Elly sat in the office as he waited anxiously for the results from the blood test.

The air was cold, still, and quiet with bright, white lights shining down from the lamps above.

It seemed he only had a short while to live. A few years. Months. Weeks???

Maybe 6 weeks.

Maybe 4 weeks.

Maybe 2 weeks.

A week?

3 DAYS?!

Physically, he felt healthy. As far as he knew, he had no symptoms of any sickness. Nowhere felt sore. He hadn't gotten any serious illnesses before. A few colds and flues here and there, but nothing super serious.

If anything, he was sweating despite the cold air.

Maybe there weren't supposed to be any symptoms.

At the age of 12, he would die. Another short life, a bit shorter than his previous one. The world was cruel, and so was that damn goddess.

“Don’t worry. You’re not sick.” Sapphire, sitting next to him, patted him gently on the head and gave a reassuring smile. “Well… I hope not…”

His eyebrow twitched. That’s not helping. His heart wouldn’t stop pounding. Maybe he wasn't eating properly and lacked nutrients. It could be anything, really.

Sapphire had brought him since his parents were swamped with work at their offices.

Though I am no doctor, I am of the opinion that you are in good health. Your body temperature has consistently been within the normal range, and your breathing and perspiration are well within normal levels. The same applies for your heartbeat.

Quit checking my vital signs like a creep. Sometimes, he forgot that Suki was there on his earlobe as an earring, since she could be so quiet. Their constant skin contact all day and everyday must’ve made it quite easy for her to analyze him. The thought made him a little uncomfortable.

But he still got her to transform into a miniature version of her dragon form whenever he wanted to continue his artwork. Even after many years, he still had a lot of interest in dragons.

At last, the doctor came in 20 minutes late through the door in his lab coat with a floating clipboard. He closed it behind him. His face was grim as if he knew something bad was about to happen. Maybe he was bracing himself for their reactions. He stood before them, unsure of how to start.

“Is it that bad?” Elly asked.

He nodded. His eyebrows wrinkled up as he sat on his wheely chair, and his clipboard fell into his hands. He looked at Sapphire then at Elly. “I have good news… and… bad news.” His voice was hoarse as if he was about to cry. He was fairly young, 30s or something but fully grown nonetheless. And if an adult cried, that was a really bad sign. “Which would you like to hear first?”

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Elly couldn’t bring himself to answer. He knew the truth would crush him.

“The bad news,” Sapphire said. She knew he wanted to hear that first to get it out of the way.

The doctor took a deep breath. “There’s…” His voice was shaky. He tried again. “There’s no more chocolate pudding in the kitchen… The worst part is, it’ll be a while before we get some more because the retailer’s stock ran out.” He said the last few words softly.

Sapphire and Elly sat in silence.

Is he serious? Elly wondered. He wanted to deliver a good punch, but Sapphire did it for him.

In a swift motion, she got up, threw her fist, and struck his cheek.

The blow knocked him off his seat and sent him into the wall.

“W-what was that for?!” He struggled to recover, but he did eventually, now crawling back to his seat before getting up to sit down on it again. He held his cheek with a hand.

“You made him worry for nothing?!”

Elly rarely saw Sapphire this furious.

She looked as if she wanted to beat him relentlessly until he was on the brink of death. Maybe beat him to death. “You made him sit there for 20 minutes, fretting as if the world was coming to an end.” She was intimidating. An angry Sapphire was the worst.

“But…” He tried to justify himself.

Sapphire narrowed her eyes at him, holding back a second assault. She spent a few moments peering at Elly closely.

Elly blinked, having no clue what she was up to.

She cast her solemn gaze his way again. “I don’t care how tasty your pudding is.” Her tone grew dark. “If there was just a teardrop running from his eye, you’d need your own doctor.”

The doctor shut up. He was too ashamed or afraid to say something.

Elly couldn't blame him for either of those. He shivered, thankful that he wasn’t in his place. But he still wanted to hear the good news.

The doctor excused himself, went for an ice pack and came back, pressing it against his cheek.

Sapphire maintained her death stare.

The doctor tried not to look at her.

“So?” Sapphire asked.

“What?” He wouldn't even glance at her.

“The good news.”

“Oh… right…”

“And choose your words carefully. Keep it simple and short.”

Those words might be his last if he wasn't careful.

He nodded and looked at Elly, sweating worse than he was as he put the ice pack on his desk next to him. His cheek was already swollen. “Every person's magical abilities are unique due to their genetic composition. In your case, you have a mutated chromosome that prevents the creation of magi particles. This specific type of mutation is an extremely rare case. There aren’t any negative effects.” He put the ice pack back on his cheek, since he was done talking.

So, his genes were just different. It was by chance. Luck. It was convenient not having to carry around a piece of stick. Maybe the goddess was responsible for this too. But he still wouldn’t forgive her for making him a boy though. She still deserves a smack!

“What's wrong, Elly?” Sapphire asked.

Elly realized he was glaring then softened his expression. “Nothing. I'm fine.”

Her concern turned into rage as she looked back at the doctor. “Now look at what you've done! He's angry, and it's YOUR fault!” She reached over and grabbed his collar with both hands before starting to shake him. “YOUR FAULT! YOUR FAULT! YOUR FAULT! YOUR FAULT! YOUR FAULT! YOUR FAULT! YOUR FAULT! YOUR FAULT!”

The doctor shrieked and begged for her to stop.

Elly felt bad for him. He wanted to say something but was intimidated. He also didn’t want to have to explain the real reason why he was angry.