That scream didn't sound friendly. Startled, Hayden cracked the glass he was holding. Tea mixed with blood coursed down his tensed arm. The twins frowned, watching the silver smoke around the ceiling tangling into a confused mass. When they rushed to the door, their jaws almost dropped to the floor upon seeing the unconscious Melvin. His arm was draped over Miracle's shoulder.
"What happened?" Hayden asked, keeping his scratched palm behind his back. The wound was closing.
What should she say? If she were to say the truth—that this human boy could see the barrier when he wasn't supposed to—he was surely getting chased out of the house.
"Nothing serious. Just a mild heatstroke," she said simply.
She didn't want to tell them what exactly happened yet, though it might be a mistake keeping them in the dark.
Lyn raised a brow. "Mild? The scream—"
"Now that we don't have to worry about the mortal overhearing us," Miracle cut in before she had a chance to further her doubts, "let's continue, Mr. Hayden."
"Continue what?" She heard Lyn asking her brother as he flattened the cushion for Melvin to rest on it.
Kingsley might not like him, but he didn't want to go against the values his dad had raised them with.
Hayden walked over to the couch and crouched beside it. Brushing Melvin's fringe away, he gently rubbed his temples.
"Head up first, children. I need to talk to Miracle."
"Yes, dad." The twins could only obey.
As soon as they left, there was a long silence. Miracle sensed Hayden was still dithering to tell her everything. But time was running out. She was sent here for a reason, not as a burden.
Who did he talk to about her? Why wasn't he revealing anything to her?
"Tell me, Mr. Hayden." She tugged at his sleeve, pleading, "What's wrong with this cycle?"
Her gaze was so determined. He gave in, at last.
"Do you know why mortals stopped believing in dragons?" he asked.
"Because of an incident."
"What incident?"
She shrugged. "No one is allowed to talk about it in Long Sheng Jie."
Hayden took a deep breath. "Fallen angels have always been the evils. But Mynheex was once the plant elves of Soulless Sonder."
"What?! They were... the silver fronds?" She gaped in shock. "Myn... Mynheex?"
"They were the doorkeepers of Long Sheng Jie. In those days, demons might be demons, but they seemed to be on good terms with Long Sheng Jie. Or rather, they were all minding their own businesses. Nobody created wars. Everybody was living peacefully. But everything torn apart because of betrayal," he continued, knitting his brows.
"Betrayal?"
He stroked Melvin's cheeks, his eyes expressing layers of concern for the unconscious boy.
"Long... long time ago, there was a fallen angel and a celestial dragon who had fallen in love with one another. They made me realize the beauty of love, that love can be so pure and simple." Hayden caressed the silver smoke twirling around his finger. "But their love wasn't blessed. His Majesty got angry with them, more at Sonders for allowing a fallen angel into Long Sheng Jie. The plant elves begged for forgiveness. However, nothing could be done. The fact that they had broken the rules was inexcusable. His Majesty tore away their skin of immortality and went to the extent of banning them from entering the realm. Ever since then, we no longer have any elves born from these little silver fronds."
"But why did the plant elves agree to help?"
"Greed kills a person, my dragon. Sonders.... they had always desired to be number one."
"What... What happened to the lovers, then?" She held her breath, having a hunch that the latter part of the story was going to be more devastating.
A wave of sadness glinted across Hayden's eyes. His expression gripped her heart. "I'll tell you about it next time. I need to go upstairs to check on the twins," he said, reaching for the stairs.
Feeling complicated, Miracle slumped against the cushion behind her. Just like that, she sat alone in the living room for a few minutes, not doing anything but staring into the distance. Whatever Hayden said a while ago played like a recorder at the back of her mind.
'Mynheex once belonged to Long Sheng Jie. Everything fell apart because of betrayal.'
Her heart ached. She hated the rules, hated how Long Shen handled things with no mercy nor compassion. For Sonders to give up on their pure souls and bow to the demons, it was hard to imagine the amount of torment they had gone through.
The urge to release the dragon in her was getting stronger the more she tried to hold it back. But she hesitated to click the latch. Melvin was in the house. She was aware of it. Yet, there was this voice in her, assuring her that everything would be all right since it'd probably take some time for him to regain consciousness.
That she would have enough time to free the beast in her even if it was just for a short little while.
When she stepped out of the sliding door, wild grasses began to wrap around her bare feet, tingling her with a rich sensation of earthy vitality. Eau de nil rings rose from the soil and circled her as she continued walking toward the deeper layer of the backyard. Long whiskers at the sides of her mouth emerged; her legs transformed into the tail of a white dragon. Skin of mortality sank under her icy flesh, making way for the scales to return to their original positions.
"I don't know the precise story yet," she uttered. "But I really want to put an end to this endless war." Miracle flicked awake the colors in her eyes. "Earth, I summon you."
The moment she stepped into the hidden layer, her human disguise was engulfed wholly by the celestial animal.
With a loud snarl, she lifted her paws. Surrounding roots pierced through the ground at once, gliding through the air to crawl onto her body. The call of nature surged in her. Gravel on the ground hovered, turning into merciless daggers as she hurled them toward the sea-blue clouds behind the external protection. They rebounded. Descending to the pond not far away, she slammed the water with her tail. The roots on her body expanded and burst into glowing flakes, drying up the ground right there and then.
Countless streaks of lightning flashed across the sky and struck the barrier as if they were reprimanding her for what she did. Black pigeons on the tree branches and electric poles flew away, jerked by the anonymous force.
Dissolving into a human again, Miracle heaved a heavy sigh. She yanked over a whole lump of silver smoke circulating in the house to restore everything back to how it was.
When she exited the invisible layer, a piece of fallen white Magnolia shouted for her attention. It reminded her of the white jade Xun gave her when he was still alive. Picking up the broken petals, she floated them on her hand with no hesitation, forgetting the fact that there was a mortal in the house, and she was no longer in the camouflaged area.
"For you, Xun, and for the rest of our dragons, I promise to give my all." The petals incandesced and stuck back together.
Right then, footsteps approaching from the back sent numerous shivers down her spine. She dropped the flower instantly and prayed hard that it wouldn't be him.
"What are you talking about?"
But as soon as he spoke, her heart sank.
'Crap.'
Miracle faked a laugh to ease her nervousness. "Oh... You're awake? How are you feeling?"
"What are you talking about...?" he repeated his question, ignoring hers. His eyes widened in shock and confusion. He pointed to the Magnolia dropped next to her feet. "And what did you do to that flower?"
Panic flooded her soul. She couldn't think of anything to say.
Melvin locked his sight on her. "Miracle... You're a dragon?"
Cold sweat rolled down the bridge of her nose to her shivering chin and pattered to the fallen Magnolia. The drip was so clear in her ears that she could barely hear anything else. Melvin hit the bull's eye. Her heart was leaping into her throat. Hundreds of excuses ran through her mind. She needed something to cover up desperately. Anything at all. Miracle poked her nails into her palm to pull herself together. "W-What? Melvin, what are you talking about?" Her voice cracked as she stammered to finish her sentence. He remained quiet. His ebony eyes were darting around wildly. "Dragons in this generation? Melvin, are you serious?" she said, increasing his doubts about dragons' existence while taking a step closer to the door. Though she had always wanted mortals to acknowledge the presence of dragons, now was certainly not the time. Moreover, when their doubts were literally everywhere. Melvin outstretched his leg and flashed in front of her. He didn't sound convinced. "But
Standing in front of Stellaerio, Miracle stared at the peculiar building with complicated feelings. The stained white crescent hung on the main block resembled the loss of hope in starting afresh. Caws of crows flying past the swaying trees further gloomed the surroundings. Rather than a school, it looked more like a place of life and death. When Miracle reached the second-floor corridor, she headed to the punch card rack and heaved a sigh of relief. It was a Saturday, and Maddie was in the school. While she was still feeling good that her trip to Stellaerio on the weekend didn't go down the drain, a piece of paper flew in her direction and landed next to her feet. A shiver ran down her spine the moment she flipped it over. Her throat constricted, and a twinge of guilt gripped her heart as the words read aloud in her mind. It was the same announcement from that day. 'Xiao Xun, they were the ones you died protecting…' Right then, pictures of the deceased started to merge into
Whatever he said was too real to be claimed as a made-up story. "How did he know about the tragedy?" she murmured, stepping out of Stellaerio. Wandering along the streets, Miracle clipped the diamond pendant with her lips while immersing in her train of thought. Far ahead, the soothing color combination of the clouds brightened the rows of houses and shops. Lilac hue topped the orange, overtaking the rest. The evening had descended. Three black pigeons on the overhead cable flew across the sky upon seeing their flocks approaching. When a young man in a teal coat picked up his incoming call, he forgot that his office bag was unzipped. The documents kept inside were scattered everywhere on the road. They smashed toward the accelerating car that was trying to get past the yellow light. The man immediately surged forward to save his papers. The driver honked. 'Free me.' Miracle snapped back to reality, frowning. "Who is that?" A strong wave of mortality breath registered its presen
"She went to Stellaerio? On a Saturday?!" Lyn freaked out. "Did she tell you why?" Hayden flashed him a questionable look. The decrease of warmth in his voice slapped hard on Melvin's face. Kingsley leaned against the couch; his legs outstretched. "I hope it's not a trap you set." "I swear upon my life," Melvin hissed, "… that I'll never do a thing to hurt her again." The Watsons were back just a few minutes before Miracle did. She was outside, hesitating to enter as she lowered her eyes to the bamboo scroll in her hand.'Should I let them know?' she thought. When the noise in the house turned louder, she quickly unrolled the piece and tucked it inside her pants. She pinned the hook of her vintage belt to an inner notch, securing it tightly. Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself together and creaked open the door. "I'm back." Four pairs of eyes switched to her as one. The sudden change of pressure crawling in the air put a pause to their heated conversation. Miracle choked on
The next Monday, Maddie turned into the usual badass again. Miracle tried to have eye contact with him, but he avoided it. He made the students in his class stand on the tables when they failed to answer his questions correctly. It wasn't surprising to see many heads almost touching the ceiling. Some of them even had to crouch a little to save their lives from the fast-spinning fans. His questions were always out of the box—reincarnation was one of his favorites. When it was the Watsons' turn, they turned harder. The bias was obvious. He didn't like them. "You." He jerked his head in Lyn's direction. "It's Lyn." She rolled her eyes. He didn't give a damn about what she said. "If you have the right to choose, would you still choose to be a hu—" he paused, gaping for a brief second before forcing the -man to the hu-man down his throat, "… choose to be who you are if you are born again?" "Why not?" "Tell me why." "I see no reason in telling you." "Then I see no reason for you t
Silver fronds swayed, more when they sensed the dragon girl approaching. Veins at the midribs lengthened, transforming into fine little hairs along the edges of the pinnules. Detaching from the plant, they turned into layers of smoke and joined the rest lingering around the house. A silver puff leaped forward and caressed her forehead like it owned five fingers. When Miracle stroked the gray blades, she felt an instant replenishment of the elements in her body. "I didn't know you're interested in decorative flowers." "Hmm? Decorative flowers?" Glancing back, only then did she realize that these plants must've seemed dead in the eyes of a mortal. "Oh." She chuckled. "Yea. A… A little." Rubbing his palms against the three-quarter pants on him, he stammered, "Miracle, I..." When he failed to deliver the words, he went behind her and dropped a piece of black cloth over her eyes before she had a chance to say no. "I want to bring you to a place," he muttered, adjusting the blindfol
"But it's dangerous." Hayden sank his hand into the filthy liquid and swashed the residues into the sink strainer. "Don't do it." He pulled up its handle, dumping away the pieces of overcooked garlic. "I need to be on my move already." Her voice was slowly increasing. "We can't let them do whatever they want like we don't exist." "If you're gonna proceed with that method of yours, things could end up worse." He shook the water off his fingers. "Mr. Hayden, you don't get what I'm saying. I'm not going to go around and ask one by one if they have any marks. I… I just want to know what they look like," she breathed. "So that I can be alert." "I don't see the need for that, Miracle." A wave of pleasant smell wafted to her nose as he exited the doom-shaped wall with a cup of tea in his hand. "Please, Mr. Hayden." She walked over and grabbed it from him. The heat sizzled her skin. "Please," she repeated, trying her best to stay expressionless despite the burning pain. He snatched it b
'It's time to wake up, Melvin.' "Who are you?" 'You know I hate failures.' "WHO ARE YOU?!" 'I am you. You're me. We're...' "Melvin!" He jolted awake to Miracle's breaths brushing past his skin. He pulled back his arm, retreating from her whisper at once. Too close. 'A dream?' he thought. Glancing around, he realized that the lesson was still going on. And he, was still in class. Their literature teacher, Mr. Sam, didn't notice that one of his students had just woken up from a doze. He was so engrossed in copying the notes onto the whiteboard with his calligraphy handwriting. The extra curve he put on the letter "F" had turned it into a "P" in everybody's eyes except his own; the missing dot on the "i" made it seem like it was joined with the next letter "n", forming an "m". He claimed it was stylish when it was just a bunch of messy chains of alphabets grouped together to form words. Melvin dropped his eyes back on Miracle, the deskmate he requested to be with on his first