Chapter 3

The first day as a disguised human. The first day as a Stellaerian.

The first day of the beginning of everything.

"Keep your identity well hidden, dragon girl," Miracle muttered, adjusting the little red bow tie on her uniform. "As long as I'm not exposed, everything will be all right."

"Miracle! You done?" Lyn shouted from the bottom floor.

"Just a second!"

As soon as she walked down the stairs, the smell of flour and vanilla extract wafted to her nose. She sniffed. It was something she wasn't used to smelling.

Hayden motioned her to come over. Plucking two slices of bread from the toaster, he coated each with a rich amount of peanut butter. Watching his hand moving to the empty plate at her seat, only then did she understand the pieces were meant for her. Miracle pulled out the chair, exhaling a silent sigh. She wanted to refuse the meal. Such mortal-ly food, she barely had one in her thousand years of life.

Dragons didn't eat sandwiches nor drink any milk. They rarely eat. But if they did, it was always fresh, raw meat.

"Miracle, you have to get used to this. All dragons sent here must get used to this," he stressed.

She knew the point he was trying to make. To remain hidden in this world, first, she had to act like a human. 

"I guess I don't have a choice," she uttered, finally taking a bite of her first-ever human breakfast.

"You'll be fine." Lyn squeezed her hand. "Dad has prepared everything for you. All you have to do is go with the flow."

It took a while for Miracle to realize Lyn was referring to the school she had been enrolled in.

"Thanks, Lyn." She smiled.

***

"Miracle Watson? You may enter now," Miss Nancy said, glancing over at the entrance.

The door slid open. The moment Miracle saw the numerous mortals sitting in the class, she was taken aback. Her toes twitched inside her pair of black Bata shoes. A frigid chill ran down her spine, contracting the hairs behind her neck. She couldn't bring herself to step forward.

'They are the ones who killed Xiao Xun, Xue Er.' She wavered as her stare drifted to the nametags sewn below their badges. 'Are they really worth being protected? Worth risking our lives in exchange for their peace? They don't even believe in us anymore. Why are we trying so hard to keep them safe?'

Just before the evil thought dominated her mind, she saw Kingsley and Lyn waving at her.

'No no no, Xue Er. You're here to protect. You can only protect,' she reminded herself.

And so, inhaling a deep breath, she stepped into the class.

As if there were a spotlight shining on her, everyone gaped. The boys weren't blinking at all for fear that they would miss a single second of admiring her beauty.

"Hello. I'm Miracle Watson. Nice to meet you," she said.

"All right, Miracle. Let's get you a seat."

Miss Nancy pulled her slipping specs to the bridge of her flat nose and scanned around, looking for an available spot. 

"Teacher, over here!" said one of the excited boys. 

"No, mine is better! It's closer to the board." 

"Excuse me, who wants to see the board when you get to see the sea?" 

"What nonsense are you talking about? We aren't in a dating class, moron!" 

"Enough," the class teacher cut in.

But it wasn't loud enough to keep the class under control. Grabbing the cane hung next to the whiteboard, she slapped it hard on the teacher's table. Decorative flowers in the ceramic vase were scattered across the tiled floor.

"Quiet or get out."

She didn't raise her voice, but they understood their teacher pretty well.

"How about the one next to Rex, our monitor?" Miss Nancy suggested while glaring at the students, shutting them up.

"Sure, sure," Miracle agreed and hurried off with no dither. Too much attention wasn't something she liked.

Right before the lesson started, Rex was quick enough to greet her under his breath, "Nice to meet you, Miracle. Hope we can get along well."

"Nice to meet you too, Rex. I'm sure we will," she said flatly, brushing away the stray strands of hair stuck on her cheeks.

And the conversation ended there.

She didn't like humans. It'd be bad to turn down a greeting from a new friend who seemed no harm. But it'd be worse to engage in real relationships with them.

Lessons went on with almost no breaks in between. Miss Nancy—the chemistry and class teacher, Mr. Sam—the literature teacher, Mr. Maddie—the history teacher, and a few others that she couldn't remember. Spending eight hours in school listening to human logic was crap. A total waste of time. She didn't need to know how the scientific theories in this world manipulated humans' ways of thinking. All the technical terms and relationships—first law, second law, and whatnot—were obviously lies meant to ease, or to be more exact, to cover the reality of the supernatural phenomenon.

She hated them. Too ridiculous.

As soon as the last ringing of the school bell drifted to their ears, Lyn pulled Miracle away in an instant while Kingsley grabbed her school bag from the chair. They dashed outside before anyone could stop them.

Before her deskmate could bid her a proper goodbye.

"You did a great job on your first day, Miracle!" Lyn wrapped her arms around her the moment they exited the school gate. 

"Did I?" She chuckled.

"Good job!" Kingsley patted her head. But he pulled back his hand at once when he realized their difference in divine rankings. "Sorry I..."

"When I told you to ignore the protocols, I meant to put aside the status as well." She winked. "Treat me as your friend, your sister, rather than a celestial being of a higher cultivation."

Kingsley smiled.

Walking along the street, Miracle and Lyn had their arms linked together while teasing the twin brother for being too slow behind. From afar, they looked like three close siblings instead of a dragon with two half-mortals as her bodyguards.

Kingsley kicked the stones along the pavement after finally catching up with their speed. And perhaps it was because of the sun, his high cheekbones stood out more than the night before. 

"Being born as TinXi, we were told to protect the dragons, to help them look after the mortals even if they weren't around," he said. 

"The attack starts even before the 18th year?" Miracle asked. 

"The 18th year marks the repetition of the bloody battle. But small fights in between can happen anywhere, anytime."

"Though dragons have yet to take down the evils, they managed to stop them from breaking the barrier in this Syihuex Island." Lyn stopped and rolled up her sleeve. "See?" She pointed at the burn scar on her upper arm. "Mynheex gave me this when I was patrolling the night a few years ago."

Miracle ran her fingers gently across the wrinkled patch. "Night?"

"As far as we know, they don't come out during the day," Kingsley uttered.

"But why didn't they expose the truth to the mortals? Mortality breaths no longer hurt them anyway."

"True. But they're also part of the myths that humans refused to believe in. Up till now, their cultivation has yet to reach the level that can withstand the sudden outburst of those breaths," Lyn continued explaining.

"Wouldn't the mortals who survived make a fuss about what they saw?"

"Sadly, no one has ever survived a Mynheex attack," Kingsley replied, cursing the stone for almost tripping him. 

***

Hayden was holding something in his hands when they reached home. He slid it under the cushion he was sitting on and pushed it in deeper to avoid any unnecessary attention. It was obvious he didn't want anybody to notice.

Lyn and Kingsley didn't. But Miracle did.

"How was your day, Miracle?" He smiled. And within the curl, there was a slight hope that wished for her not to see the letter he was holding a moment ago.

"It was fun, Mr. Hayden." She acted along. "Lyn and Kingsley helped me out a lot."

"It's their job."

She saw his muscles relax.

Untangling the ribbon on her uniform, Lyn widened her eyes at the word as though Hayden had spoken a taboo. "Job? People get paid for their jobs. But we," she paused for a while, "don't."

Kingsley held back his laugh, trying hard to stabilize the jug as he poured the water. This little sister of his was so good when it came to making grumbles and complaints. 

For once, Miracle felt envy. 

'It must be nice to have an elder brother growing up together,' she thought.

Dragons might be experts when it came to fighting, but not when it involved relationships like love or family. They had been brought up in such a way that relationships were just burdens. "Family" was such a strange word.

Yes, it was true they had parents, and some might have siblings.

But not family.

"Having lunch, Miracle?" Hayden tilted his head slightly to the back as she climbed up the stairs.

"Later, Mr. Hayden." Her voice echoed.

Miracle stayed in front of her room, making no attempts to enter. She pretended like she was up for a rest by deliberately clicking her door. 

"We need to talk." Hayden's toned-down voice confirmed her inexplicable worries.

"Go ahead," Kingsley said.

"Not here. Somewhere else." He grabbed the keys.

Quietly, she followed behind the Watsons. It was a hot afternoon. Clouds were scattered, and the wind was asleep. Hayden led the way with his eyes glued to the tar. The earlier letter could be seen protruding from his pocket as he walked. Sweat streamed down his neck, almost drenching his entire blue T-shirt.

Hayden was disturbed.

Something serious had happened. 

The TinXi came to a stop in front of La'Oceanies, a café with yellow-toned lighting and decorations hanging down the walls. When Kingsley pressed the switch on the tinted glass door, the tinkling of a bell came through. It took a moment for the slide to happen. And as soon as it did, there was a sudden increase in noise.

Miracle went to the seat three tables away from theirs. She shook her head when a waiter in a brown vest came over, asking for her order. She fixed her eyes on the Watsons, doing whatever she could to eavesdrop on their conversation without getting noticed.

"Good evening. What would you like to have?" The same waiter went to them.

"Cappuccino, please." Lyn handed back the laminated single-sheet menu without giving it a thorough look.

"Make that two," Hayden said. 

"No, no. Make that three. Thanks."

Just when the waiter was about to send their orders, Kingsley grabbed his arm.

"You look somewhat familiar." He lowered his head to have a clearer view of the face hidden under the black cap. "P-Peter? You're working here? I thought you hated jobs like this, man!" he teased.

Glancing around to make sure there weren't any supervisions on him, he forcefully pulled back his hand. "Shut up, Kings. Don't you dare spread this in school!"

"What if I do?" he provoked.

"Then be careful with the Cappuccino you'll drink later." He stuck his tongue out at him.

"That's so Peter-ish," Kingsley mumbled, watching his figure receding as he busied himself away.

Lyn faked a cough to get the situation back. "Serious, please."

Hayden began, "We're a step too late."

"What do you mean, dad?" she asked.

"This morning was already the third one. Heart went missing."

Miracle gasped. 'Third one?'

"W-What? Third one?!" Kingsley's pupils shrank at the mention of that.

"Yes." The pressure continued to spike in the air. "Third one."

"Aren't we supposed to let Miracle know as well?" Lyn frowned. 

"She'll have to know. I just wanted her to end her first day of school carefreely. For the first day, at least." 

Miracle tensed. The menu she used to block her face crumpled under her force.

Mynheex, green-slimed creatures who worked for fallen angels. They munched on mortals' hearts, especially the ones from young and energetic teenagers, to survive in the world of immortals.

The more they ate, the stronger they became.

"Damn you," Kingsley cursed under his breath, drawing cracks to the ears as he pressed hard on the table. "Mynheex."