In the throne room, chaos reigned. Mel and Arid lay sprawled on the ground, bloodied and bruised, alongside knights who were scattered like fallen leaves after a storm. Rue sat in the shattered remains of the throne, green fire seething from her mouth with every heaving breath. Her glowing eyes scanned the destruction before her as she snarled, “I want a better chair!” With a feral roar, she smashed the throne into splinters with a single blow.
Her menacing gaze shifted to the doors as they creaked open. Ruecrix stepped into the room, her presence commanding. The air seemed to thicken, the tension palpable as Rue’s eyes narrowed at the sight of her.
“Mom?” Rue said, her voice dripping with a mixture of confusion and disdain. She rose, towering over Ruecrix. Her green-scaled form trembled with unrestrained energy. “You’re red? You get to be red, while I’m stuck being this disgusting green?! I’m so jealous!”
Without hesitation, she lunged, throwing a punch that could shatter stone. Ruecrix’s expression darkened, her crimson eyes blazing. “Shut up, you brat!” she growled, effortlessly redirecting Rue’s punch into the wall, which crumbled under the force.
For a brief moment, Ruecrix’s eyes flickered, shifting from blazing red to pitch black. She staggered, clutching her chest. “No,” she muttered, her voice strained. “I can’t… I won’t let the rage take me over.” She exhaled sharply, trying to steady herself.
Rue, however, showed no mercy. She drove a vicious knee into Ruecrix’s face, sending her mother hurtling backward into a pillar. Ruecrix crashed to the ground but recovered quickly, her form radiating fiery power.
“Enough!” Ruecrix roared, unleashing a blazing fireball that streaked through the air like a comet. Rue snarled in return, hurling a green fireball to meet it. The two blasts collided in the center of the room, erupting into a deafening explosion of flame and smoke, shaking the foundations of the castle itself.
Ruecrix tore through the emerald flames, her form wreathed in scarlet fire. With a powerful swipe of her claws, she slashed across Rue’s face, leaving streaks of red against the green scales. Her voice was low but heavy with regret. “I dealt with the first green-eyed monster, and now I have to face another—my own daughter.” She exhaled, the weight of her words etched in her fiery gaze.
Rue snarled, her jealousy and rage burning brighter. With a feral growl, she bit down on Ruecrix’s forearm, her fangs tearing into the scales. Rue used the leverage to sling her mother through the air like a ragdoll, the sheer force rattling the walls. She leapt after Ruecrix with inhuman speed, grabbing her by the head mid-air and slamming her into the ground with a thunderous crash.
Dust and debris erupted as Rue didn’t stop there. She dragged Ruecrix’s face through the shattered floor, leaving a deep trench in her wake before hurling her into the wall with enough force to splinter the stone.
But Ruecrix’s crimson eyes flickered back to life, glowing brighter than ever. “I won’t let you destroy yourself, Rue!” she roared, slamming her elbow into Rue’s face with bone-crushing strength. The impact sent Rue staggering backward.
Ruecrix didn’t waste a second. Fueled by a mix of determination and maternal fury, she launched herself at Rue with relentless precision. Blow after blow rained down on her daughter, each strike carefully aimed—not out of malice but to subdue the beast Rue had become. The clash of scarlet and green fire lit the room in a blinding spectacle, their battle shaking the very foundations of the castle.
King Percival burst into the room, his eyes widening at the chaos unfolding before him. “Dammit!” he muttered under his breath. He had no magic of his own, but he had trained for this moment. He quickly began chanting the incantation Ruecrix had entrusted to him long ago, his voice steady despite the tension in the air.
“Rage de Mort, Jealousy de Mort!”
The words echoed through the room, thick with power. The air itself seemed to crackle, as if the spell was weaving its own force through the space. In an instant, the fighting stopped. The fiery aura surrounding Rue and Ruecrix flickered and dimmed, their bodies going limp as the overwhelming emotions drained from them.
They both collapsed to the ground, their forms returning to normal, the intense green and red glow fading from their skin. The room, once filled with chaos and destruction, fell eerily silent, save for the sound of their heavy breathing as the spell took hold.
Percival exhaled, his heart pounding. Though he had no magic of his own, he had relied on the power of the spell Ruecrix had shared with him—an ancient technique designed to neutralize the fury of those lost in their rage.
Moments later, Rue, Mel, and Arid sat on the edge of Rue’s bed while Ruecrix stood across from them, arms crossed. Her piercing gaze landed on Rue. “Why didn’t you tell me it was growing on you, young lady? I could’ve stopped it.” She gestured toward the faint traces of green scales still visible on Rue’s skin.
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Rue sighed, her shoulders slumping. She tapped her foot against the floor tentatively, savoring the feeling of movement. Tears welled in her eyes as the realization hit—she was no longer paralyzed. Ruecrix’s stern expression softened, and, without a word, they embraced tightly.
“Mom…” Rue sniffled, her voice trembling. Ruecrix held her close, stroking her hair.
“I’m sorry, Rue,” Ruecrix murmured. “I should have told you sooner. I tried so hard to keep you away from this curse, to shield you from this bloodline. The Frikas clan was a line of dragon hybrids—powerful, but cursed by their emotions. We’re the last two because someone wiped out the rest of the clan.” Her voice wavered as the weight of her words hung in the air.
Across the room, Mel and Arid sat munching on popcorn while half-heartedly bandaging their injuries. “This is getting good,” Mel whispered, grimacing as he tightened the wrap around his arm.
Rue sniffled into Ruecrix’s shoulder, her voice muffled. “I don’t want this. I don’t want to be like that again,” she said, her tears soaking into her mother’s shirt.
Arid stood, walking over to Rue. He placed a hand gently on her head. “Hey, it’s hard for me to keep my jealousy in check too. I get it. But just so you know, you’re still paying for my injuries.” He gave her a teasing grin.
Rue managed a watery laugh, and Ruecrix shook her head, an amused smile tugging at her lips. Percival, ever the peacemaker, stepped forward and handed both Mel and Arid two sleek black credit cards.
“I’ve only got a few hundred thousand on each,” Percival said with a shrug. “Hope that’s enough for the damages.” Mel and Arid exchanged a look, their eyes lighting up. “Oh, it’ll do,” Mel said with a grin, pocketing the cards. Rue groaned, finally pulling away from her mother. “You guys are the worst,” she muttered, though a small smile crept onto her face.
And so, the Green-Eyed Monster incident came to a close. Though brief, it was merely the calm before the storm—a prelude to the chaos yet to come.
The next day, Mel and his group gathered at their usual lunch table. Mel winced as he rubbed at his bruises, a low groan escaping his lips. “I’m so hurt,” he muttered dramatically, drawing a raised eyebrow from Arid.
Neither he nor Arid had breathed a word about Rue’s dragon transformation. Rue, for her part, had gone off with Ruecrix to learn more about the Frikas bloodline.
“So, you two fought some crazy goblins in the forest?” Elowen asked, raising her fork mid-bite.
“Yep,” Arid said quickly, nodding. “Tough ones, too.” The lie slipped out smoothly, and he cast a sidelong glance at Mel, who gave him a weak thumbs-up while slumping against the table.
Mel’s gaze drifted upward toward the staff table, where three imposing figures sat—Headmaster Draven, Headmaster Kai, and Headmaster Jasper. Five wardens stood nearby, their presence stern and commanding. “Who are they?” Mel asked, gesturing with his fork before shoving a mouthful of summer grain spaghetti into his mouth.
Renita leaned in conspiratorially. “Word is, the headmasters chose five wardens to teach the red, white, and yellow cards. Apparently, they didn’t want to risk hiring random wardens off the street anymore.” She pointed toward a man with short pink hair, a calm expression, two sharp fangs visible as he spoke, and a muscular build. “That’s Benjamin Lovett, the new history teacher. He’s from Biba Kingdom, where I’m from. He’s a vampire—you can tell by the lack of blood in his cheeks.”
Mel squinted at the man before returning to his meal. “I just can’t trust these wardens,” he said, slurping his spaghetti. “How do we know they’re not going to try to kill us?”
Elowen gave him a skeptical look. “You really think the headmasters would bring assassins into the school?”
“It’s happened before,” Mel said, wiping his mouth with a napkin and motioning toward the wardens.
“Who’re the others?” Jake asked, leaning closer to the table.
Renita squinted, studying the group of new faces. “That’s Chandler Addison,” she said, nodding toward a man eating his meal quietly. “He seems… normal. Probably just a regular human.”
She pointed next to a woman sitting gracefully, adjusting her skirt while laughing with the others. “Victoria Bexley.”
Then her finger moved to a striking woman with an icy, ethereal appearance. “Allynna Thelee. Funny they’d hire an elf, right?”
Mel’s attention, however, was caught by the last warden, who sat still, watching their group with an intensity that made his skin crawl. The man’s piercing gaze was locked directly on him. Mel shifted uncomfortably. “Who’s that?”
Renita followed his line of sight and leaned in closer to Mel, her voice low. “Uh, that’s Aegis Salman. He’s like you, Mel—a wizard.”
The words barely left her mouth before Mel, Sera, Lumi, and Caius all choked on their food, coughing and exchanging wide-eyed glances.
Renita tilted her head in confusion. “What’s with the reaction?” she asked, but no one answered.
Unbeknownst to the others at the table, Sera, Lumi, and Caius were also wizards—something only Mel had known. Now, their synchronized reactions hung awkwardly in the air as the rest of the group stared, clearly puzzled.
Meanwhile, Dontai, James, and Alissa sat at their table, the chatter of the cafeteria around them fading into the background. Dontai’s eyes were locked on Aegis Salman, his jaw tight and his hands balled into fists.
“What’s wrong?” Alissa asked, noticing his tense posture. “Thinking about going over to talk to him?”
Dontai’s glare deepened, his usual confident yet lighthearted demeanor replaced by something darker—colder.
“No,” he said through gritted teeth, his voice low but simmering with anger. “It’s my fucking dad.”
He finally tore his gaze from Aegis, turning back to his friends. The bitterness in his tone left James and Alissa speechless, their expressions a mix of shock and curiosity as they exchanged a worried glance.