Chapter 2

-Watson Soons' Residence, Big Island, Malacca, Malaysia, 2019-

Hopping down the loop after peeking through several times, Miracle descended onto a foreign piece of land. She looked around. Warm sensation of wild grasses accompanied by wave of sea-scented air greeted her presence. Her shoes were gone, she realized. Layers of her silky garments were changed into a set she has no connection with – loose cotton-made pink tee and a pair of black beggar jeans. She patted her head. Her silver chains too, were no longer on her. So this is the version of their world,

“Good day.” A deep, hustle voice drew her attention. “Here, I'm pretty sure they would fit you.” He placed the jelly-like footwear next to her bare toes.

“Erm... Thank you?” She clipped, lifting her wavering eyes to the middle-aged man standing before her. “And you are?”

"Amenxious. This is Hayden, the border keeper,” he said, giving her a slight gentleman bow. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Wow... A TinXi. 

Blessed with half immortalities, TinXi were known to possess the skills of a fighter, helping dragons to complete their missions in this world. 

"Amenxious. Nice to meet you too, Mr. Hayden,” she blurted. “I'm Xue—” Almost forgetting she wasn't supposed to use her real name in this world, she quickly extended her hand and reached for the one-sided shake. “Miracle. I'm Miracle.”

She scanned the man. Fair skin, sharp nose, protruding eyes showing several lines of wrinkles at the corners, curvy lips and rounded ears. Behind his deep-set of hazel brown eyes, she saw the tiny bits of blues – Colour of TinXi. She drifted her gaze to the buttons on his shirt. They weren't buttoned fully, probably it was because of his tough body that the shirt could no longer hold it in.

Suddenly, a blue aquatic drop surfaced out of his dilating pupil when Miracle was still performing a body scan on him. She froze in motion. Her sight rippled for a second as the other drop was extracted from the blueness behind her disguised left eye. Dancing little fine hairs were stimulated around the two blue spheroids as they fused together radiating off a strong new presence of energy. Miracle shook her head to regain her slipping consciousness. The TinXi didn't seem to notice her abnormality. He was holding his palm a few inches from the glowing cerulean before grabbing it entirely in his grip.

“Mr... Mr. Hay—Hayden?” Miracle muttered, putting her hand onto a bench next to the gigantic vase in front of the house.

He frowned his brow. The muscles on his cheeks tensed reacting to Miracle's confusion. Hang in there a while more, dragon girl, his gaze spoke.

The moment he released his grasp, a new piece of invisible coded net was topped over their house. Those blue drops were gone.

Quickly rushing to Miracle, “Sorry, Miracle. We needed to do this to strengthen the barrier for this house. I apologize for not informing you before getting started,” he said.

She curled her lips. “No worries. It's done, isn't it?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “Let's enter, it's cold out here.”

Blue plain opaque curtains were shut, leaving a thin gap in between to allow the slightest hint of ray to pass through. Books seemed to be more than a hundred years old got themselves displayed onto the racks beneath the pole-less stairs. Familiar silver fronds were placed at the inner ends of the house, refreshing her with a new tinkle of divinity. But her nose itched at the remains of lingering breaths belonged to the past dragons. Each hammered hard on the scars of her heart. I'll end this disaster, my friends. And shall bring back your names and dignities. 

“Have a seat, Miracle.” Hayden gestured her towards the solo floral sofa, interrupting her from dwelling on the dead. “I'll get you something to drink.”

“Sure,” she said, stretching her sore legs.

Increasingly loud tapping of footsteps behind the door caught her attention. Miracle stuck her vision at the entrance as it screeched open. Her hands drawn in fists.

“Daddd!! We are back!” A teen’s voice.

Dad? Her shoulders relaxed.

“Oh you're back?” Hayden responded from the kitchen.

Ignoring her dad's reply, the girl in school uniform braked suddenly upon her entrance, filling up her vision with the image of the new girl in their house. The... dragon? she mouthed, eyes widened in shock.

“Omg! Don't stop suddenly sis!”

The taller boy who possessed similar face structures with the girl earlier grumbled as his face bumped her back. Plucking out strands of hair stuck in his mouth, his focus shifted to the guest. And the exact reaction was reflected on him.

“Wow,” he said in a breath.

“Wowwwwwwwww!” his sister repeated.

Putting down the tray of strawberry tea, Hayden waved his hand in the air and motioned them to come closer. “Lyn, Kingsley. Stop wow-ing and get over here.”

Lyn stood still by the stairs. Her stare was filled with curiosity like she couldn’t react to the sudden presence of Miracle in her house. It was only until the eldest Tinxi introduced them to the young dragon, they began to initiate their approach.

The twins shifted their bags to the side to make a proper bow. Lyn bent on one knee, sticking the tips of her indexes and thumbs together. She interlocked the two circles with the remaining six fingers stretched out, facing in. “Amenxious, I'm Lyn, the water striker with 600 years of cultivation,” the sister reported her identity, raising the hand posture to the level of her temple.

“Amenxious. And I'm Kingsley,” the brother continued, “the fire striker with 600 years of cultivation.”

Pushing up their folded elbows, she smiled. “Just ignore all the protocols. Nobody's here to check on this.”

“Exactly!” Kingsley shot his dad a sidelong look. “But our dad doesn't seem to be getting it at all.”

“Well...it's all—”

“Respect.” The twins sang along, stimulating another curl to decorate across Miracle's lips.

Hayden gave an awkward smile before walking away into the kitchen with the empty teapot in his hand. Immediately, Lyn jumped from the double-seated sofa and laid her butt at the arm panel of the seat Miracle was sitting on.

“You're really... the most beautiful dragon I've ever met, Miracle,” Lyn whispered under her breath, sticking so close that Miracle had to inch a little to stop her maroon hair from itching her arms. “The first white dragon in fact.”

“Can you stop acting like a hungry beast?” Kingsley slipped in his cup of tea. “By the way Miracle, you know you're coming to our school?” he asked, shoving her a tissue in a flash when she accidentally spilled the drink from the sides of her lips.

“Yes.” She nodded, cleaning the drops on the table. “We were told about that before having to come here.”

“Great, I'm glad. Not to worry much though. Lyn and I would be by your side, protecting you.” He shot an affirming look at his sister.

“Of course—” Something caught Lyn's attention.

“What's wrong?” Kingsley rose his brow.

Her fingers shook in excitement. “L—look... Her m—mark... It's amazing.”

Lowering his glance at an instance, “I see...” Kingsley muttered. “A truly white dragon.”

“I finally sense some hopes on ending this bloody war,” Hayden mumbled under his breath as he came up from behind, only to leave Miracle wondering what he meant.