I followed Lance to his room. We stepped inside and he gestured to a white uniform on his bed.
"Put it on, I want to see what you look like."
I picked it up and rubbed the fabric between my fingers. It was clean and stiff, the way new things always are.
"Sure, alright."
I stepped into the bathroom and changed. Later, when I stepped out, Lance leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.
"Yeah, that looks good on you."
I raised my arms and ran my finger down my sleeve. "You think so? Feels like I have a giant target on my back."
Lance smirked. "If people don't hate you, you're not succeeding. Besides, I'm confident you'll manage."
I sighed. "Maybe."
Lance straightened up. "Say your name."
I blinked. "Huh?"
"Your name, say your full name."
"Lafayette Dumica Tide?" I replied, slightly confused.
Lance shook his head. "Say it like a statement, put your chest into it. My name is…" he rolled his hand for me to continue.
"My name is Lafayette Dumica Tide."
"And what's unique to you?"
I shrugged. "I don't know."
Lance placed a hand over his chin and massaged it as he looked around the room.
His gaze landed on a stack of books and he lit up. "I got it, this is your story, Lafayette."
"My story?"
Lance nodded eagerly. "Yeah, say that. Say your name and say this is your story."
I rolled my eyes and stepped forward. "My name is Lafayette Dumica Tide, and this is my story."
Lance narrowed his eyes. "Nah, that's terrible. Just, just be yourself Lafayette. That's all you can be, and that's all that's needed."
I scowled at him. "Right, whatever, I'll be going."
"Be safe, buddy."
— — —
I made it through the first half of the day without many complications. But when it came time for lunch I was approached by a group of first-years. All of them with cards in hand.
The first one stepped forward before I could even get in line. "Here, I've already registered my challenge and I'm serving you."
He shoved the card in my hands and walked away. The next kid stepped forward. "Here's mine."
Then the next.
And the next.
And the next…
By the time I had collected all the cards, I had seven.
On my first day as a page, I had seven challengers. I gripped the cards so tightly they began to crumble.
Reinhardt stepped beside me with a tired expression.
"Ten." He said softly and without flair. He looked like he was about to cry already.
I looked up to see that not just him, but all non-fire pages looked like their souls were drained.
I glanced back at Reinhardt and he met my gaze.
"I think I'll throw my first challenge. I'm not built for this."
For a moment I just stared at him. He stared back at me with a sort of expectant expression, slightly slouched forward.
I exhaled deeply. "You're not going anywhere. Alright? Just keep your head up, or whatever."
"That's easy for you to say. You're Lilith's son, you'd probably walk down every opponent in front of you."
I pocketed my cards. "Maybe, but I don't think you're a slouch either." I looked around the cafeteria. "We're just better."
Reinhardt ran a hand down his face. "Alright."
We got our food and headed to our usual spot. As we sat down to eat, I pulled out my cards and looked over them again.
They had the name of the challenger, their affinity, and the date I was scheduled to fight them.
Luckily I didn't have more than one fight scheduled after each school day.
Furthermore, it looked like I could fight multiple students in one day at my own discretion.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.
— — —
After lunch, I was on my own again. I left the campus and returned to Anna's café. Today it was a little quieter than usual.
Or maybe it's just because it was later in the day. I stepped inside and took my seat near the window.
Jashen, dressed up in her uniform, approached my table with a clipboard and a smile. "Hello sir, what can I get for you?"
"A brick of caffeine powder."
Jashen lowered her clipboard with a sigh.
"Lafayette."
I looked up with a smirk. "What? Can't a man order a meal? A succulent caffeinated meal?"
Jashen placed down her clipboard and loomed over me. "You can get something that's actually on the menu."
I leaned back. "Are breath mints on the menu, you might need one." Jashen pinched my cheek.
"Ah, ouch."
She then looked at my uniform and her eyes widened.
"Ooooh, you have a white uniform now."
She brought her hands to my collar and straightened it out.
"Why the change? Did you get promoted?"
I wrapped my hands around hers and sighed. "More like I have a target on my back. Lance picked me as his page and now I have to fight every day to keep the position."
Jashen stepped forward and sat in my lap. "Ah? That's unfortunate. Do you have any plans?"
I lowered my hands to hold her up in my lap by her ass. "I don't know. I was thinking about just being them half to death to send a message, I don't think that's a good idea."
Jashen chuckled softly as she shook her head. "You and your jokes."
"Yeah, jokes…"
"Anyway, if you want to scare off your next few challengers, why not make the fights seem effortless to you? No one wants to fight the man who doesn't break a sweat."
I rolled my eyes. "That's so stu—" I blinked before my eyes narrowed.
That might actually be genius.
Win so cleanly that everyone rethinks their decision to challenge me. Even if it doesn't stop the challenges it'll widen the time between each one.
I looked up to meet Jashen's gaze. "Alright, I'll actually admit, your brain, while it's the size of a pea, functions."
Jashen's tail wagged. "And your brain doesn't function. It's just big and useless."
I laughed.
Just then Anna walked over. She wiped her hands on a towel as she raised a curious eyebrow. "So, a white uniform, huh? Lance picked you?"
I nodded. "Unfortunately."
Anna smirked as she placed her hands on her hips. "So you'll be busy this afternoon?"
Again, I nodded.
"There's a new show being played in the downtown theater. I want to take Jashen, do you mind?"
Jashen leaned her head against my chest.
"Please."
I looked down at her with a smile. "What's being played?" I asked.
"The tragedy of High Qagum the wise. Have you heard of it?" Anna answered. I shook my head.
She continued.
"Qagum was a human who lived long ago. I mean long, long ago. He was the first human emperor and fell in love with the creation dragon. He was killed for it by his subjects. And in relation to the creation dragon shattered the empire."
I tilted my head. "Thats certainly a story. Is any of it real?"
Anna shrugged.
"We know the empire existed, and we know the creation dragon existed. But Qagum? No one knows if he was just a knight with a thing for dragons or the actual emperor."
"So can I go, please?" Jashen looked up at me with half-lidded eyes.
I huffed, "I don't see why not. But are you going dressed like that?" I gestured to her uniform.
Jashen perked up. "Actually Anna and I are going dress shopping before the show."
Anna slapped her forehead.
My eyes widened. "With what money? Jashen we're broke! We just finished furnishing the house and you're already buying clothes?"
"Of course! I've gotten a little money and Anna said it would be nice to buy something for myself. Besides, don't you think I'll look pretty?"
"You look pretty in anything. So let's save our coin for something that actually matters. Like Ouro crystals or stones."
Jashen placed both her hands on my cheeks. She squeezed until my lips puckered. "Jashen," I said in a muffled voice.
"I'm going dress shopping." She affirmed.
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
A beat of silence passed.
"How much money do you plan on spending?"
"Four silver."
I sighed. "You promise?"
"Mhm."
"Fine."
Jashen smiled and slid off my lap. "Thank you for being reasonable." She turned to Anna. "I'm going to get changed, are you closing?"
Anna nodded and watched as Jashen disappeared into the backroom. She then glanced at me with her arms crossed.
"You two are adorable, it reminds me a lot of when Lance and I started dating." She smiled softly.
I stood up and pulled a long orange hair off my uniform. "Let me guess, Lance was a stickler for money too?"
Anna shook her head.
"No, I was. Every time I turned around Lance was burning through money on some project. I think he gave me a few gray hairs."
"And how did you fix his spending?"
Anna's smirk grew. "I didn't."
She then gestured towards the door. "Now if you don't mind I have a date with my girlfriend, go on, get."
"Oh, so I'm an animal now?"
She waved her hand towards the door.
I rolled my shoulders with a sigh and exited the building.