Meanwhile, Mel stood in Rue’s room, watching as she worked intently on her cybernetic equipment, goggles perched on her face. The faint hum of tools filled the air.

“Uh, Rue, you’ve been awfully quiet,” Mel ventured, stepping closer.

Without missing a beat, Rue spun around to face him, her goggles glinting and faint green scales dotting her skin. Her voice was sharp, laced with jealousy. “What?! You think you’re better than me just because you’ve been loud and I’ve been quiet?!”

Mel blinked, startled by her outburst. “What? No! What are you even talking about?”

Rue’s eyes narrowed, piercing through Mel like daggers, her frustration mirrored in the vivid green hue spreading across her face. “You never have time for me anymore!” she snapped, her voice trembling with jealousy. Rising from her seat, she pointed an accusatory finger at him. “And you had the nerve to invite the brother of the man who put me in this wheelchair?! What were you thinking?! What’s up with that?”

She rolled toward him with a fiery intensity, and Mel instinctively backed away.

“I-I thought you were okay with it! You said it yourself!” Mel stammered, finding himself cornered.

Rue’s body began to tremble, her hands clutching her head as if battling an internal storm. “Mel… I don’t feel good,” she whimpered, her voice cracking before erupting into a deafening scream—a roar that shook the room like the bellow of a dragon.

Mel’s hand shot out instinctively, but what he saw froze him in place. Rue slowly stood from her wheelchair, her legs moving with an unnatural strength.

“Rue?!” Mel’s voice was a mix of awe and fear.

She staggered forward, her body transforming before his eyes. Glimmering green scales erupted across her skin, spreading like wildfire. Her emerald eyes burned with an otherworldly light, her once-human features still strikingly beautiful but now sharpened with a draconic edge. Massive green wings unfurled from her back, their span filling the room.

Mel took a hesitant step closer, his voice soft. “Rue… is that really you?”

In Percival and Ruecrix’s room, the muffled commotion outside didn’t reach their ears. Percival reclined on the bed, his gaze drifting to the ceiling. “Fifteen years… It feels like yesterday. I’d just become king, standing proud on my crown day. And then—out of nowhere—a kingdom attacked us. I was stabbed, bleeding out, and standing at death’s door.” He chuckled softly, pulling Ruecrix into a warm embrace. “And then you came—the Scarlet Tempest.”

Ruecrix smirked, gently pushing his face away. “Why are you digging up old stories?”

“Because,” Percival said, his voice rich with nostalgia, “that was the day I knew you were meant to be my queen. A badass dragon hybrid.” He laughed, shaking his head. “The way you stormed into that battlefield… Ripping arms off, stomping enemies into the dirt—you were terrifying and magnificent.”

Ruecrix rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide the hint of pride in her smile. “I guess it’s one way to win a man’s heart—leave a trail of destruction behind me.”

Back in Rue’s room, a jealous rage consumed her. With a growl, she launched a roundhouse kick at Mel, her foot powered by a booster and infused with her extraordinary dragon strength. The impact struck him square in the face, sending him hurtling through three walls before crashing into the kitchen.

“Whoa!” Mel shouted, staggering to his feet with a bloodied nose and trembling knees. “What the heck?! When did she get so strong?!”

Before he could catch his breath, Rue dashed toward him, her leg crackling with green magical energy. She threw another kick with blinding speed. Mel grabbed a nearby spoon and, with impressive weapon mastery, attempted to deflect the blow. But her raw power overwhelmed him, shattering his defense as her fist crashed into him.

“M-Mel! Help me!” Rue cried out, her voice breaking as she threw him into the fridge.

Mel coughed and slumped to the ground, wincing in pain. “It’d be really helpful for me to help you if you didn’t keep hitting me!” he groaned, rubbing his side.

Rue’s body trembled, her eyes flickering between green and her natural color. She clutched her head as if battling an unseen force. “I…I can’t control it!” she sobbed, her green scales spreading rapidly.

Mel gritted his teeth and slowly stood, despite his body protesting every movement. “Alright,” he muttered, grabbing a frying pan from the counter. “If you’re not gonna stop, then I’ll just have to make you stop!”

Moments later, in Ruecrix and Percival’s room, the royal couple slept peacefully in each other's arms, their soft snores harmonizing like a lullaby. The room was serene, save for the faint glow of moonlight through their ornate window.

That tranquility was abruptly disturbed—though not that they’d notice. Mel’s body slammed against the soundproof, unbreakable window that offered a perfect view of the hallway chaos. His face squished against the glass, his expression a mix of desperation and sheer terror.

“Help!” he screamed, but the soundproof design ensured his cries went unheard. Rue, in a green-scaled, jealous frenzy, grabbed his leg with her dragon-strength grip and swung him like a ragdoll.

WHAM! She slammed him into one wall. WHACK! Then the opposite wall. “Rue, stop! I’m fragile!” Mel wailed as she continued the rhythmic destruction.

In their room, Percival stirred slightly, mumbling in his sleep. “Mmm…sounds like the mice are back…” he muttered groggily before snuggling closer to Ruecrix.

Meanwhile, in the hallway, Mel was mid-flight once more. “Rue, I swear—AAAH!” His sentence cut off as she catapulted him into a decorative vase, shattering it.

Rue tossed him aside briefly to catch her breath, panting. Mel weakly raised a hand from the ground. “Please stop!” he croaked.

Her glowing eyes narrowed, and she stomped over. “You dare call a truce after offering chocolate pudding to Anita and not me?! ME?!” She grabbed him by the shirt and hoisted him up.

“IT WAS VANILLA!” Mel sputtered, but it was too late—he was already airborne again.

Mel clung to the ceiling, defying gravity in sheer desperation. “I need to get out of here!” he yelled, his voice trembling with panic. He glanced down to see Rue, her glowing eyes fixed on him like a predator sizing up prey.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Before he could think of an escape plan, her wings erupted from her back, green and massive, sending gusts of wind that knocked over furniture. She launched herself upward at terrifying speed.

“Oh, come on!” Mel cried, scrambling into the air. His flight was more frantic flapping than controlled movement, but it was all he could manage. “What is even happening?!” he wailed as Rue shot after him, her jaws snapping dangerously close.

With a sudden lunge, she clamped her teeth onto his leg, locking her jaw with unrelenting force. “RUE! NOT THE LEG, I NEED THAT!” he screamed, flailing helplessly. Rue spun mid-air, using him like a wrecking ball, smashing him through three walls in rapid succession.

Mel hit the ground with a thud, coughing and groaning. “Okay, definitely not Rue right now,” he muttered, dragging himself under a bed for cover. He pulled out his book, flipping through the seemingly blank pages as his eyes glowed white, frantically searching for answers.

“Daggers… no. Dwarves… definitely no. Dragons—here!” he whispered, his voice a mix of relief and terror. “Okay, okay… ‘Some dragons, particularly from the Frikas clan, develop hybrid forms linked to their emotions. Colors correspond to the emotion driving their transformation. Blue equals sadness, red equals rage, and—oh no—green! The green-eyed monster: jealousy. Only one recorded case—Kimmu Frikas, infamous for uncontrollable jealousy!’” He slapped the page. “Rue’s skin is green. She’s jealous! This is bad. This is really, really—”

The bed suddenly lifted above him, Rue holding it effortlessly with one hand. “There you are,” she growled, her voice dripping with menace.

Mel barely had time to react before she grabbed his shirt and hurled him like a sack of potatoes, sending him flying across the room. As he soared, he managed to gasp out, “This. Is. NOT. How. I. Die!”

“You fought Bimoth, who was my friend! I’m jealous! Bimoth fought you, who I lo—” Rue’s words halted mid-sentence as both she and Mel turned toward Arid, who stormed into the castle after his therapy session, pacing like a whirlwind of bottled emotions.

“Listen up, Melanthius,” Arid began, completely oblivious to the fact that Rue currently had Mel in a vice grip, her dragon claws wrapped tightly around his neck. Mel flailed, scratching at her arm, his face turning a lovely shade of crimson, but Arid didn’t even blink. “I get that I’m a little angry—and yeah, maybe that’s why I push people away. But I’m trying, alright? Really trying.”

Rue glanced at Arid, momentarily loosening her grip. Mel gasped, “A-Arid, not the best time!”

Arid ignored him entirely, pacing faster. “And yeah, I know my father’s state isn’t a good excuse for me to act like a complete jerk, but I’ve been working on it! That shrink you suggested? She read me like a book, man. Said I’ve got all this pent-up garbage, and it’s spilling over, making me lash out at people I actually care about.”

Mel clawed at Rue’s arm, his voice strangled. “C-Cool, Arid, I’m s-super glad you’re having a breakthrough, but could you maybe help—gack!” Rue tightened her grip, her glowing green eyes flickering between Arid and Mel.

“And another thing!” Arid pressed on, completely unfazed. “I know I act all tough, but honestly, I look up to you, Mel. Like, seriously. You walk in, and people just—just notice. You’ve got this whole leader thing going on, and I’m over here swinging my staff like it means something.”

Mel’s eyes bulged. “T-That’s great, buddy, but—”

Arid kept going, his pacing turning into stomping. “And when you and your group show up, it’s like, I don’t know, everything feels different. Less… lonely. I love it, okay? I love it when you guys are around. There, I said it!”

Rue’s grip faltered, her expression softening ever so slightly. Mel took the opportunity to wheeze out, “Fantastic…now can someone please tell her to stop choking me!”

“Who told you to confess to Mel like that?!” Rue roared, her voice dripping with jealousy as her glowing green eyes locked onto Arid.

“Confess?! What are you even talking about?!” Arid shouted, his eyes widening in horror. He pointed an accusatory finger. “AND WHY THE HELL IS YOUR SKIN SO SCALY?! HOW ARE YOU EVEN WALKING AND FLYING?!”

Rue, with an almost nonchalant flick of her wrist, hurled Mel like a rag doll against the nearest wall. He collided with a loud thud and crumpled to the ground in a groaning heap. “I think I’m just gonna… stay here for a sec…” he muttered, face-first on the floor.

Arid gritted his teeth, yanking out his staff and twirling it into a defensive position.Rue smirked, her scaly green skin shimmering with dragon energy. Before he could react, Rue lunged, her fist blazing with green magical energy. Arid tried to block the punch with his staff, but her strength was overwhelming. She drove him into the ground, the floor cracking beneath them.

“Princess, calm down!” Arid gasped, struggling beneath her. “Calm down?!” she snarled, lifting him effortlessly. “You think you can just waltz in here and talk about looking up to my Melanthius?! My Mel?! I’ll show you who’s at the top!”

With that, she hurled him like a javelin straight into the window. The glass didn’t shatter—being reinforced—but the impact left a spiderweb of cracks as Arid’s face smooshed comically against the surface. He peeled off the window and stumbled backward.

“Okay, noted,” Arid coughed and muttered, shaking his head. “I thought Draven was the only dragon hybrid.”

Rue marched toward him, her dragon wings unfurling menacingly. “You haven’t seen anything yet!”

“Mel! Any chance you could stop her?!” Arid shouted, pointing wildly at Rue as she closed the distance.

Mel groaned from his spot on the ground, barely able to lift his head. “Yeah, just… give me a minute… or five…”

Suddenly, the room’s atmosphere shifted. A faint purple haze began to radiate from Mel, his eyes now swirling with smoky violet energy. Rue’s dragon form halted mid-step, her glowing green eyes narrowing as they focused on him.

“Oh no, you don’t,” she growled, recognizing the shift. With a burst of speed, she leapt onto his back, her weight pinning him down as he struggled to rise. Mel let out a wheezy cough, his face pressed against the floor.

“You’re not getting a power-up,” Rue snarled, stomping on his back with enough force to crack the floor beneath him.

Mel wheezed, trying—and failing—to push her off.

Arid, seizing the opportunity, charged at Rue with his staff raised high. “Get off him, you scaly psycho!” he shouted, swinging the weapon with all his might.

Rue didn’t even flinch. With a single, fluid motion, she turned and clotheslined Arid mid-charge, sending him spinning through the air like a poorly thrown boomerang. He slammed into the wall with a dull thud, sliding down into a heap.

Before he could recover, Rue was on him, her fists raining down like a hurricane. Each punch cracked the floor and sent shockwaves through the room. Arid tried to block, but her strength was overwhelming, and his arms gave out after the first few blows.

By the time Rue stopped, Arid was slumped on the ground, knocked out cold. She stood over him, breathing heavily, her dragon wings twitching as she turned back to Mel.

“You’re next,” she hissed, a dangerous grin spreading across her face.

Two hours later, Ruecrix stirred from her nap. She stretched languidly, removing Percival’s hand from her hip with a smirk before standing. Her gaze shifted to the window, where a streak of blood on the outside pane caught her attention. Her eyes narrowed as she stepped closer.

“Activate surveillance,” she commanded, and the window shimmered, morphing into a screen. The scene that unfolded made her jaw tighten. She watched as Rue, in full green-eyed monster form, brutalized Mel and Arid for two hours straight.

Her heart sank. “So, she did inherit the Frikas trait,” Ruecrix muttered bitterly, her voice laced with regret. She clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. “I did everything I could to suppress it. To shield her from this curse.”

Ruecrix turned away from the screen, her eyes burning with determination. “I wanted my family to be safe from those monsters. From the Frikas lineage that ruined everything.”

As she stepped into the ruined living room, the destruction told the story of the battle. Overturned furniture, shattered walls, and scorch marks painted a grim picture. She inhaled sharply, her breath trembling.

“I hate the Frikas,” she growled, her voice deepening. “A cursed race… and one I can’t escape.”

Suddenly, her body convulsed. Red scales began to spread across her skin, glinting like molten armor. Her breaths grew heavier, each exhale laced with embers. She hunched over as her transformation began, muscles expanding and bones shifting.

A guttural roar erupted from her throat, shaking the room as her form morphed into a massive dragon hybrid. Her glowing crimson eyes flared with purpose.

“I have to stop her,” Ruecrix snarled, flames licking at her teeth. “Because I am The Scarlet Tempest.”