thankfully, once he lay himself down flat on the bed, his body seemed to figure out how to get comfortable from there, and with the eventfulness of the day finally catching up to him, it wasn’t long before he fell asleep.

 

---

 

The next morning after breakfast, Cesar headed up to the Royal Palace to help with celebration organizing, but not before again promising Geoff he’d bring him back something nice to wear. Layne, Geoff, and Eli left the house not long after that. Layne was now wearing a white long-sleeve shirt underneath a dark blue quilted jerkin with gold clasps running down the front, and light blue royal-looking symbols either side. Eli was wearing a short-sleeve grey tunic with a hood on it, and Geoff was wearing the same shirt as he had started out yesterday in, though now with an olive-green quilted vest over it that Layne had offered to him that morning (“I don’t wear this a whole lot these days, and it should be an okay fit on you if you’re interested?”).

Eli sent Layne on ahead to start doing food shopping, before turning to Geoff.

“Cesar is likely taking care of your clothing for tonight, but we need to go take care of the rest!” he told him. “Follow me!”

 

The village was a hive of activity. The smells of all kinds of food filled the air, bunting hung down from the tops of buildings, and a few travelling merchants were selling various artisan-made trinkets and ornaments. There was even some music being played; a small taste of the entertainment to come that night, and Geoff couldn’t help but slow down to listen.

A broad-shouldered man wearing a black shirt and silvery-grey vest was plucking a relaxed, melodic tune on a lute, while singing along in a voice so clear and bright, Geoff was sure the man’s singing could cut through even the noisiest of environments.

“Do I look lonely? I see the shadows on my face. People have told me I don’t look the same.”

The man had a light brown beard, slightly longer and bushier than Eli’s, and a kind face. He smiled warmly at Geoff, who had stopped walking completely to watch the performance, and Geoff couldn’t help but smile back. He wanted to keep watching and listening, but he felt Eli grab his arm and start leading him away.

“You’ll get to hear plenty of music tonight, trust me,” said Eli, before leading him to a nearby shop that said “Village Tailor” on the front, opening the door, and guiding him inside.  

 

Geoff had never been inside a tailor’s workshop before, but he had read about them in books, and this one fit the descriptions to a T. Large rolls of cloths and fabrics sat piled on shelves overhead, racks of clothing of various colours sat off to the side, along with a couple of mannequins with unfinished garments on them. Most of the space was filled with desks and tables. At one, a person was operating a sewing machine, and at another, a person was sitting cross-legged on top of the table, sewing a button onto a shirt. Another table was covered in spools of thread and other sewing equipment.

From the main counter at the back of the space, a woman appeared, wearing a plain black dress and a cream apron with multiple pockets on the front of it. She had long, straight black hair, and dark lipstick, and she smiled at Eli as he and Geoff walked into the shop.

“Good morning Eli! What can I do for you today?” said the woman.

“Hey Rachel,” Eli replied, “this is Geoff, he’s a cousin of mine, and he’s come here to visit for a short while, but he didn’t really bring a lot of clothes with him, and I know you’re probably quite busy right now, but-”

Rachel waved a hand reassuringly. “Don’t you worry about it,” she replied, “I’m always happy to help out a friend, even if that means helping out their cousins! Now then, will either of you be needing outfits for tonight?”

“I’m fairly certain Cesar’s taking care of that for Geoff,” said Eli, “and I think I’ll be alright with what I’ve already got at home.”

Rachel nodded. “So just some everyday clothes for your cousin here, then?”

“That would be perfect, thank you!”

 

Rachel clapped her hands together. "Right then, I'll need to take a few measurements first of course. Come with me!"

She pulled a curtain aside and led them into a small back room. "Just stand in the centre here, Geoff, that's it. Arms up! No, a bit further down, 'arms out' I mean, there you go."

 

Rachel worked more quickly than Cesar had - one moment she was holding a length of tape measure up against a leg, the next moment it was being encircled around an ankle, and then she was measuring Geoff's waist, and so on.

"So Geoff, any particular clothing preferences?" Rachel asked as she flitted around him. "Style, colour, that sort of thing?"

"Uhhhhh." Geoff glanced over at Eli, who merely shrugged helplessly. Rachel laughed.

"Don't worry, I always have to ask, just in case, but I also know that not everyone puts much thought into what they wear, and that's totally fine! That's where I come in – I wouldn't be a good tailor if I let people walk out with clothes that were wrong for them, after all! Anyway, all finished now! I believe I may already have some pieces on the racks that'll fit you nicely, Geoff, but I might be able to get a couple of extra somethings made for you as well. One or both of you come back in a couple of hours and I'll have it all packaged up for ya!"

"Thanks Rachel! You're the best!" said Eli. And with that, Eli and Geoff walked back outside.

 

Everyone in the town seemed to be in a remarkably cheerful mood. A couple of ladies waved at Geoff as he and Eli walked past, blushing and giggling when he smiled and waved back. And if he listened closely, he could still hear the sounds of a lute floating through the air...

Geoff didn't get a chance to ask if he could go back to where the music was being played, because he and Eli had reached the farmer's market, where they found Layne, with two heavy-looking bags in his arms.

"You look like you've been busy," said Eli as he and Geoff walked over.

Layne gave a half-shrug. "Well as you said, we've got four of us to feed again, and I didn't really know what kind of food Geoff might prefer, so I kinda just got a bit of everything."

“Yes, well, I think we should have just enough for us to get by for a while,” Eli remarked drily. “If you want, I can take these bags back to the house, and you can give Geoff more of a tour of the village – if that’s alright with you as well of course, Geoff?”

 

He wasn’t quite sure whether it was the cheerful vibe that radiated through the town, or the bags of food that sent his mind buzzing with new meal ideas, or the concept of people that genuinely seemed to want to spend time in his company, but Geoff was smiling from ear to ear, and felt like he could barely stop even if he tried.

“Absolutely,” he replied.

 

---

 

Layne seemed to spare no effort in showing Geoff around the village. He pointed out the tavern, the bakery, the butcher's, even taking him to the harbour at the far edge of the village.

"And there's a bookshop just here as well, if you didn't notice it earlier," said Layne when the two of them were back in the town square. "We can go in and have a look if you want, see if there’s anything that takes your interest?"

 

Geoff couldn't help but turn his gaze in the direction of his castle – well, the castle he used to live in, anyway; the one with a library full of books that he'd probably never get to read again.

Laune followed Geoff's gaze and quickly deduced his line of thinking. "The bookshop's probably a lot smaller than the huge library you had," said Layne, "but you still might be able to find something new to read, or a book or two that you already know, if that's more what you're after?"

But they wouldn't be his books. Sure, maybe this shop did have a couple of titles that could also be found in the castle library, but that didn't mean the copies would be identical. They wouldn't share the light claw marks on the cover, the food stains on some of the pages, the slightly-worn-out spine of a well-loved book, read over and over again.

Perhaps such things shouldn't matter to him - he was different now, why couldn't he have different books as well? Maybe he could begin to accumulate a new collection, even just a small one, and-

Layne interrupted Geoff’s train of thought. “Orrrrrr, we could take a stroll up to Sunlight Castle?” he suggested, sounding ever-so-casual. “Have a look at the books in there, if you catch my drift?”

Geoff’s head whipped around to face him. “Wait, seriously? But what if… you know, what if there are people there now?”

Layne shrugged. "Well we can't know for sure unless we check, right?" he replied. "And plus, I'm a Royal Palace Knight after all - if anyone asks, I'll just say I'm doing an inspection on behalf of the Palace or something. And so long as you stick with me, nobody will pay you much notice."

 

Geoff didn't want to get his hopes up; for all he knew, the noblewoman could have already started moving things around, and making space for her own belongings (though he didn't like to think about it too much). But still, Layne had been the one to make the offer, and perhaps it was worth a shot?

"I suppose the sooner I go to look, the better my chances might be?" Geoff pondered aloud.

"That's the spirit!" Layne grinned. "Come on!"

 

---

 

They walked in silence for a while, until they were beyond the outskirts of the village, when Layne spoke again.

"Hey Geoff, I know you've only been human for like a day," he began, "but if you really had been human all your life, do you really think you would have been a scholar, or would you be something else?"

Geoff thought for a moment. "Well I do genuinely like cooking and food preparation," he said. "Maybe a chef?"

"You still need to be taught how to use a knife, by the way."

"But also I think I really like music. I haven't heard a lot of it yet, but well... I tried singing last night, with Cesar, and I enjoyed it! And maybe I'm just an average singer, maybe even worse, I don't know, but I still want to do more of it."

"Well there'll be plenty of music tonight, don't you worry about that," Layne replied. "And if you end up singing along to any of it, there'll probably be so much noise that nobody will hear you, even if you sound terrible."

"Thanks, I think?"

 

A few moments of silence passed, and then Geoff asked, "what about you?"

"Hm? Well I have already been human all my life, last time I checked anyway."

Geoff laughed. "You know what I mean! You told me that you didn't really have intentions to be a knight, so what would you do instead if you had the choice?"

 

Layne looked at Geoff, finding nothing but innocent curiosity on his face, and then looked down. "Honestly, I'd love to be a minstrel of some sort," he replied, his voice just a little quieter than before. "Kind of a singer, kind of a comedian, kind of a performer in other sorts of ways too, you know? And minstrels employed by nobility or royalty don't even have to travel around!"

"I think you'd be a great minstrel!"

"But you've never seen me perform! Or any real minstrel performances at all, for that matter."

Geoff shrugged. "Not yet anyway."

 

Their conversation was abruptly ended by a large pair of doors; they had arrived at Sunlight Castle.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Layne tried pushing on one of the doors; it was heavy, but thankfully unlocked. He pushed it open some more, and poked his head through the opening. He couldn’t see anyone inside, but then again, he couldn’t see much at all.

“Hello?” Layne called out. “Anyone there?”

No response. He tried again, just in case. “I’m uh, here on behalf of the Royal Palace! So you should show yourself!”

Still nothing. He pulled away and turned back to Geoff. “Seems like there’s no one else here,” he said, “but I can barely see a thing in there!”

"I think I should be able to navigate to where we need to go anyway," said Geoff. "Let me lead the way."

With one hand, Geoff pushed the door further open, and with the other hand, he took hold of Layne's wrist and led him inside.

 

Slowly at first, they walked up a flight of stairs, step by step, and then into a corridor where a bit more light was filtering through, and then another, and then Geoff and Layne were standing in front of another pair of doors - smaller than the front doors of the castle, but still reasonably large. Geoff pushed open one of them, looking slightly relieved that it was also unlocked, and stepped inside. Layne followed in behind him, and oh yes, this was definitely the library alright. There were books of all different thicknesses, sizes, and colours, and Layne was fairly certain that he had never seen so many books in one place before ever. Sunlight streamed in through a large window, casting the bookshelves in a golden glow, and giving the room a cosy feel to it. There was even a small pile of pillows and blankets in one corner, although they looked like they hadn't been touched in many many years.

 

Layne gave a low whistle of amazement. "Wow, no wonder you care so much about this place!" he remarked.

Geoff didn't seem to be listening; he had walked over to one of the bookshelves and was looking at it intently, his gaze scanning the rows of shelves until he found what he was seemingly looking for. His focus had landed on a book that was a couple of rows above his head. He tried reaching up for it, stretching his hand up as high as it could go, even going up onto his tiptoes, but that only caused him to stumble forward slightly.

"Woah there, careful!" said Layne, who was near enough to gently grab Geoff before he collided with the shelf. "These shelves have ladders, you know!"

"Oh, uh, right, they do, yeah."

Layne chuckled and went over to the ladder at one end of the bookshelf, sliding it across to where Geoff was standing. "How about I go up the ladder and grab whatever book you're after for you?" he asked, not waiting for a response before he started climbing. "Was it this row you were reaching for?"

"No, the one above it."

"Right, and one of these books here where my hand is?"

"The large dark brown one with the gold trim, yes."

Layne pulled out the desired book and glanced at the cover. "A recipe book?" he said as he descended the ladder. "You really do enjoy cooking, don't you?"

Geoff smiled, somewhat sheepishly. "Well it's not like I brought the book here in the first place," he replied, "but yeah, I did appreciate having it, and there are some other cookbooks I made good use of as well."

Geoff walked over to another bookshelf and bent down, running his fingers along the books in one of the lower rows, until he stopped and took out a book with a dark green cover, slightly smaller than the brown recipe book.

"Is that a cookbook as well?" Layne asked. Geoff shook his head, smiling.

"No, it's a storybook, one of my favourites to read when I was younger," he replied. "It's about a human boy who's raised by wild animals in a faraway jungle, and he often feels more like a wild animal than a human himself."

“Hm, I can see why you enjoy it! Any other books you wanna grab from here before we go?”

Geoff gazed wistfully around the room. “I probably shouldn’t,” he said. “Don’t want it looking too obvious that books have been taken. And anyway-“ he turned to look at Layne with a small, hopeful smile on his face. “I’m sure I’ll find something of interest in the village bookshop, right?”

Layne smiled back. “For sure. You might even become one of their best visitors!” he said. “But for now, how about we go back home and make use of that recipe book of yours? I’m pretty sure it’s lunchtime, after all.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

 

Maybe he wouldn’t miss his books so much after all, Geoff thought to himself as he and Layne left the castle. After all, one of the main reasons he used to read so much was because he often didn’t have anything better to do. But now he had people to talk to and spend time with, and not only that, but people he might even be able to call ‘friends’.

Notes:

Shoutout to the OSF Costume Rentals website for giving me more outfit ideas! The clothes of both Layne and Eli here came from pictures on their website. (Also note that a jerkin is just a close-fitting vest/jacket). Speaking of clothes, this chapter features Rachel Potter as the village tailor!
The song Geoff hears in the town is "Death Of A Bachelor", and yes, the description of the singer is fully deliberate and intentional! IYKYK!
The dark green book Geoff grabs from the castle library is basically just The Jungle Book, but moreso the Disney version than the original Rudyard Kipling version, mostly included because one of Geoff's favourite ever Disney songs is Bare Necessities.

Not only have I already finished chapter 5 (and I'm VERY excited to finally be able to upload it next week), but I've also finished chapter 6 and I'm currently powering through chapter 7! I have an official typed-out plan for this story and everything! See you again next week!

Chapter 5

Notes:

This is the longest chapter so far in the fic (and quite possibly the longest chapter of the whole thing), so strap in and enjoy, folks!

Music and merriment were all that Geoff hoped for that night,
But a chance meeting would provide a new source of delight.

 

The food Layne had bought was indeed back at the house, but Eli wasn't. Regardless, Layne and Geoff began preparing lunch anyway, and by the time the meals were ready, Eli had returned, with Cesar as well.

 

---

 

"So this is only your second day of being human," said Cesar to Geoff during lunch, "and you're getting to experience your first celebration event already! How exciting!"

"Gee, it's almost like there's some sort of link between the celebration and Geoff no longer being a dragon or something!" said Layne, laughing as Eli swatted him lightly on the arm.

"Well, okay, yeah, the broader context may be a bit... awkward," Cesar continued, "but still, you're gonna love it! There's music, and dancing, and-" a look of realization flashed over Cesar's face. "Oh my goodness, you've never danced before, have you?"

"Here we go..." said Eli quietly.

Geoff finished his mouthful of food before he answered. "Well I've read about it plenty of times," he said. "I think I even flicked through an instruction book once?" But Cesar was shaking his head.

"Not the same thing, but don't worry, I can teach you! Just a quick lesson anyway, give you a few pointers before tonight, how about it?" Cesar then noticed Layne and Eli beginning to quietly get up from their seats at the table. "Don't wanna brush up on your footwork, you two?" he asked cheerily.

"Nope, I think we'll be good, don't worry about us!" said Eli, while Layne nodded quickly in agreement.

"You can help show Geoff how it's done then! And what about providing moral support, hm?"

 

Layne and Eli looked at Geoff, who shrugged.

“Well it’s not like I had anything else planned for this afternoon,” said Geoff. “And who knows, it could be fun! How about it?” He gave them a hopeful, encouraging smile, and what else could Layne and Eli do but say yes?

 

---

 

One thoroughly-amusing-if-nothing else dance lesson later, it was time to change for the celebration. Cesar handed Geoff a soft, flat package wrapped in paper.

"We've been pretty busy at the Palace today, obviously," said Cesar, "so it's not much, but I told Tony - he's the proper royal tailor - that a cousin of Eli's was in town and needed something for tonight, and he was totally happy to help out!"

Geoff opened the package to reveal a maroon doublet made of the finest cloth, with a short collar and velvet detailing.

"Wow, this is... this looks really nice, thank you so much!" said Geoff.

"Yeah, nice work, Cesar," said Eli, nodding in approval. "Oh by the way Geoff, I picked up your other new clothes from Rachel. They're in your room right now. You could wear one of your new shirts underneath if you wanted?"

"And I've got a pair of shoes you can borrow!" Layne added.

And suddenly Geoff was being pushed up the stairs to go try it on, while Eli and Layne went to their rooms to get changed as well.

 

---

 

The doublet fit perfectly, of course.

"Honestly this may be one of my favourite things I've helped create," said Cesar, who had also helped Geoff put it on, as well as assisting him in changing shirts.

Cesar himself was wearing a scarlet doublet with a plunging neckline and a floral pattern of gold-lined roses embroidered all over it. Layne's outfit included a short grey cape, fastened just below the collar of a blue and white brocade shirt doublet. Eli meanwhile wore a short-sleeve dark grey doublet with a swirling black paisley design.

 

When Geoff, Layne, Eli, and Cesar stepped outside to begin walking to the village, the sky was painted in hues of pink, orange, and blue, the sun having just left its final marks on the horizon for the day.

 

The four of them had barely taken a few steps away from the house when small, golden orbs of light appeared in front of them, like twinkling stars plucked from the night sky, forming a floating path that seemingly led all the way to the town centre.

"Looks like you've been busy, as well, Eli!" said Layne, giving Eli a playful nudge.

"Oh, it's nothing much, really," Eli replied modestly, though he couldn't hide the pleased smile on his face.

"Eli does fancy lighting stuff for practically all the big celebrations in the kingdom," Cesar explained to Geoff. "It's kind of a specialty of his."

 

The village, aglow with light and merriment, was like a magnet, the distant sounds of cheerful music drawing Geoff in like a siren song. However, he and the others had not quite reached the main part of town when they heard a voice calling out to them.

 

"Layne! Eli! Cesar!"

 

The group turned and saw a dark-skinned man approaching them. He wore a long dark grey coat with metal buttons down the front, and he smelled vaguely of seawater.

"J! You're back?" said Eli.

"Not permanently, yet," the man replied. "But word gets around, y'know, and I heard that this kingdom was having a party in honour of a certain sorcerer who took care of a dragon-sized problem, all by himself! My ship happened to be fairly nearby, so I thought I'd drop by to come celebrate too! Nice work, Eli, and who's the new guy, by the way?"

"Uh..." Eli hadn't considered the possibility of having to tell J anything, and even if he did plan on lying to him, Eli was pretty sure the 'cousin' story would have little to no chance of being believed.

"What, he's not the dragon in human form or something, is he?" J asked, laughing.

Eli looked at Geoff. Geoff looked at Eli. Nobody said anything. J's grin faded (but didn't disappear completely, Geoff noted).

"Oh my god, Eli, did you turn the dragon into a human?" said J, lowering his voice but sounding more amazed than anything else.

 

Eli sighed. "J, this is Geoff. Geoff, this is J," he said. "He's another good friend of ours, who's been busy sailing the seven seas, and who can definitely be trusted to not tell anyone else about this, isn't that right, J?" J nodded emphatically and mimed zipping his lips shut.

"But seriously guys, tell me everything," said J.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Geoff gazed over at the village-turned-entertainment-hub, and then turned to Eli.

"I'm gonna go on ahead while you guys catch up, if that's alright with you," said Geoff.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, sure, just stay within the village, alright?"

"Got it!" And then, with a polite smile and nod at J (who amicably reciprocated), Geoff walked up the road to the village, almost feeling the urge to run there.

 

Most of the shops and businesses had closed for the day, but the town was currently far from quiet. Down one street, there was a line of food vendors; down another, there were market stalls and merchants like some of the ones Geoff had seen that morning. But the main centre of festivities was the town square itself. The night was still young, but already there were people gathering and mingling in a wide variety of fine clothing, from vibrant dresses, to brocade suits, to ornate doublets. Some people chatted with each other, some were eating food purchased from one of the vendors, while a few were dancing to the music coming from the band onstage at the front of the square. The song was quite catchy, and Geoff couldn't help bobbing along to the music as well.

 

"Any way you want it, that's the way you need it, any way you want it."

 

Perhaps he should've had more awareness of his surroundings, or perhaps his body was yet to fully refine its sense of balance, or perhaps both, but suddenly Geoff was knocked on the shoulder by someone passing by him, sending him stumbling to the ground.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" came a woman's voice. "I wasn't looking where I was going, are you okay?"

Geoff got to his feet and brushed himself off. "I'm fine, don't worry," he said. "I should have been paying more attention to my surroundings, really..." Then he took proper notice of the woman who had collided with him. She wore a long, dark green cloak, with the hood pulled over her head. She had dark, wispy hair, though most of it was hidden by the hood, and wore a pair of rectangular-framed glasses. "Oh... hi," said Geoff.

"Hi," said the woman.

"May I ask your name?" Geoff asked.

The woman hesitated and looked away uncertainly. "My name isn't important," she said.

Geoff raised an eyebrow curiously. "Really?" he replied. "I think all names have importance; they help define who you are!"

"Yes, well, perhaps a person wants to be someone other than 'who they are', at least for a short while," said the woman quietly.

"I can definitely understand that," said Geoff, giving her a warm smile. "Perhaps you could tell me a bit about yourself, or rather, about who you would prefer to be?"

The woman looked directly at Geoff again, and her hunched shoulders seemed to relax ever-so-slightly. "Well, I can tell you truthfully that I'm a big lover of art, and I've always wanted to be an artist," she began.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"So yeah, sorry again for letting Geoff sleep in your room for the time being," said Eli to J as they and the others made their way to the town square.

"Don't worry about it," J replied with a grin. "You were doing what you thought was right, and it's not like I need a place to stay again just yet or anything. Plus, Geoff sounds like a pretty interesting dude, and I'd love to learn more about him sometime."

Eli scanned the crowd. "I hope he hasn't wandered too far," he said.

"Found him!" said Layne. "I think he's talking to someone!"

"He's made another friend?" asked Cesar eagerly.

 

Layne couldn't tell exactly who Geoff was talking to, due to the long hooded cloak they were wearing, but he noticed how Geoff's eyes never left the individual, and how he looked at them like they were the most fascinating person there.

"Hmm," was all he said out loud.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The woman explained that she had grown up in the area, and sometimes would go out when she was younger and draw different places in the kingdom - even Sunlight Castle. But most of her inspiration came from books.

"I spent a lot of my time reading - I still do, I suppose - and sometimes I'd see an illustration on the page and try to replicate it, or I'd try to come up with my own, though I can't say if they were ever any good."

 

Geoff didn't know the woman, and yet part of him wanted to tell her that he thought she would be an excellent artist. Perhaps it was just instinctual politeness or something like that.

Another part of him wanted to ask what kind of books she liked to read - maybe they might even have some favourites in common - but before he had the chance to say anything at all, he noticed that the band had started to play a different song, and the rest of the townsfolk were gathering and pairing up in an organised formation.

"Oh I think there's some sort of village dance about to start," said Geoff. Cesar had briefly mentioned that group dances were a common feature in public celebration events, but had said that it wasn't super necessary for Geoff to learn the steps beforehand. "Just pair up with someone and copy what everyone else is doing, and you'll get the hang of it!" he had said.

 

"I'm not much of a dancer," said the woman hesitantly.

"Neither am I," Geoff replied, giving her a reassuring smile, "but if we act like we know what we're doing, and pay really good attention to everyone else, perhaps we'll do okay!"

The woman laughed. "I like your thinking!" she said. And so Geoff and the woman positioned themselves in formation with everyone else, and the song began.

 

"I been reading books of old, the legends and the myths,

Achilles and his gold; Hercules and his gifts."

 

The dance seemed to involve multiple spins and turns, and Geoff felt lucky to not get dizzy or stumble into someone. Sure, he might have been a half-second behind in keeping up at some points, but nobody seemed to mind or notice, and it felt nice to be participating in such a joyous activity with so many other people. The woman seemed to be enjoying herself as well, and her smile shone brighter than all the golden glowing orbs that twinkled overhead.

 

"She said where'd you wanna go?" Spin away from partner.

"How much you wanna risk?" Spin back towards partner.

Take one hand, take the other hand. Step away from each other, step closer together. Geoff's face was mere inches away from the woman's face. His heart skipped a beat. But the song and dance continued.

 

"Some superhero, some fairytale bliss…" Release one hand, step outwards, step back in.

"Just something I can turn to, somebody I can kiss..." Release other hand, step outwards, step back in. Everyone raised their heads to look up at the sky, and then...

 

"I want something just like this."

 

As the beat of the song picked up, so did the dance, and people broke apart from their partners to dance more with the group as a whole. Geoff couldn't help but be swept up in it, finding extra energy he didn't know he had as he danced around the square, joining hands with one person, then linking arms with another. The townsfolk clapped their hands, skipped, twirled, raised their hands in the air, and then, with a cheer, the song drew to a close.

 

Geoff and the woman had ended up not too far away from each other, and he went over to her as he tried to catch his breath.

"That... was kinda fun," he said, still panting a little.

"Yeah, I guess it was, actually," the woman replied, smiling.

 

Geoff looked over at the stage, and saw that a harpsichord was now being positioned on stage. The glowing orbs overhead dimmed in brightness, and a lull fell over the crowd. A man sat down at the harpsichord, and after starting to play a slow melody on it, he also began to sing.

 

"Till then, my darling please wait for me..."

 

Some of the townsfolk began partnering up again, but in a different way this time, and Geoff recalled what Cesar had said during his small "dance education session" that afternoon...

 

 

"During one of the songs, likely during one of the slower ones, somebody might ask you to dance, or perhaps you might ask someone else to dance with you!" said Cesar.

"But how would I decide who to dance with?" asked Geoff.

Cesar shrugged. "I mean it's not like you have to be dancing the whole time," he replied. "You don't have to dance with anyone if you don't want to. However, if you do end up slow-dancing with somebody, you could do it a bit like this..."

 

 

Well, this definitely seemed to be one of those "slow-dance" moments that Cesar had talked about, and it turned out that Geoff did have someone to dance with after all.

"Would you like to do some more?" Geoff asked the woman. "Dancing, I mean. With me?" He extended a hand, feeling a little shy all of a sudden.

 

The woman looked around at the townsfolk, looked at Geoff's hand, looked back up at him, and then seemed to come to a decision. She lowered her hood, revealing black hair tied up in a ponytail, and then placed her hand in his. "You know what, I think I would like to," she said, smiling.

 

"One day, I know I'll be back again…"

 

In the paired sections of the previous dance, Geoff was mostly paying attention to the people around him, too focused to give much thought to his actual dance partner (for the most part, anyway). But here, it was undeniably impossible to not be aware of just how close he and the woman were. And despite being "not much of a dancer", the woman seemed to have at least some experience with dancing, as she unquestioningly placed her free hand on Geoff's right shoulder. Geoff, trying not to think about his elevated heartrate, carefully placed his right hand a little below the woman's left arm. His breath caught in his throat as she removed her hand from his shoulder, and used it to gently guide his hand underneath her cloak, and onto her hip.

"It'll probably be easier that way," said the woman quietly, looking away as her cheeks went pink.

 

"Our dreams will live though we are apart…”

 

The pair began to dance, slowly waltzing their way around the town square. Geoff stopped trying to think too hard about the steps and instead let himself relax into it. The woman seemed to be guiding him almost as much as he was meant to be leading her, but Geoff was more than fine with that. Everything just felt right, somehow.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"Although there are oceans we must cross, and mountains we must climb..."

 

Eli was standing off to the side of the dance area, casually chatting with J and Layne, when he felt Cesar tapping repeatedly on his shoulder.

"Guys! Guys! Look!" said Cesar excitedly, practically buzzing as he pointed in the direction of the dancing couples. Eli correctly guessed what Cesar could be referring to, and quickly spotted Geoff amongst the crowd, paired up with the person he had been talking to earlier, if the cloak was anything to go by.

"Oh hey, looks like he found someone to dance with!" said Eli.

"I knew the dance lesson would be worth it!" said Cesar, beaming.

"Any idea who the lucky woman is?" asked J.

Eli squinted at the dancing couple, trying to focus on the woman's face. She didn't have her hood up now, but it was hard to get a good look at her from a distance, especially with the dimmed lights. "I don't think she's anyone we know, but I'm not quite sure," he said. "Layne? Cesar? Any ideas?" The other two shook their heads and shrugged.

"Well whoever she is," said Cesar, "she and Geoff look so cute together!"

 

Eli didn't like to jump to conclusions or make assumptions, but he had to admit that Cesar maybe had a point, in an indirect sort of way. After all, Geoff hadn’t come back to talk to any of them or even gotten their attention in any way since walking into town by himself and meeting this woman. Not that Eli actually minded – after all, there would be plenty of time to hear all about it the next day – but still, this seemed to be something other than just a “new friend” situation.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Till then, let’s dream of what there will be…”

 

“Have you taken dance lessons before?” Geoff asked the woman. The pair were still dancing, but were now staying more in one spot rather than across and spinning across the town square.

“A few,” replied the woman, “but they never really held my interest. What about yourself?”

“Does one this afternoon with my friends count?” said Geoff with a half-smile.

The woman laughed. “I wouldn’t have known,” she said. “You must be a fast learner!”

“Well, I also have a very good dance partner.” It was a response that Geoff barely even thought about before he said it, but he didn’t find himself regretting it, either, especially after the woman’s response:

“So do I.”

The woman moved in closer, sliding her left hand underneath Geoff’s arm. And suddenly there was barely an inch of space between them, and Geoff’s brain was a mixture of nervous, happy, overwhelmed, relaxed, and other feelings too scrambled to name. Just keep listening to the music.

 

As the final verse of the song played, Geoff and the woman (like many of the other couples at this point) were more swaying to the music than properly dancing, and the whole scene felt almost dreamlike. But like all dreams, the song could not go on forever.

 

“Please wait… till… then.”

 

Slowly and carefully, the woman stepped away from Geoff as the song came to an end, giving a low curtsey. Geoff bowed in return. When he looked back up again, the lights overhead were brightening once more, and the woman had quickly pulled her hood back over her head again. A young man with short cropped curly hair jumped up onto the stage.

"Alright everyone, gather round, gather round!" he said. "I hope you're all having a great time tonight; but let's not forget what we're actually all celebrating here: the fact that the kingdom can now be declared dragon-free!"

The crowd, other than about 6 individuals, clapped and cheered.

"So did they really kill the dragon, then?" the woman asked, but she didn't sound pleased, she sounded... sad?

Her seemingly-disappointed face made a small part of Geoff wish to tell her the truth right then and there, but instead he said, "I'm not sure, the dragon's body has never been seen since, dead or alive, that's all I know." Technically this wasn't much of a lie - yesterday had indeed been the last time his dragon form had been seen by anyone, after all.

"The dragon has been evicted so that Sunlight Castle can finally get a proper tenant: Lady Kathryn, a noblewoman from one of our neighbouring lands! She's not here tonight, but we still extend our warmest welcome to her! Who knows, maybe she can make that castle actually liveable!"

A laugh rippled through the crowd.

"It's not that bad," said Geoff and the woman in unison. They looked at each other in mild surprise, and then laughed.

 

"And of course," the man continued, "there would still be a dragon in that castle right now if not for the Royal Palace's very own assistant sorcerer, Eli! Give him a round of applause, everyone!" More claps and cheers. "He took down that dragon all by himself, with no trouble at all so we hear! If there are any Royal Knights here right now, you might learn a thing or two from this guy!" Some of the townsfolk chuckled (J grinned and playfully nudged Layne with his elbow; Layne rolled his eyes). "Anyway, there's still plenty of entertainment and festivities left, so enjoy the rest of the night, folks!"

Geoff turned to the woman as the crowd began to disperse. "I think I might go and have a look at the food on offer - maybe grab a bite to eat," he said. "Would you like to come join me?"

The woman looked up at the sky, and the moon high above. "I... should be getting back," she said. "I have to travel, you see."

Geoff couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. "Oh... Well, it was nice spending time with you tonight, including the dancing," he said.

"Yeah, it was nice spending time with you as well," replied the woman, smiling softly and looking up at him with an expression Geoff couldn't quite decipher.

"Might I see you again sometime?" Geoff asked.

The woman looked away, and then looked back at Geoff. "I don't know," she said. She took his hands in hers. "But I truly had a lovely time tonight, thank you."

 

Was it to merely end like this? Geoff felt like he should say something, do something, but what?

The woman gave Geoff's hands a gentle squeeze. "Goodbye and goodnight, my good sir," she said, locking eyes with him one final time. And then she released her hands, turned away, and walked off, leaving the town square, and disappearing into the night.

Notes:

A longer chapter calls for a longer set of end notes!
Once again, the outfits described for Eli, Layne, Geoff, and Cesar all come from the OSF Costume Rentals website (though they're more "mainly inspired by" in the case of Geoff and Eli).
Of course I didn't forget about J! He might not play a huge role in this fic, but I couldn't leave him out completely (amd besides, it gives a reason for Eli, Layne, and Cesar having a spare room available in thier house!)

For the village dance (using the song Something Just Like This - let's pretend it's shorter and with less-anachronistic lyrics), I in fact came up with choreography for it, or just for the first verse and pre-chorus at least. I took inspiration from the Village Dance scene in Tangled, and also from the Bookshop Dance scene in S2E5 of Good Omens.
For the "slow dance" song meanwhile (not officially calling it a waltz because I don't know if Till Then is the right time signature for it), I didn't really think of any choreography for it at all (I am just one person, and it's *quite hard* to visualise certain things by yourself). I did however take a bit of inspiration from the Royal Ball scene in the 2015 live-action Cinderella movie (especially in regards to *one particular moment*, iykyk).

Also I didn't name him in the chapter, but in my head at least, the announcer guy is Omar Cardona :)

And this fic now has a chapter count! I've recently started on writing chapter 9, and *maybe*, once I completely finish writing this fic, I might upload the rest of the chapters on a more frequent basis, like twice a week or something, but for now, we're sticking with weekly, so see you again next Wednesday, folks!

Chapter 6

He had a passion for singing, that was already true,
And it was time to find out just what he could do.

 

Geoff was sad to see the woman leave, but he really was getting hungry, and there were still festivities left to enjoy, so he made his way down to the street where the food vendors were located. There, he found Layne, Eli, Cesar, and J, who appeared to be perusing the meals for sale as well. Cesar caught sight of Geoff and waved his arm in the air eagerly. Geoff smiled and waved back, and quickened his pace as he walked over to the group.

“Heyyy Geoff!” said Cesar. “You been having a good time tonight?”

“I have, I definitely have,” said Geoff. “And your dance lesson came in handy as well!”

“Really now?” Cesar replied, sounding interested. He nudged Layne and winked at him. “I guess I can say ‘I told you so’, then!”

 

---

 

The five of them spent the rest of the night together, eating, chatting, laughing, and dancing, until the crowd began to thin, the village slowly became quieter, and J said he had to get back to the harbour, wishing them all farewell.

Geoff, Eli, Cesar, and Layne all walked home together, tired but pleased after such a joyous celebration event (broader context notwithstanding). They had just enough energy to remove their shoes and doublets, before they all went to their rooms, collapsed into their beds, and fell fast asleep.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The next morning, Cesar came downstairs and saw Geoff, already fully awake, making breakfast in the kitchen, and softly humming and singing to himself as he did so.

“Till then, no matter when it may be…” He was even swaying side-to-side just a little, but he stopped and looked up when he heard Cesar’s footsteps. “Oh, hey Cesar.”

"Hey Geoff!" said Cesar, yawning and stretching. “So, last night was everything you hoped for, then?” he asked.

"Yeah, definitely," Geoff replied, “maybe better, even!” There appeared to be the lightest dusting of pink on Geoff’s cheeks as he smiled and turned back to the kitchen bench.

Layne and Eli came downstairs a couple moments later, yawning and rubbing their eyes. Layne’s hair had broken free from its typical quiff style somewhat, and was looking more like its more natural curly self.

"Morning guys!” said Cesar. “Geoff was just telling me more about the great time he had last night, and about the woman he danced with!”

“I wasn’t- wait, you know?" Geoff turned and looked at Eli and Layne questioningly.

Eli shrugged. "We wanted to check up on you, see if you were enjoying yourself, that sort of thing, and we noticed you were talking to someone!" he said.

"And then we saw you dancing with heeeerrr!" added Cesar in a sing-song voice.

Geoff smiled in fond reminiscence. "I suppose you could say I made a new friend last night, yes," he said.

 

Eli, Layne, and Cesar all exchanged glances at each other. New "friend"? Was he quite certain?

"Right, so tell us a bit about this new 'friend' of yours," said Cesar. He walked over to the dining table and sat down, and the others followed after him.

"Well, she grew up in this area, apparently," Geoff began, "but she doesn't live here right now. She couldn't stay the whole night because she had to travel, she said. She likes art, as a hobby I mean, and really enjoys reading as well, apparently!"

"And this woman has a name, yes?" Cesar asked.

Geoff hesitated. "Yes, she definitely has a name, of course she does!" he said.

Cesar raised an eyebrow. "And you did ask her what her name was, right?"

"Yes."

"And she told you?"

Geoff looked down at the table. "She said her name wasn't important," he said.

"I see..." said Cesar, but he didn't see, at all. Who was this woman that Geoff had met? "Did you at least tell her your name?"

Geoff looked guilty. "Uhhhhhh..."

"Geoff!"

 

Geoff held up his hands apologetically. "Look, I don't know if I'm ever gonna see her again anyway," he said, "but I still had a great time last night, and there are still plenty of opportunities for me to make new friends, right?"

Cesar couldn't help but give Geoff a somewhat incredulous Look, as did Layne and Eli. He was more than fine with being proven wrong, but "new friendship" was not exactly the description Cesar would use for Geoff dancing with the woman last night...

Geoff misinterpreted their expressions. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I actually need more friends or anything like that," he quickly added. "I'm still beyond grateful to be able to spend time with the three of you, and your company alone is already more than enough for me."

"Aww, we love having you around as well!" said Cesar.

"Yeah, best dragon-friend a guy could ask for!" Layne added, grinning.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

After breakfast, Cesar and Eli had to head up to the Palace for work duties, while Layne offered to take Geoff to get a couple pairs of shoes made for him ("you deserve to have more than one pair of your own rather than borrowing mine all the time!"). After visiting the shoemaker's, the two of them swung by the village bookshop, to get Geoff some more reading material. Geoff chose a couple books that he recognised, and a few new ones that looked interesting.

 

Geoff hummed to himself as he exited the shop, a bag of books hung on his shoulder.

"Are you still thinking about last night, or do you just have a song stuck in your head?" Layne asked.

"Hm? Uh, both, I guess?" Geoff replied. "Is it normal to be remembering part of a song without really having control over it?"

Layne chuckled. "It's something that can happen yeah," he said. "It depends on the song, and it depends on the person. So, what's currently playing on repeat for ya?"

"It's one of the songs that we heard last night, obviously-"

"Obviously."

"-You know the one, it's like-" Geoff sung part of it, the way one does when trying to jog someone's memory of a song rather than trying to properly perform it: "Dance, magic dance, jump, magic jump..."

 

Layne's face brightened in recognition. "Oh yeah I know the one!" he said. "Hang on, wait wait wait, let's take it from the top!" And then he began recreating the beat of the song, before reciting the opening lines: "You remind me of the babe– What babe?"

Geoff couldn't resist jumping in and keeping it going. "The babe with the power!"

"What power?"

"The power of voodoo!"

"Who do?"

"You do!"

"Do what?"

"Remind me of the babe!"

 

Layne was apparently enjoying this impromptu musical moment as well, regardless of the two of them still being outside in the village, as he began singing the first proper verse of the song.

"I saw my baby, crying as hard as babe could cry. What could I do?"

The lyrics were coming rushing back to Geoff's memory as if they had never left, and he continued the song without barely a thought.

"My baby's love had gone and left my baby blue, nobody knew..."

 

There was a whoop from a few metres away. Geoff glanced to the side, starting to feel slightly self-conscious upon realizing a few townsfolk had stopped to listen to them. Layne tapped Geoff on the shoulder, pulling his attention back to him. Layne kept the song going, barely missing a beat, but became just a little louder, with a bit more dramatic silliness.

"...What kind of magic spell to use: slime or snails..."

 

Geoff realized what Layne was doing and appreciated it (plus his energy was contagious). "...Or puppy dog tails!"

"Thunder or lightning!"

"Then baby saaaaiiiiid!"

Layne and Geoff sung the chorus together, performing as if they had rehearsed it with each other.

"Dance, magic dance! Dance, magic dance! Put that baby's spell on me, ohh-oh, ohh-oh!" Some of their audience were clapping along in time to the song.

"Jump, magic jump! Jump, magic jump! Put that magic jump on me, slap that baby, make him free!"

 

The people that had stopped to listen clapped and cheered, and Layne playfully took a bow.

"I can't believe we just did that!" Geoff laughed, feeling a rush of exhilaration. "You're a pretty good singer, by the way!"

"Thanks! You're not too shabby yourself!" Layne replied, grinning.

 

---

 

After they got back inside the house, Layne said, "Okay, as much as I'd genuinely be cool with hanging out with you for the rest of the day, I should probably go see if my presence is wanted at the Palace."

"No kidding, I was worried they might start to forget what you looked like if you kept on not showing up there!" Geoff replied, laughing when Layne threw a dishcloth at him.

"But seriously, are you gonna be okay here by yourself for a short while?" Layne asked. “I can make other arrangements or figure something else out or…”

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," Geoff replied. "I have things to help me pass the time, after all!" He gestured to his new stack of books.

"Alright, so long as you're sure! But if you really really need any of us, just go to the Royal Palace, okay?" said Layne.

"Yeah yeah I got it!"

"The others and I will be back before suppertime!"

"Bye Layne!"

"Bye!"

 

---

 

After Layne had left, Geoff made himself some food, got himself a drink, and then sat down in one of the living room armchairs with one of the books he had chosen from the bookshop. This book specifically was one he had mostly only chosen for the ornate design of the cover, but he was still more than willing to give it a read – trying new things and all that.

 

The book was a collection of multiple tales, and the first story was about a young woman who was unhappy in her own home, due to being misunderstood and mistreated by the people around her. But one night, a twist of fate and a bit of magic gave the young woman an experience beyond her wildest dreams: attending a Royal Ball. At the ball, she met a handsome prince, and as they danced, talked, and danced some more, the connection between them was clear, and love was in the air...

 

Oh. Oh.

 

---

 

"Hey Geoff! I'm home!" said Layne as he walked through the front door some time later. "These two guys followed me home; I couldn't stop them!"

"Hardy har har, Layne," said Cesar, walking in behind with Eli and rolling his eyes. Cesar stopped when he saw Geoff, slumped in the armchair, open book on the table in front of him. Geoff had finished the first story, and tried to move on to the next one, but didn't get very far; he just kept reading the same lines over and over again without barely processing them. "Aw Geoff, what's the matter?" Cesar asked.

“I probably won't see that woman ever again,” said Geoff quietly.

“…Yes, so you told us.”

“Maybe... maybe my feelings were... stronger... than I first thought.”

 

Cesar walked over to Geoff and perched on the arm of the chair he was sitting in. "Try not to beat yourself up about it," he said, placing a comforting hand on Geoff's shoulder. "Just remember what you said yourself: you still had a great time last night, and there are still plenty of people out there to meet!"

"Anyway, I have something that might make you feel better!" Eli added, stepping forward. He reached into his satchel and pulled out a wooden box, and handed it to Geoff. Layne's eyes widened.

 

"This is a Music Box," Eli explained. "It's used at the Palace when people come to perform there– this is a replica, don't worry Layne. The music leaves an 'imprint', shall we say, on sheets like these–” Eli opened one of the drawers on the box and held up a short, flat strip of metal. “–and this music box can play them, at any time of day or night! As I said, this is an exact replica of the one used by the Royal Palace – I used a Duplication Spell for it – but it still works and functions the exact same way! You choose one of the 'song tracks' stored in the drawers here – they're all labelled – and you place it in the top compartment. When you close the lid, the song will start playing! I thought you might like it as a way to hear more music, since you seem to have such an affinity for it."

 

Geoff barely knew what to say, so overwhelmed he was with such an amazing and thoughtful gift. Of course he wanted to express his gratitude, but the first thing he said was, "this must have taken quite the Booster Sphere!"

Eli laughed. "Yeah, there's one in the Palace," he replied. "Really top-of-the-line, but it's not like it's really been needed for anything else for a while."

"But seriously, this is amazing, thank you!" said Geoff. "I might try this out tonight, upstairs, if that's alright with you."

"We practically expected you would!" said Cesar.

"And I made sure the music playing wouldn't be too loud for you," Eli added.

 

---

 

That night, after supper, Geoff sat in his room with the music box and had a browse through the song tracks. There were at least a dozen to choose from, and Geoff decided to start with the ones with the most interesting titles - 'I Put A Spell On You', for example. He opened the box, placed the selected song track in the top compartment, and closed the lid.

Geoff heard the sound of a harpsichord being played, and then a woman's voice sung out from the box:

"I put a spell on you... And nowww you're miiine, honey now you're miiiine!"

 

Geoff let the music wash over him, following along with the tempo and taking mental note of the lyrics enough to sing along with it. He also noted that the song was ended with what could be described as a sort-of breathy whisper on the final word. It wasn't exactly bad, per se, but Geoff felt like the song could be ended differently - a little lower, perhaps.

 

Geoff restarted the track, and began singing along, just as he had planned. It was enjoyable, in a way that was difficult to describe. He mostly tried to replicate what he heard, same notes, same riffs, that sort of thing, but when he got to the last line, he decided to try and do it a bit differently:

"I put a spell on youuuuuuu... and nowwwwww... you're miiiinnnnne."

 

...Okay what on earth did he just do with his voice? What just happened?

Geoff sung the final line again, without the music, and it happened again, clearer this time. He had tried to go lower on the final word, and boy did he ever! In fact, it was a familiar sound; it reminded him of how he used to sound as a dragon, and he wanted to try doing it some more. But tomorrow, perhaps. For now, he would just keep listening to his new song collection, and singing along without overthinking it too much.

And that's what he did, until he started yawning too much to keep singing properly, and decided to go to sleep.

Notes:

The song that Layne and Geoff sing in the village is Magic Dance, originally from the movie Labyrinth, but also done by VoicePlay as a Mini in 2021 (I'm mostly avoiding the usage of music originally from other pieces of media, but this one was just too perfect!)
Shoutout to one of my Discord friends for helping me think of a design/functionality explanation for the Music Box!

The song that Geoff listens to and then sings along with is of course I Put A Spell On You, based off the short solo cover he did in October last year (listen to the "full" version of his cover on his Spotify or Instagram).

Also I'm not actually finished writing the fic yet, but I'm pretty close to it (almost done with chapter 10, and the final chapter won't take too long to write either), and SO I've decided to go through with what I said, and start releasing the rest of the chapters twice a week! So I'm currently posting this on Wednesday night, and chapter 7 will go up on Saturday night! So basically this fic will be complete and fully posted before the end of the month, and I'm so excited! See you again soon!

Chapter 7

Notes:

It's not really important to the chapter and I couldn't be bothered describing it somehow, BUT if you wanna imagine what Geoff is wearing in this chapter, just imagine something heavily based on his brown leather outfit from the Rains Of Castamere video. You're welcome ;)

Geoff went to the forest to practice singing unheard,
Except his audience was more than just trees and the birds.

 

“I think I’m gonna go into the forest today,” said Geoff the next morning during breakfast.

“Oh, you wanna do some exploring? I can go with you if you want!” said Cesar.

“No, not the forest just past here,” Geoff clarified, “I mean the forest behind Sunlight Castle.”

“Oh? What for, if I may ask?”

“Honestly? To practice my singing.” It wasn’t actually the most specific truth – he was mainly wanting to go try more of his super-low singing ability he had stumbled upon the night before – but it definitely wasn’t a lie, either.

Eli raised an eyebrow. "Not to question you or sound judgemental or anything, but you're gonna go sing in a forest?" he asked.

Cesar held up a hand. "No no, I think I can see his reasoning," he said. "It's a wide open space with not much noise and little to no people around - totally different from singing in a small bedroom, right Geoff?"

Geoff nodded, glad he didn't have to do the explaining himself. "Right," he said.

"Well you're probably gonna be needing this," said Layne, tossing Geoff a key. "Your own housekey, so you can let yourself back into the house if we're not here."

Geoff looked at Layne, giving him a silent thank you. Layne smiled back, showing he understood.

 

"Right, well, I guess I'll be off then," said Geoff once he had finished eating. "I'll see you guys later!"

"Seeya Geoff!"

"Have fun!"

"Bye!"

 

And so Geoff made his way through the village and up to the forest he hadn't visited since he was a small dragon.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It was finally moving day.

Lady Kathryn would have already moved into the castle by now if not for having to rely upon a couple of hired moving people. She didn't have a great deal of possessions that needed transporting, but, despite having many bedrooms, one of the things Sunlight Castle didn't have was a decent-quality bed, and there was no chance of her getting her own bed into the castle herself. Truth be told, she wasn't fully certain about her decision to move anymore, not after what had happened, but it was still in the kingdom she had grown up in at least. Plus, now she knew someone, sort of, a little bit, who lived here – maybe she might end up meeting him again?

 

Currently, Lady Kathryn was sitting in the castle library, reading a book she had first read as a young girl. She heard a knocking sound, and looked up to see one of the moving people standing in the doorway.

"Yes?" said Lady Kathryn, who actually preferred to go by Kathy.

The moving guy – Jose, that was his name – gave a short bow. "Lady Kathryn, miss," he began, "I thought I should let you know, that I was around the side of the castle, looking for any other entry points, doing a security check, that sort of thing. And I heard... a noise... coming from the forest."

Kathy sighed. "It was probably an animal," she said, just wanting to get back to her book. "There are many animals in the forest, and most of them do make noise."

"Yes, of course, your ladyship, but this didn't sound like a regular animal you see. It, well... are you sure that the dragon who lived here was fully dealt with and gotten rid of?"

 

Kathy put down her book. She couldn't get her hopes up, and definitely couldn't make it look like she was getting her hopes up.

"The dragon hasn't been seen since," she replied. Kathy tried to sound as certain about it as possible - it was true, after all, but Jose looked unconvinced.

"So they didn't kill it, then?" he asked. "The dragon hasn't even been seen dead?"

Kathy faltered. What could she do? Lie about it? "Not from what I've heard, no," she said.

Jose shook his head and tutted. "I don't mean to disparage this good kingdom; I'm sure they think they've taken care of the dragon, but I don't know. You hear a lot of things about dragons, and maybe not all of those things are true, but it's usually not worth finding out for sure. Tell you what, there's a sorcerer I know from a couple kingdoms over: really skilled, quite powerful, and he happens to owe me a favour. I'll ask him to come here and see what's what - if that dragon happens to be using any cloaking spell or anything of the like, he'll reveal it no problem!"

 

If the dragon really was still alive and hiding out in the forest, the last thing Kathy wanted was for the dragon to be put in further danger. "That's very kind of you, but I'm sure there's really nothing to worry about," she said.

"Please, I insist," Jose replied. "Better safe than sorry I say, especially with a noblewoman like yourself all alone in a big castle like this! The sorcerer might not arrive for a couple days, though, so I recommend you lay low for the time being, just in case."

Kathy stood up, putting on her best self-assured authoritative look. “If I am to ‘lay low’ for a short while, then I think I shall go take a walk to the village right now and stock up on some things. You both can finish moving in my things without me, right?”

Jose gave another brief bow. "As you wish," he said.

 

Kathy did not in fact walk down to the village. After closing the door behind her, she crept around the outside of the castle, and began venturing into the forest behind it. Perhaps this was one of her most foolish ideas yet, but she had to know, even the noise was just some regular animal after all, which it probably was.

 

A low, vibrating noise rumbled through the trees, and Kathy stopped dead in her tracks. Could it really be?...

 

Slowly, she began moving again, edging closer to where the sound had come from. She heard something else, and it sounded like... singing? Kathy walked past a small cluster of trees and into a clearing, and standing there was not a dragon at all, but a man. In fact, it was the same man she had met (and danced with) in town a couple nights previous.

“Oh Shenandoah, just to be near youuuuuuuuu…”

 

The man stopped as he noticed Kathy's presence.

"Hi there," she said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you."

As she spoke, she saw recognition spread across the man's face. He started smiling, but then his expression shifted to confusion, as he put two and two together in his mind.

"You're that noblewoman, Lady Kathryn, aren't you?" said the man. "You're the one I met two nights ago." His expression now could almost be described as hurt.

Kathy looked down remorsefully. "I apologise for not being fully honest with you that night," she said. "I wasn't originally planning on hanging around for very long, and I didn't want anyone to know I was there – I didn't want a big fuss made."

There was a beat of silence, and then the man said, "Why did you decide to move into Sunlight Castle?"

"Uh, well, as I told you at the party, I grew up in this kingdom, and I wanted to move back here - the place where I've been living since, I eventually decided it wasn't for me. Plus, I've heard that this castle has a great library!"

The man looked at her curiously. "What about the huge dragon living there? It wasn't too much trouble to ask the Royal Palace here to get rid of it for you?" he asked, accusingly.

Kathy threw up her hands in protest. "I swear I had nothing to do with that," she replied. "Listen, maybe it sounds silly, but I thought, well, maybe I could have given the dragon a chance? Maybe I'm just being naive, but the dragon never hurt or killed anyone, did he? Maybe he was just misunderstood...?"

 

She trailed off, but the man wasn't looking at her like she was crazy; in fact he seemed practically intrigued, and there was a small smile on his face once more. He took a step towards her. "It's a pleasure to properly meet you, Lady Kathryn," said the man, bowing.

"Please, call me Kathy," she replied, feeling herself blushing.

The man straightened up and brushed his hair back away from his face. "Alright then, and you can call me Geoff," he replied, smiling more. "So this castle has a library, you said?"

Kathy brightened. “Yes! Actually-“ She hesitated. He hadn’t reacted negatively to anything she had said so far, so maybe she could risk telling him more? “Actually, I’ve been in there before, when I was younger and still lived in this kingdom. I occasionally went there to read, and also, well, I...”

“You met the dragon,” said Geoff with bated breath. Kathy nodded. She went over to a large log off to the side and sat down, and gestured for Geoff to sit down next to her, which he did.

“You know how I said I used to draw different places in the kingdom when I was younger?” she began. “Well it all started when I was drawing the castle one day...”

 

 

“Why are you trying to draw Dragon Castle?”

Kathy looked up from her pencil and paper to see a young girl, about her age, standing next to her and looking disdainfully at her not-quite-complete sketch. 

“Dragon Castle? Don’t you mean Sunlight Castle?” Kathy asked, confused. 

The other girl scoffed. “Haven’t you heard?” she replied. “Everyone calls it Dragon Castle because there’s a dragon living in there.”

“Oh,” said Kathy, not really knowing how exactly this was relevant to her and her drawing. “Is it a big dragon?”

“Well, no, not right now, but one day it will be, and it already has really big teeth, and really sharp claws, and it can breathe fire!”

“Have you seen the dragon before?” Kathy asked.

The other girl looked at her like she was stupid. “Uh, no, I don’t want the dragon breathing fire on me!”

 

Kathy had never heard of this dragon before, let alone any incidents related to it, so she quietly thought that it really mustn’t be that bad, or even that big of a deal. She was, however, a curious child with lots of free time on her hands, and so once the other girl got bored and wandered off, Kathy decided to go investigate.

 

For all the danger this dragon allegedly posed, nobody tried to stop young Kathy or even called out to her as she walked up the hill towards “Dragon Castle”. Maybe the other girl was exaggerating? Or maybe everyone else was genuinely too scared about going anywhere near the place to consider the idea that someone might go there voluntarily...

Kathy made it to the top of the hill, and was greeted by a large pair of doors. They were unlocked, but they were so heavy that Kathy had to push with her whole body to move one of them, making an opening just big enough for her to squeeze through.

Torches burned brightly on the walls inside, but there was no immediate sign of the dragon. But with no better ideas in mind, Kathy began exploring.

 

She walked up a large stone staircase, and then walked through a long corridor, and then another, and then suddenly, she saw it. It was a room, filled with more books than she had ever seen in her life, more even than in the castle where she lived with her parents. Searching for the dragon didn’t seem nearly as interesting now – she just wanted to stay in here and read.

Kathy walked into the room, gazing around in wonder. She walked over to one of the shelves and scanned the titles at eye level, running her fingers along the spines. She found one that sounded interesting, and gently pulled it out. There weren’t any chairs in the room, so Kathy simply sat on the floor, leaning up against a wall, before she began to read.

 

She was about halfway through the book when Kathy heard the sound of someone else entering the room, or perhaps rather, something. She looked up from her book, and there, standing a few metres in front of her and looking at her curiously, was the dragon.

 

For a second that felt like an eternity, not a single noise or movement was made, as if time had stood still. Then Kathy spoke.

“H-hello, I-I’m sorry, I wasn’t gonna steal anything,” she said. “I was just wanting to stay here and read for a while, please don’t be mad.” She wasn’t actually sure if the dragon could understand her at all, but at least he didn’t look like he was preparing to breathe fire on her. The dragon tilted his head as he looked at her, and then suddenly he scrambled up one of the nearby bookshelves, and used one of his front claws to pry out a book. He gently took it in his mouth, and then climbed back down with it. Kathy watched in stunned amazement as he sat down against the wall next to her, (still remaining a couple metres away), placed the book in front of him, and opened it with his front claw.

“Wait, you can read?” asked Kathy. It seemed that he really did understand her, as he looked at her and nodded, before turning back to the book.

 

It was all a lot to process, and it felt easier to just continue reading the book she was holding, which she did, for a little while at least, but she kept glancing at the dragon next to her. She noticed how he sometimes would try to turn a page of his book by pushing it with his snout, and sometimes he would lift it up with a claw or two. But it seemed like an effort - not as easy as using fingers to do it, and Kathy couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him.

“Um, excuse me, uh, dragon,” she said. The dragon looked up at her. “I was just wondering, um, would you like me to read to you? That way you wouldn’t have to turn the pages yourself, not that there’s anything wrong with the way you’re doing it, uh...”

 

The dragon tilted his head again, seeming to consider this offer for a moment, and then he pushed his open book across the floor towards her with his snout, before sitting in front of her expectantly. Kathy couldn’t help but giggle. He really didn’t seem fearsome at all, and, with him being only slightly bigger than Kathy was, one might even call him ‘cute’. Kathy put down the book she had been reading, and picked up the one that the dragon had chosen. Then she began to read aloud: “The air was full of all the night noises that, taken together, make one big silence...”

 

As she read, she noticed a couple times that the dragon inched closer to her, ever-so-carefully, as if he didn’t want to scare her. “It’s okay, you can come closer, I don’t mind,” she said. The dragon’s mouth curved upwards in a way that could very much be interpreted as a smile, and he padded across the floor to sit next to her, so close that she could very easily reach out and touch him. But she didn’t, and instead continued reading.

 

---

 

“I should probably be getting back home now,” said Kathy after she finished the story, “but I’d really like to come back here again and read some more, if that’s okay with you.”

The dragon smiled – it was definitely a smile – and nodded eagerly.

 

 

“…And I did go back, multiple times,” said Kathy. “He seemed to really enjoy me reading aloud to him, and sometimes he would watch over my shoulder as I read, following along word-by-word.” She paused, gazing wistfully off into the distance. “It was really nice while it lasted.”

“While it lasted?” Geoff asked. He hadn’t said much, or anything in fact, during Kathy’s recount, listening so intently it was like he was hanging on her every word.

Kathy sighed. “My parents went looking for me one day, and they saw me leaving Sunlight Castle,” she said. “Turns out they had heard some of the stories about the dragon, and they were not happy.”

“Were they mad at you?” Geoff asked.

“Very,” Kathy replied, nodding. “But mostly they were just terrified that I had been putting myself in ‘potential danger’. I tried to explain, I tried to tell them that the dragon was only small, and really not as bad as everyone made him out to be, but that was the wrong thing to say, apparently. Long story short, my parents decided I would be much safer in a different kingdom altogether.”

“So that’s why you left,” said Geoff softly, looking down at the ground.

Kathy nodded again. “I didn’t have a choice,” she replied. “And look, the new kingdom, it was… fine. It wasn’t like I was completely miserable there or anything, and I even got to learn another language! But eventually, I reached a point where I just kinda had had enough of it, y’know? I missed this kingdom, and honestly, even after so many years, I missed getting to visit Sunlight Castle.”

“You just missed all those books!” Geoff replied with a teasing grin. Kathy chuckled.

“True,” she replied, “but also, honestly, I sort of wished to see the dragon again. Sure, the last time I saw him was years ago, and he was, well, a dragon, but it was nice, having someone to really share my love of reading with, and I felt like I could be myself around him, and not have to act a certain way. It must sound utterly ridiculous I know-”

“No! Not at all!” said Geoff.

“So you don’t think I’m crazy?”

“I think you’re amazing.”

 

An embarrassed blush spread over Geoff's face as he suddenly realized what he just said, and Kathy couldn't help but laugh.

"Really, you're too kind," she said. "Anyway, I've been talking so much about myself, I haven't even asked you anything! I'm so terribly sorry; please, tell me about yourself!"

"Who, me?" Geoff looked away. "Oh, well, there's not much to say really, I'm just ordinary, not very interesting at all, really."

 

'He's definitely modest, that's for sure,' thought Kathy. "Well you're a good singer," she replied. "I heard you earlier. Could you sing some more, if that's alright?"

Geoff looked up through the trees and at the sky, where the sun was reaching its highest point. "I should probably be getting back home," he said, standing up. "Maybe another time?"

"Another time?" Kathy repeated hopefully. "So we will see each other again, then?"

The smile that Geoff gave her was bright and sincere, and part of Kathy quietly would have been quite happy to look at that smile all day long. "Yes, we absolutely will," he replied.

Kathy stood up as well and clasped Geoff's hand in hers. "Well then, so long for now, Geoff."

Geoff placed his other hand on top of hers. "See you again soon, Kathy."

 

It seemed that moving back to the kingdom really had been a good idea after all.

Notes:

And so the pieces finally fall into place! I had this "twist" planned out right since chapter 1, and I'm very pleased to finally be able to properly reveal it!
- I suppose you could call the meeting in the forest a little bit of an homage to Sleeping Beauty, but really I'm just drawing on my own personal experiences here for the purpose of "narrative convenience". My street sits just next to the border of part of a decently-large bushland/forest area (I'm Australian), where I go in the late afternoon with my dog for walks. And yes, I love singing in there!
- Yes, the moving guy is Jose Rosario Jr, because why not.
- Hope the right-aligned text for the flashback scene wasn't too weird to read, but I felt that was the easiest way to denote it.
Also this chapter has kinda sorta fanart now, courtesy of me!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :D

Chapter 8

No pencil nor paper could ever portray,
What was blossoming between the two in the forest that day.

 

Part of Geoff didn't want to be leaving so soon, but at least he knew he would definitely see Kathy again this time.

His head was buzzing with thoughts and feelings, majority positive, but he felt like if he didn't let something out, then he might burst. And well, he had originally been practicing his singing after all...

 

As Geoff strode through the village on his way back, he hummed a tune, and then he began singing.

"Babe you're getting closer. The lights are going dim. The sound of your breathing, yeah, has made the mood I'm in..."

 

Geoff hardly noticed the people who stopped to listen to him as he went by, and if he did, he didn't care (not that he had anything to worry about – the townsfolk were pleased to hear someone singing so joyfully, especially with a voice like Geoff's).

 

---

 

When Geoff got back home, he found Cesar, Layne, and Eli at the dining table, having just started lunch.

"Oh hey Geoff!" said Eli upon seeing him walk in. "We saved some food for you too!"

"Guys, you'll never guess what, I saw her!" said Geoff.

Eli looked mildly confused. "Who do you mean? The woman you danced with at the village party, or that noblewoman that's moved into Sunlight Castle?"

"Yes! Both! I mean- Same person!"

It was hard to be eloquent when excited, Geoff was finding.

 

Cesar's mouth fell open, and Layne and Eli looked equally as surprised.

"You seem pretty happy about this," said Eli, "considering, y'know, she was the one that wanted you out of the castle so she could move in?"

Geoff shook his head. "See that's the thing!" He swung himself down into the empty chair at the table and continued talking. "She didn't ask for the Palace to actually get rid of 'The Dragon' for her before moving in - the Royal Palace decided to do that for her without actually consulting her on it! They made a false assumption!"

"Wait, so you talked to her, then? And, what, she was actually planning to live in the castle with you or something? With you still being a dragon?" Eli asked.

"Yeah, she found me in the forest when I was singing," said Geoff. We both recognized each other fairly quickly, from the other night I mean, but I didn't tell her the full truth; I didn't really know how to. But you'll never guess what I also found out! You remember how I told you about that young girl who used to come read to me in the castle?"

Cesar gasped. "No way!"

Geoff nodded excitedly. "That was her!"

"Geoff! You gotta tell her!"

"I will, I will, just... give me some time. It's not exactly a simple thing to admit."

"Well you can tell us more about what happened later," said Eli. "For now, eat some lunch while the meal is still edible!"

"Oh and speaking of food," said Layne, "if you haven't got any other plans for today, Geoff, I could teach you some more cooking skills - y'know, how to do stuff the human way! We could even have a look through that recipe book of yours, maybe make something from it?"

"Yeah, I'd love that!" said Geoff.

"Ooh, I don't suppose you guys might want a taste-tester?" Cesar asked hopefully.

Geoff laughed. "Sure, why not?" he replied.

"I'll stick around too, then," said Eli. "If your cooking is anywhere as good as that soup you helped make a few nights back, you might even be better than Layne!"

Layne rolled his eyes with a smirk. “Yeah yeah, we’ll see,” he said.

 

---

 

The next day began with Layne, Eli, Geoff, and Cesar visiting the farmer’s markets in the village, prompted by Geoff and Layne’s previous activities in the kitchen. After Layne had showed Geoff some of the basic skills and techniques, the pair had engaged in a small ‘cook-off’, with both of them creating the same meal (a simple egg-based dish), to be blind-judged by Eli and Cesar. Layne had won, but only because he had added extra spices, knowing that was how Eli liked his food.

 

“I think I might go take a walk up to the forest again this afternoon,” said Geoff as he and the others walked to the village.

“Really? Off to do some more ‘Singing Practice’ are we?” Layne replied with a knowing smirk.

“You could just try going up to the front door of the castle and knocking, you know!” Cesar added.

“Oh lay off him, you two!” said Eli. “Geoff can do what he likes!”

“Thank you, Eli,” said Geoff, trying very hard to act like his cheeks didn’t feel a little warmer than usual.

“Though I do gotta ask, if you don’t mind; this noblewoman – what’s her name, Lady Kathryn?”

“She prefers to go by Kathy.” (Geoff and Eli both ignored Layne and Cesar nudging each other and grinning.)

“Right, so does Kathy actually know how you feel about her?”

“Uh, well…”

Eli sighed. “Look, obviously it’s not gonna be easy, just as telling her the other thing won’t be easy, but eventually you’re gonna have to do it.”

Geoff looked down at the ground. “I know, I will,” he said quietly. “Just gotta figure out how.”

Eli clapped him on the shoulder. “You’ll be alright,” he said comfortingly. “You got this! I believe in you.”

 

---

 

When Geoff walked into the forest behind Sunlight Castle that afternoon, he found Kathy already there, sitting on a log, pencil in hand, pad of paper on her lap. She looked up when she heard Geoff approaching.

"Hello again," said Kathy, smiling.

"Hey," said Geoff, "hope I'm not disturbing you or anything."

"Not at all!" she replied. "You can sit with me if you'd like, but up to you."

Geoff sat down next to her on the log and glanced at Kathy's paper. On it was a not-fully-finished sketch of part of the forest. "That's looking pretty good!" he said.

Kathy blushed. "Thanks," she replied. "It's been a while since the last time I actually sat down to properly draw something, and I think I forgot how much I enjoyed it. And these trees, well, they might seem plain and unremarkable now - just like any of the other trees in the forest - but by drawing them, it’s like you’re saying that they are interesting; that they must be, because why else would they be depicted in such a way? And maybe, you can even help people see them in a slightly different perspective."

"You sound like you've thought about this before," Geoff remarked.

"Mm," was all Kathy responded with, as she turned her head back down to her paper.

 

A couple minutes of silence passed, and then Kathy said, "I don't suppose you were planning to do any more singing in here today?"

"Hm?" said Geoff, snapping out of his wandering thoughts. "Singing? Oh, it's not really that important-"

"Because I would like to hear some more, if you don't mind of course."

"Oh, right, yeah, of course. I don't really know that many songs just yet; I uh, wasn't exposed to much of it growing up, and I've only started to learn recently what I've been missing out on."

"That's okay, I'm not gonna pressure you," said Kathy. She turned back to her drawing, and Geoff suddenly realized that he had no good reason to say no. And besides, if he couldn't even sing in front of Kathy, what were his chances of ever having the courage to admit certain things to her?

Geoff took a deep breath in, and then, he began to sing.

"When you're weary... Feeling small... When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all."

 

"Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down..."

Geoff stopped singing, as now Kathy had finished her drawing and was looking at him with the same wide, affectionate smile.

"That was really lovely," she said. "And, um, I was wondering, if it's alright with you, can I try drawing you?"

Geoff was caught off-guard by this question, but quickly covered his surprise with a teasing grin. "Oh, so you agree that I'm boring and uninteresting?" he replied jokingly.

Kathy laughed. "No, of course not!" she said. "But I never really got to do drawings of 'real' people, I usually just had to take inspiration from books and other drawings and paintings of people. And, well, I'd just like to try something a little different, is all."

Geoff smiled. "Sure, why not," he agreed. "I've never been drawn before, so it'll be different for me too. Should I pose or something?"

 

Kathy thought for a moment, quickly scanning around. "You see this tree-stump just over here? If you could just sit down on that, yeah, just make yourself comfortable. I'm only gonna draw your head and shoulders, just to make it quicker and easier for the both of us. And if you could keep your head fairly still, looking straight ahead... Actually maybe turn your head a little bit to the left, yeah perfect, thank you." Kathy turned over her pad of paper to a fresh page and began to draw.

 

Geoff didn't know how long he sat there for, but he didn't really mind. It was peaceful, having nothing but the sound of birds, a light breeze rustling through the trees, and the soft sound of pencil on paper.

 

---

 

After an undetermined amount of time, Kathy said "okay, you can move again!" She put down her pencil and turned the paper around so Geoff could see it.

“Oh wow,” said Geoff, standing up and walking over to have a better look at the picture

"So you like it?" Kathy asked.

"Yes! I love it!" Geoff was awed at how with just a pencil and paper, Kathy had created such a recognisable likeness of him, right down to the streak of hair at the front that was lighter in colour than the rest.

"You can keep it if you'd like," said Kathy, standing up as well.

"Really? But you worked so hard on it, are you sure you don't wanna keep it yourself?"

"Is this the last time we'll be seeing each other?" Kathy asked abruptly.

"What? No! I mean, I hope not, anyway," Geoff replied, somewhat confused.

Kathy smiled again. "Good! Then it's not like I'll need this drawing to remember you by, will I?" she said.

"Can't argue with that I suppose," he replied. "And I'd be honoured to have it."

 

Kathy stepped up onto the log she had just been sitting on, bringing her closer to Geoff’s eye level. Geoff raised an eyebrow, a hint of an amused smile on his face. But before he could say anything, Kathy leaned closer and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, as she placed the drawing into his hands.

"May I see you again tomorrow? In the morning, perhaps?" she asked, hopping down from the log.

Geoff tried to respond, but suddenly found himself struggling to form any coherent words at all, so he just nodded. Kathy smiled, turned, and left the forest. For a moment Geoff just continued standing there, while his brain tried to process what just happened, until he had enough presence of mind to realize he should probably go back home.

 

---

 

Layne, Eli, and Cesar were all hanging out in the living room when Geoff got back.

"Heyy, how'd it go? Did you have fun?" Cesar asked.

"And what's that paper you're holding?" added Layne.

 

Geoff put the drawing down on the table so that the others could look at it. "She gave this to me- I mean, made this for me," he said.

"Wow, she's pretty good!" said Eli, impressed.

"Aww she drew you? That's so cute!" said Cesar.

"Did you have to sit really still for it?" Layne asked. "I feel like I would have gotten an itch or been annoyed by a bug or something! ...Geoff?"

Geoff wasn't fully listening, his mind still on replay mode.

Cesar waved a hand in front of his face. "Hey! Mr Head-Over-Heels!"

Geoff blinked and looked at Cesar. "Huh? What?"

"Was there anything else that happened that you might like to share with us?"

Geoff looked away and replied in a soft voice. "She kissed me on the cheek."

 

Cesar was absolutely elated with this news. "Geoff! She totally likes you!" he said excitedly.

Geoff was slightly confused. "Yes, I figured that she does; we both have been enjoying each other's company," he replied.

Cesar facepalmed. "No, I mean that she clearly feels the same way about you that you do about her!" he explained.

 

Oh. Right.

 

"Really? You think so?" said Geoff.

Cesar gave him a knowing look. "Has she expressed interest in seeing you again?" he asked.

Geoff looked away again. "Tomorrow morning, she said," he replied, feeling his face growing warmer again.

Cesar gestured wildly. "See?" he said.

"And now it's up to you to make the next move!" said Layne.

"The next move? What do you mean?" Geoff replied.

"Well, how about a gift?" suggested Eli. "She gave you something, it's only fair you give her something in return! It could be flowers, or some nice food–"

"Or a book?" said Geoff.

Eli raised an eyebrow. "You do remember she's currently living in a castle with a whole room full of them, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, but you can never have too many books! And besides, I now know some books that that library doesn't already have!"

"...Alright, fair enough."

 

"But you gotta do more than that if you wanna make your feelings clearer!" said Cesar. "And speaking of books, I swung by the bookshop a little earlier and got another one for you!" He went over to the side table and held up a book. "Hopefully it'll give you some inspiration, if you know what I mean!”

“Well I’m not gonna say no to a new story to read,” said Geoff. “Thanks Cesar, I’ll read it tonight!”

 

---

 

The book was, unsurprisingly, a romance novel. It told the story of a man and a woman from completely different upbringings, who became inexplicably drawn to each other after a chance meeting one day. It wasn’t the type of story Geoff would typically choose to read, nor was it entirely flawless in its writing, and yet Geoff couldn’t help but be drawn in by the tale.

His mind began to play tricks on him as he read further. When the male protagonist professed his undying love for the heroine, Geoff saw himself doing the same thing. When the pair in the story embraced, he pictured Kathy and himself, arms around each other. He touched his cheek as he again recalled the kiss Kathy had left there. It had been so brief, and yet so wondrous, and Geoff wanted more of it. He wanted…

 

The realization crashed over him like a large tidal wave.

 

He wanted to kiss her.

Notes:

- In case you didn't recognise it, the song Geoff is singing as he walks back home is Way Down, and yeah, that's mostly a self-indulgent addition of mine, but it still fits fairly decently imo (but yeah seriously I love his cover of it, and the video!)
- If you haven't watched VoicePlay's "Scrambled Egg Challenge" short, absolutely go do so! It was uploaded when I was already a few chapters into this fic, and my god it was practically *begging* to be included/referenced in some way. (And then of course VoicePlay posted the "burger challenge" short just this past weekend!)
- Controversial take maybe but Geoff's parts in VP's cover of Bridge Over Troubled Water are my favourites of the whole song and I would be more than happy to hear him sing it solo, or at least fully on the lead.
- Geoff makes a very good artistic muse; I should know, I've done 6 drawings of him! (Two of which are fully-shaded pencil sketches)

See you all again Saturday!

Chapter 9

As feelings strengthened between the loved-up pair,
There was a kind of magic about in the air.

 

As Geoff walked up the hill to Sunlight Castle the next morning, he wondered if he should just knock on the front doors this time, rather than walking around to the forest. Then as he got closer, he noticed that one of the doors to the castle was open, and suddenly there was Kathy, coming to the doorway and beaming at him.

"Good morning!" she greeted him.

"Hey there, I brought you something, as a gift I mean," said Geoff. He showed to her the book he had been carrying - the one from the bookshop, whose ornate cover had grabbed his attention. "I know you have a lot of books to read already but-"

"Oh you can never have too many books!" Kathy replied. "It's a wonderful gift, thank you! Please, come inside!" She offered Geoff her hand, and he took it. "I'll take you to the library."

 

---

 

"So are you much of a book-reader yourself, then?" asked Kathy as they walked.

"Oh yeah, absolutely!'" Geoff replied. "Books taught me so much; most of what I know today is thanks to books that I've read, and they often helped me pass the time when I was younger, like yourself I guess you could say."

"Well I think you're gonna love this, then," Kathy replied. They had reached the doors to the library. Kathy pushed them open and made an 'after you' gesture to Geoff.

"Wow," said Geoff as he walked inside the room, acting like it was his first time seeing the place.

"What do you think?" Kathy asked.

"It's certainly a magnificent room," he said. Truly, the library never failed to make him feel a little more at ease, like he belonged there, even now.

Kathy walked over to a padded couch next to one of the large windows. She sat down on the couch (which was new, Geoff noted), and patted the space to the left of her, offering for Geoff to come sit down too.

"I was actually going to suggest that we could do some reading in here together if you were interested," she said as he joined her on the couch. "And since it seems you've chosen a book already, perhaps you might like to read some of it to me?"

"Me?" replied Geoff uncertainly. "Read aloud, you mean? I don't know, I've never done it before, myself."

"Don't worry, if your narration is anything like your singing, I'm sure it'll be quite pleasant indeed," said Kathy reassuringly.

The request had been a little unexpected, and Geoff had protested almost on instinct, but once he had a moment to process it, he didn't actually feel all that reluctant about it.

"Well, I suppose I can read the first story in the book, at least, as it's not overly long," he said.

"Sounds good to me!" said Kathy, smiling.

Kathy handed back the book to Geoff, who opened it, and began to read.

“Once there was a gentleman who married, for his second wife, the proudest and most haughty woman that was ever seen. She had, by a former husband, two daughters of her own, who were, indeed, exactly like her in all things. He had likewise, by another wife, a young daughter, but of unparalleled goodness and sweetness of temper, which she took from her mother, who was the best creature in the world.”

 

As Geoff read, Kathy sidled up closer to him, and rested her head contentedly on his shoulder, though Geoff didn’t think about it too much for fear of losing his focus. By the time he reached the end of the story, she appeared so peaceful and relaxed that Geoff hardly dared to move for fear of disturbing her. Kathy, however, noticing that Geoff had stopped speaking, moved back into more of an upright sitting position, and stretched.

“Hope I didn’t bore you too much!” Geoff joked.

Kathy laughed. “Not at all!” she said. “You have a very calming voice, and I feel lucky to have heard it.” She noticed the way Geoff was now looking at her. “What, is there something on my face?”

 

Well, now or never, he supposed.

“Do you remember when we said goodbye to each other on that night, during the celebration in town?” Geoff asked.

“Why yes of course!” said Kathy.

“Well, I feel like there may have been something… missing… from our farewell,” said Geoff.

“Something missing?” Kathy repeated, confused. “What do you mean?”

Geoff did his very best to ignore the rapid pounding sensation in his chest and continued. “You said that you didn’t need to keep the drawing of me because you would be seeing me again, and so you didn’t need it to remember me by. But that night, we didn’t know if we would be seeing each other again, so perhaps it would have been nice if I had, well, done something – if you had wanted of course – that we could both remember, you know?”

He really should have practiced saying this out loud. Fortunately, Kathy seemed to be catching on. “Well, there’s no saying we can’t make any such memories together now,” she replied, moving closer to him again and giving him a fond, hopeful smile.

Geoff leaned in towards her, just slightly. “Something to remember me by… until next time, perhaps?” he asked, quietly

“Yes, I would like that,” said Kathy, who neither moved away from him nor towards him – it was up to Geoff to make the final move.

 

Carefully, Geoff brushed a strand of hair away from Kathy’s face. Then, with his hand gently cupping the side of her face, he closed the gap between them.

For a few blissful seconds, their lips connected, and nothing else in the world existed. Then Geoff slowly pulled away, studying Kathy’s face to try to ascertain her reaction.

“Was… was that okay?” he asked uncertainly.

Kathy smiled at him. “It was,” she replied. “But-” she added teasingly, “I think you could try again!”

Geoff gave a laugh of happiness, and leaned in again, with added confidence.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

There were many jobs and tasks on Athelmar’s busy schedule, and this had not, initially, been one of them.

It was very rare that he fulfilled a request at such short notice, especially when there was a chance that said request could be completely unnecessary, but Athelmar did owe Jose a favour, and he had to admit that it was in his best interests to honour his word. Still, there was a high-paying nobleman who wanted multiple protection spells on his brand-new castle ASAP, not to mention the typical tasks and duties of his own town (which had been left to the two Royal Assistant Sorcerers for the time being, but Athelmar really didn't think too highly of them). He thought about what Jose had said to him:

"I fear there is a dragon hiding in this kingdom, and that it may be using some kind of disguise magic or invisibility spell so it can avoid detection. Please, if you could help bring this dragon out into the open, so to speak, so that it can be properly dealt with, you would be helping a noblewoman feel much safer in her new place of residence, and you would indeed be doing me a favour. I will ask this of you and nothing else."

Personally, Athelmar had never heard of a dragon being capable of such magic, but regardless, a detransformation spell was what was asked for, and so a detransformation spell he would provide.

 

Athelmar walked around the kingdom, looking for a good vantage point. He found a moderately-sized hill that overlooked the town and some of the kingdom's castles.

Wide-ranging spells weren't overall as difficult as some people might think; the main thing was to ensure that the spell covered all of the desired area – not much point in casting a water-purifying spell if you only had enough strength to cover one third of a town, for example.

 

Athelmar got to the top of the hill, held his arms out wide, and recited in a loud, booming voice:

“Removere mutationes,

Prohibere latebras.

Verum formam tuam ostende,

Ad pristinum statum redire!”

 

He wondered if he should notify the noblewoman that Jose mentioned, to inform her that he had now carried out the spell...

Eh, he’d write a letter and ensure it reached her by tomorrow morning. Athelmar really didn’t expect the spell to have actually done anything, but if somehow there was a dragon now brought out of hiding, well, there were people in the kingdom who could deal with that; he had a ship to go catch.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

(A little while earlier…)

 

Geoff had kissed her again, and Kathy had kissed him back, and the two of them had ended up stretched out across the couch, with Geoff leaning back against one arm of it, and Kathy resting up against him, using his chest as her own personal pillow.

Kathy craned her head up to look at him. "I was going to ask if you wanted to stay for lunch..."

"I'd love that!"

Kathy gave a short groan. "But I need more food! I only brought enough with me for a few days, and I haven't yet had the chance to go down to the village-"

"Hey, it's okay," said Geoff reassuringly. "If you'd like, I can go take a trip down there and get us a few things!"

Kathy pulled herself back upright. "Really? It wouldn't be too much trouble?" she asked.

"No trouble at all," Geoff replied, also sitting back upright. "I'll even cook; my treat!"

"Well, I'd be foolish to say no to an offer like that!" she said. Kathy stood up. "I'll go grab some coins for you, and then I'll walk you to the door."

 

---

 

"I promise I won't be long," said Geoff as he and Kathy reached the front doors.

"Maybe so," replied Kathy, with a playful glint in her eye, "but perhaps I might like something to think of until you get back?"

Geoff smiled. "But of course," he said, and pulled her in for another kiss.

 

"I'll go prepare the dining room," said Kathy after they drew apart again.

"I'll be back before you know it," Geoff replied, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek for good measure. She smiled lovingly at him, and then turned and walked off in the direction of the castle kitchen.

 

Geoff watched her leave, before exiting the castle and striding his way down the hill. He thought about how pleased Layne, Cesar, and Eli would be when he updated them later with the good news, but also how he was still yet to reveal to Kathy the other truth. Perhaps he'd try after lunch, if everything went well. There was also the matter of what to have for lunch - it'd mostly depend on what the village had available, of course, but Geoff couldn't help but start brainstorming already.

 

Geoff had not long reached the bottom of the hill when he stopped dead in his tracks, as an invisible force suddenly shot through him, sending him reeling and leaving him gasping for breath.

Then he began to feel weird, really weird. Geoff's body started to tingle unpleasantly, he felt lightheaded, and he was struggling to think coherently.

 

Then he began to grow...

 

Notes:

See you all again on Wednesday :)

Chapter 10

Much taller did Geoff now stand above all,
Against his wishes, he had turned into a dragon once more.

 

He had turned back into a dragon.

 

He would've liked to have said it was nice to be able to properly stretch out his neck and unfurl his wings again, but all he felt was bad. Actually, he felt terrible. No, in fact he barely knew what he was feeling at all, because his thoughts were quickly spiralling out of control, and he was panicking. Geoff needed help; he needed to go find Eli. This was the last coherent thought his mind had before he began walking into the village...

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"Do you think Geoff will be joining us for lunch?" Layne asked to Cesar and Eli. "I just wanna know how many meal portions I should make."

Eli shrugged. "Make four servings just in case,” he said, “and we can either share the extra one between ourselves or give it to him later. Actually, make five – somebody might want seconds, or leftovers.”

"I can't wait to hear all about how it went!" said Cesar. "I have high hopes for him, and I bet he and this Lady Kathy are gonna make such a cute couple!"

 

Suddenly, Eli clutched at his head with one hand.

"Eli! What's wrong?" said Cesar, jumping up from his seat and rushing to Eli's side, followed by Layne.

Eli lowered his hand and shook his head. "I'm fine now, don't worry," he said. "I'm guessing neither of you felt that, did you?"

"Felt what?" Cesar asked, while Layne shook his head.

"It's okay, I figured you didn't, it's just that I felt a large spell wave pass through here," Eli explained. "It seems to not have actually affected me, but when you're a magic-user in the path of a strong broad-range spell, you do often feel it."

"I thought you were the main magic-user in this kingdom?" said Cesar. "I wonder who cast it? And why?"

 

Before Eli had a chance to respond, there was the sound of a scream coming from the direction of the village. Cesar, Layne, and Eli all looked up, and then looked back at each other with great concern.

"You don't think...?" Eli began, but was cut off by another scream, this time of the coherent variety.

"DRAGON!!!!"

 

"Geoff!" the three of them cried in unison, and together they raced out the door and up towards the village.

 

---

 

"Well, I think I might have an idea what that spell did!" said Eli as he, Cesar, and Layne reached the town square.

"Yeah, you don't say," said Layne weakly. Geoff now looked to be about twice Layne's height (though just under half that was just from his head and neck alone). A handful of daring townsfolk had grabbed ropes and thrown them over Geoff's back, while others were pulling them tight around his legs, making it difficult for him to take any further steps forward. He didn't seem happy about this at all, thrashing his tail and tossing his head about, and Layne had to very strongly remind himself that as frightening as he appeared, this dragon was still Geoff, his friend, and that he had never once expressed any desire to hurt anybody or cause harm.

"Any idea how this happened?" asked Cesar. "I mean, obviously we know what happened, but I mean like, why? Who or what would cause this?"

"Currently, that's not important," said Eli. "First things first, we need to get him to calm down."

 

Layne cupped his hands in front of his mouth and called out, "HEY! GEOFF! DOWN HERE!"

Geoff barely seemed to give Layne a second glance. Another rope had been thrown over his back, closer to his neck, and he gave a growl-like roar. (Or was it a roar-like growl?)

Layne turned back to Eli. "He either can't hear me, can't understand me, or both!" he said helplessly. "I thought he knew how to talk and understand people as a dragon?"

"He does, or he did, at least," said Eli. "The detransformation must have shocked him so much physically that his brain sent itself into fight-or-flight mode to try and cope with the situation, and all this-" he gestured to the ropes, "-is not helping!"

"What are we gonna do?" asked Cesar anxiously.

 

Eli thought for a moment. "I might have an idea," he said. "but it's a bit of a long shot, and I'm not sure if it'll even work at all!"

"A long shot is better than nothing!" said Layne.

"Go for it, Eli!" said Cesar.

 

Maybe this was a stupid idea, but to be fair, he had doubted himself when he had agreed to turn Geoff human, too. Eli took a deep breath in, and began to sing.

 

"Dum da-dum-da dum da-dum-da dum da-dum-da dum,

I don't want to set the worrrld ooonnn fire..."

 

Layne gave Eli a Look that was intended to say 'singing? Really?' as well as 'of all the songs, you chose this one?'

Eli shrugged at him and continued.

"I just wanna start, a flame in your heeaaart..."

 

It had been the first song Eli had thought of, and ultimately it didn't really matter what was being sung, as long as Geoff heard it; properly heard it. And indeed, Geoff was slowing his wild movements, though he wasn't yet looking in their direction.

Layne joined in, carrying on the backing melody, while Cesar began echoing and harmonising with Eli’s vocals.

 

"In my heart I have but ooone deeesire.

And that one is you. No other wiiilll dooooo..."

 

Geoff's head was twitching around, and he looked confused, as if he was trying to remember something or figure something out in his mind. Then, slowly, he looked down at the three individuals standing in front of him.

 

"I've lost all ambition, for worldly acclaim."

"I just wanna be the one you love."

"And with your admission, that you feel the same, I'll have reached the goal I'm dreaming of–"

"Beeelieve meeee."

 

Eli’s face broke into a wide smile. The song had been one of the tracks included with the duplicate Music Box he had gifted Geoff, and not only did Geoff know it, but he remembered it.

 

"I don't want to set the worrrld, ooonnn fire. I just wanna start, a flame in your heeaaarrrt!" "(A flame in your heart!)"

 

Some of the townsfolk, very confused about what was happening but relieved that the dragon had seemingly been subdued, had loosened, or even released their grip on some of the ropes.

 

Geoff smiled down at the trio, and yes, it was definitely still him alright.

"Hey Geoff, how're you feeling?" asked Cesar.

Geoff made a rumbling noise that could perhaps be interpreted as a chuckle. "Oh, you know, I've been better," he said.

 

People who had been hiding in shops and houses were beginning to join the townsfolk who had stayed in the square, and murmurs were beginning to spread through the crowd.

“Isn’t that the dragon Eli supposedly got rid of?”

“Yeah, and now Eli’s acting like he knows him?”

“The dragon can talk? And sing?”

“Is it just me or does his voice sound a little bit familiar, almost?”

 

“Guess the truth’s all out in the open,” said Geoff quietly (or as quietly as he could in dragon form, at least).

“Or it will be in a few minutes, at least,” said Eli. “Might as well speed up the process and explain things properly… Uh, is it okay if I got some height, Geoff?”

“Sure,” Geoff replied, and lowered his head down to the ground. Eli carefully clambered on top, climbed up Geoff’s neck, and came to stand on one of Geoff’s front shoulders. Geoff raised his head back up, and Eli placed a hand on the side of his neck for balance.

"Okay okay, listen everyone, I know I have some explaining to do!" said Eli loudly. The crowd fell silent, and the townsfolk turned to him. Eli took a deep breath in, and did his best to swallow his nerves. "No, I didn't kill the dragon, obviously, nor did I banish him to some far-off place. I turned him into a human, who has been staying with us and going by the name of Geoff."

 

There were gasps, murmurs, and frantic whispers amongst the crowd, and some people began to call out.

“You lied to us!”

“You put us all in danger!”

“Wait, the dragon is your cousin?”

"...No, that's just a cover-story I made up to avoid suspicions," said Eli.

“Oh.”

Eli continued. "If anything, the only person I put in danger from all this was myself. Geoff could have basically torn me to pieces at any time while we were alone in the castle, and he didn't! Nor did he try to hurt me after I turned him human, nor has he hurt any of you today!"

“But he's got sharp claws!”

“And big teeth!”

“And he can breathe fire!”

Eli paused and turned to look up at Geoff.

“Can you actually breathe fire?” he asked.

"Mostly just for cooking," Geoff replied.

Eli turned back to the crowd. "And so what?" he said. “We have swords and knives and daggers, and we can kick and punch! Does that make us all inherently hostile or dangerous? No! Just because an individual has the ability to cause harm doesn't mean they will.”

 

Then it was Cesar's turn to speak up. 

“And let me ask you this,” he said, “in all the years of Geoff being a dragon in Sunlight Castle, has he ever attacked anyone or caused any harm whatsoever?” The crowd was mostly quiet as the townsfolk tried and failed to think of any such incidents. "So what, exactly is his biggest crime? Taking up space? Being big and scary-looking? Is it really his fault that he looks like something that we're taught to fear no matter what?"

 

By this point there were no more ropes on Geoff, having either slid off by themselves after being released, or gently pulled off the side of him. Some of the townsfolk were looking at each other, while others were hanging their heads, realizing that Cesar was right. Then one of them stepped forward; it was Rachel, the tailor.

"I suppose sometimes we can be too quick to judge based on appearances - sorry about that," she said. "And for what it's worth, you really were a lovely human." There were a few whoops of agreement from the crowd. Geoff nodded at Rachel and smiled at her appreciatively.

 

Then another townsperson spoke up. "Uh, is he planning to stick around or what? Like I get what you're saying and all, but I don't think the village really has the space for a huge dragon to hang around."

“Well,” Geoff began before any of the others could respond, “the thing is that I didn't actually plan on being a dragon again at all. Eli only turned me into a human because I asked him to, because I really wanted to be one, and still do, and I don't know how or why the detransformation occurred.”

"Well you can just turn him back again, right Eli?" asked Cesar, looking up at him. Some of the crowd voiced their own encouragement.

"Yeah! Change him back!"

"I wanna see some magic!"

 

Eli looked uncertain. "Well it's not exactly an easy spell to do by yourself," he said. "I'd need something like a Booster Sphere, which I used the first time. There's one at the Royal Palace, but someone would have to go grab it and bring it back here...”

“I'll do it.” It was DeeJay, approaching them on his horse (who was glancing at Geoff warily). “It's the least I can do to help make up for some of the... misunderstandings that we've had regarding you, Geoff.”

"It's a big glass orb, be very careful with it!" Eli told him.

 

They watched DeeJay gallop off in the direction of the Palace, and then they heard another voice speak up, separate from the crowd:

"It's really you, isn't it?"

 

Everyone turned their heads to see a woman with long black hair, in an elegant dress, gazing up at Geoff. This was undoubtedly Lady Kathryn. Eli decided this was a good time to get back on solid ground, and carefully slid off Geoff's side, going to stand back with Layne and Cesar.

 

Geoff bent his legs and lowered his head and body down into a bowing position. “Yes, I am the dragon you read to as a young girl," he said, "but I am also the man you have been spending time with, or I was, at least. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you the truth sooner, and I swear I was planning on telling you; I just didn't quite know how.”

 

Her eyes were glistening with unshed tears, but there was a smile on Kathy's face as she walked up to Geoff. "It's not an easy thing to admit, is it?" she said, stroking his snout. "How could I be upset when one of my fondest childhood companions has been right here the whole time?" Kathy turned to Eli, who quickly bowed, along with Cesar and Layne. "I believe I owe you a great deal of thanks," she said to him.

"Don't thank me yet," Eli replied. "And besides, I'm not sure if the Royal Palace will be as pleased with me when they find out what I did; I'll be extremely lucky to keep my job, honestly."

"Oh don't you worry about that," said Kathy. "I will make sure to bestow my highest praises upon you, and I shall also have some stern words with them about the importance of not making assumptions or jumping to conclusions!"

 

Cesar looked at both Geoff and Kathy. "Speaking of assumptions, I hope you don't mind me asking, but are you two like, a Thing now?" he asked.

Kathy glanced at Geoff with an affectionate smile, which Geoff returned. "Well, we can discuss that more once Geoff is human again, I think," she said. Her expression became worried. “He will become human again, right?”

"That's the plan, once DeeJay gets back," Eli replied. "Oh, and can someone grab me a small table or something? Just something to put the Booster Sphere on?... Yes, that'll do, just put it about here, thank you!"

 

A few minutes later, DeeJay returned, doing an impressive job of balancing the Booster Sphere in front of him on his horse while riding.

"Thanks DeeJay!" said Layne, taking the Booster Sphere from him and gently setting it down on the table.

 

Eli walked around the Booster Sphere to inspect it, and frowned.

“What's wrong? Is it gonna work?” asked Kathy worriedly.

“Well you see, I used this Booster Sphere recently, and I'm not quite sure if it can handle another strong spell so soon,” Eli explained. “Plus I've never turned a specific non-human into a human again before, and I don't know how it's gonna go. Geoff might not be the same as he was before, if the spell even works at all. But maybe it'll be fine and I'm worrying for no reason, but I just really wanna get this right, but there are just so many unknowns!”

 

“I wish I knew how to help in some way,” said Kathy, “but Geoff-“ she laid her hands on the sides of Geoff's snout and looked directly into his eyes. “I want you to know that no matter what, whether you return to the man you were, or you end up looking a bit different, or even if you just remain a dragon, I will still love you just the same, I promise.”

If it was possible for dragons to blush, Geoff would have been doing so, and even more when Kathy placed a kiss on his snout.

 

Eli watched this scene unfold and made a ‘hm’ noise. “Actually, I think there is a way you might be able to help, uh, Lady Kathryn.” he said.

"Anything you want me to do, I'll do it," she replied. "And please, call me Kathy."

"Okay, well you see the Booster Sphere on the table here? Just stand next to it, yeah that'll do, and place your hands flat on the side of it, like this." Eli mimicked the desired pose to demonstrate. "And the rest of you, give us a bit of space please!"

 

"Okay, this is safe, right?" Kathy asked, putting her hands on the sphere as requested.

"Trust me," said Eli, though he had never actually tried this before. "And uh, think about Geoff, particularly his human form, like while the spell is happening and all that."

"As if you had to ask!" said Kathy, giving Geoff another fond smile.

 

Eli went to stand in front of the Booster Sphere and took a deep breath in. "You ready, Geoff?"

"As much as I can be," Geoff replied.

“Alright, brace yourselves, everyone! And be prepared to look away if it gets too bright!” said Eli to the people still hanging around. Then, he raised his hands up towards the Booster Sphere, concentrated, and recited:

“Transmutare, nova fieri et diversum fieri,
Semel unum, aliud fies!

Remove the scales, wings, and claws,
Turn Geoff into the human that he was before!”

 

Notes:

So close to the end now! The final chapter is quite short, and so I think I'm gonna upload it a bit quicker, like Friday morning instead of Saturday night? (So about 36 ish hours from now). Hope you'll stick around for it!

Chapter 11

The Booster Sphere glowed a soft pink colour and felt warm to the touch as it caught Eli’s spell and amplified it, before sending it shooting out the other side. Geoff was prepared this time, and his eyes were already closed when the beam hit him square-on.

The magic flowed across Geoff's body until he was nothing more than a large dragon-shaped light source, and people began to look away and shield their eyes as the light glowed brighter, and the shape started shifting and changing. There was a whooshing sound as air filled the space where wings, a tail, and a head on a long neck had just been, before the iridescent light began to fade away.

And there was Geoff, in his human form once more, not a hair out of place. He opened his eyes and looked down at his hands and arms – he was even still in the same clothes as he had been earlier that morning.

"Hey, I think it wor-"

Geoff was cut off by Kathy, who practically collided into him as she ran up and threw her arms around him.

Though briefly startled at first, Geoff didn't falter in reciprocating the embrace, as the townsfolk clapped and cheered.

 

"*Ahem.*"

Geoff looked up (and then down) and saw Eli, who looked slightly worn out, but otherwise pleased.

"I don't suppose the both of you would like to join us for lunch?" he asked. "We were just getting it ready when, well, y'know, and we were making enough for five servings anyway."

Geoff looked back at Kathy - their embrace had been loosened, but not released entirely. "It's up to you,” he said, “but if Layne made the lunch–" Eli nodded in confirmation, "–then I'm sure the food will be totally amazing. Don't tell him I said that, though."

Kathy laughed. "It would be my pleasure," she said.

 

---

 

Soon enough, the five of them were sitting down at the dining table, with Eli having grabbed an extra seat from the living room.

For a short while, nobody said anything as they ate, having worked up an appetite from the events that had just transpired. Then Kathy lightly tapped on Geoff's hand.

"What's up?" Geoff asked, looking at her with the same smile he had been wearing ever since being transformed back.

Kathy took a deep breath in. "You don't have to answer immediately," she began, "but I'd like to invite you back to the castle to stay with me."

Geoff's expression turned to surprise, as a flurry of mixed emotions entered his brain. "To live with you?" he asked. Kathy nodded.

Geoff looked across at the others.

"It's your choice," said Eli.

"You should go for it!" said Layne.

"You could still totally hang out with us sometimes!" said Cesar.

 

Geoff looked back at Kathy. “I really want to say yes,” he said, “really, I’d love to, but…” He glanced over at his friends. “I’ve really enjoyed getting to spend time with these guys, and I’m afraid that I’m gonna miss hanging out with them as often.”

Kathy looked thoughtful. “Well, the castle does have multiple bedrooms,” she mused. “Obviously it’s a big ask, and it’s up to them if they’re interested, but…”

Cesar looked like he was about to bounce out of his chair in excitement. “We could live in a castle?!” he said. “Guys, please say yes, please say yes!”

“Sure, I’m up for it!” said Layne.

“Yeah, I think it’s time for a change,” Eli agreed. “Plus I’d be interested in checking out that room with the spellbooks and magic devices if you still have it?”

“It’s already yours!” Kathy replied.

Geoff smiled. “Looks like we have a deal,” he said, giving Kathy a kiss on the cheek, and then one on the lips, and then another…

“Hey, some of us are still eating here!” said Layne, holding a hand up to shield the side of his face.

Geoff and Kathy laughed, knowing Layne was only teasing.

 

“Ooh, and I just thought of something!” said Cesar brightly. “Geoff, you never gave yourself a last name, did you? Well I think this might be the perfect opportunity to do something about that!”

Geoff looked mildly confused. “Really? Why is that?” he asked.

Cesar grinned like he was about to deliver the punchline of a clever joke. “Because you could take Kathy’s last name of course!” he said.

“Huh? Why would I take her–  oh.” Geoff looked away, feeling his face getting warm as he realized what Cesar was implying. “Well, there’s no need to rush into things,” he said quietly.

 

Kathy squeezed Geoff’s hand, pulling his attention back to her. “You know, I wouldn’t mind changing my own last name too, actually,” she said, smiling at him. “Maybe we could choose something that connects us to the castle?”

Geoff tilted his head to one side curiously. “What, like make our last name ‘Sunlight’ or something?” he asked.

Kathy scrunched up her face. “Maybe not that exactly,” she said, “but what if we put it in a different language? Like for example, in the other kingdom where I lived, you might call Sunlight Castle ‘Castello della luce del sole’. It’s a bit of a mouthful I know, but it’s just an example.”

“Castello della luce del sole,” Geoff echoed to himself. “Castello della luce… Castello del luce… Castell…luce?”

“’Castellucci’ sounds nice!” said Kathy.

“Hm, ‘Geoff Castellucci’,” said Geoff, trying the name on for size and determining that he quite liked it, actually.

“And Kathy Castellucci!” said Kathy, smiling. “It’s got a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

Geoff smiled back. “Like music to my ears,” he replied.

 

The dragon became human, the castle became a home,
And The Dragon In The Castle was no longer alone.

He found music, love, and the bestest of friends,
And so ‘happily ever after’ is how this story ends.

Notes:

And so this fic finally comes to a close! If you've made it this far, thank you *so much* for reading, I really hope you enjoyed it! I definitely had absolutely the best time writing it, and honestly I loved this AU so much that UPDATE: this now has a sequel! It's called Striking A Chord, and it picks up right where this story ends, and it's the next part in this series!
ALSO, @MountainSunrise wrote a small one shot called Mischief Afoot, it's set after the events of Strking A Chord (though it was written first), and it's amazing.
If you liked the fic, feel free to leave a comment (or more!), and if you wanna chat to me on Tumblr, my main is @BismuthBookshelf, and I also have a VoicePlay sideblog, @Acaplaya-Musings. But other than that, bye for now!

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Sunlight Castle Stories