Warnings: I don't own SSO. I don't own the characters. I do own any characters I'll create. I don't know the rating system very well yet, but I can bet that this will get to R by the end. Spoilers might pop on occasion, so you are warned!

Cleao sighed softly, no sadly, as she stared at the textbook in front of her. The ornate gold and black lettering crisscrossing the large red cover stared right back. She was supposed to read chapters' one through five, plus chapter twelve as extra credit for tomorrow. Her class Historic Applications of the World had a discussion on The Tower of Fang for the next day. Turning her head away from the untouched book, she looked for something else to occupy her time. Gazing out the window, Cleao had a semi-decent view of the large boarding school's gigantic rose gardens.

The boarding school was an ancient building that spread out for several hundred acres. Ivy curled and crawled lazily up the crumbling yellow, orange, and red brick walls. The pale moonlight gave the building a silver look to that made it seem nicer than it was. Dead roses spread out beyond the buildings destroying the enchanted look the moonlight cast on the school. Even the view was not enough to keep her mind busy. Her thoughts again began to drift towards what had happened to her just a just one month prior.

Returning home from her travels with Orphen and Majic, Cleao had enjoyed the peace and quiet. It had been nice not to have to worry about giant bugs, vengeful dragons, or where she going to sleep for the night. It was wonderful to have three hot meals a day that were remotely edible, as well as clean clothes that were not ripped, torn, stained, or destroyed. After a while though, she had started to go insane at home with nothing to do. Her mother had insisted that she pick up more Lady like activities to help her get back to normal. Doing nothing but playing the piano, sewing, going to tea parties, and dancing had started to annoy her.

'I'm not meant to play the piano, sew, go to tea parties or dance,' she thought morosely. 'Why can't I be me? For that matter, who am I now?' Sighing softly she went deeper into herself searching for an answer. Time passed quickly, like magic in the air.

'I haven't known who I am since I meet Orphen. Traveling with Orphen and Majic awakened something within me! What it is though?' A puzzled look quickly crossed her delicate features. 'I don't know what's wrong with me!' She cried mentally. 'I wish I did. The feeling of wrongness is even worse here, than it was at home. Why couldn't I stay at home and be me?' A smile crossed her face as she remembered one of the reasons why she had to leave home.

Leki had developed the habit of blowing up Dortin and Volcan. The stupid trolls had nowhere to go after the adventure so they went back to Everlasting Manor begging for a job. Well, actually Dortin had begged for a job, something decent to eat, and place to sleep safe from monsters, while Volcan looked at the valuables with greedy look in his eyes.

Whenever Volcan tried to steal something (which was often), Leki was always there to stop him. Sadly, innocent Dortin was always with his brother trying to convince him to stop, he was blown up as well. Dortin and a sullen Volcan would apologize. Cleao would apologize for Leki's behavior to her mother. This cycle went on continuously for weeks. Finally the property damage bill became too much. Thus, Leki had a perfectly good reason to go with her to boarding school.

Nothing had changed since the last time she had been at boarding school. The only difference this time was that Leki had accompanied her. It had taken a few heated words with the schoolmaster, plus a large sum of money donated to the school to get her way (her mother had not been pleased). So in the end, Leki was allowed to stay with her, and since he was labeled as a "dangerous animal" she got her own room.

However, Leki was the only friend she had here, and she was getting very lonely. 'Learning would be so much easier if I had someone to study with, but everyone here seems shallow. All they're concerned with is their money, clothes, and who was dating whom.' After trying to save a dragon, a master sorcerer, and meeting rich and poor people a like changed how she viewed people. She no longer felt uncomfortable around people of a different race, class, or species. Sadly, the school was very upscale and there weren't any one of a different race, class or species from her here, except Leki.

Leki was in the chair next to her, his chest moving up down slowly in sleep. He was snoring softly and slept on. Unaware of her troubled mind. Stroking his back with her hand she smiled at the young deep dragon. Leki always listened to her, no matter what she had to say. Absently petting him, she went back to blankly gazing at the book she was supposed to read. Her thoughts started to stray towards the handsome sorcerer she had traveled with.

'I wonder where Orphen is? Oh why should I care about that lazy, good for nothing sorcerer! Orphen doesn't love me. He loves Azalie...not me. Not me. And he will never love me. I'm not useful enough.' Her thoughts went on in this pattern for half an hour before she managed to stop herself.

Shaking her head slightly at that thought she picked up her book. Wiping away tears from her eyes she started read the title for the first time since picking up from her the bookstore early that day. The boarding school was run as a University were the students had to buy their own books for nearly triple the cost of the actual book.

'How ironic! The book is about the Tower of Fang. I bet I know more about that place than all of the students here put together.' Smiling to herself she thought of her good childhood friend Majic. 'He should be earning his place at the Tower by now. I wonder how he's doing?' Majic had always been there for her when she was feeling down. The brotherly like teasing had kept her angry enough not to be depressed. 'And once I realized what he was doing I no longer felt depressed. I wish he were here now.'

Opening the book Cleao started reading the first chapter. She tried learning more about the world around her once she realized how little she knew. 'I felt like a total idiot around Orphen! He always had to explain things to me. I wasn't much help to him on his quest to save Azalie. I couldn't read the books in the library at the Tower of Fang, nor could I read the ancient runes in the library ruins. I should have been able to help him more. Maybe that is why he was so distant to me. I was nothing but a burden to him.' Forcing herself to read the material in front of her, Cleao continued to study about the Tower. Shortly after the first few chapters, the book actually started to get interesting. She rapidly became engrossed the book as it talked about the Tower of Fang and its history.

It was close to midnight when she stopped reading the end of chapter fourteen. Yawning loudly she stretched and set the book down on the table beside her. Walking over the bed she started undressing and getting ready for bed. Pulling on her pink nightgown she got into bed and fell quickly asleep. Unknown to her something troublesome was stirring in the night air. "Orphen…"