Chapter 3

The first day as a human-disguised dragon. The first day as a Stellaerio student.

The first day of the beginning of everything.

“Keep your identity well hidden, dragon girl,” Miracle mumbled, putting on her uniform and balanced the little red bow in the middle of the collar. “As long as I'm not exposed, everything’d be alright.”

“Miracle! You done?” Lyn shouted from the bottom level.

“Just a second!”

The moment she walked down the stairs, her nose twitched at the lingering smell of flour and vanilla extract. Hayden motioned her to come over as he plucked two slices of bread from the toaster and coated each with a rich amount of peanut butter. Watching his hand landed on the empty plate at her seat, it was then she understood the pieces were meant for her. Miracle pulled out the stool, letting out a silent sigh. She wanted to refuse the meal. Such mortally meals, she barely had one for the past thousand year of living.

Dragons didn’t eat sandwiches nor drink any milks. They rarely eat. But if they did, it was always fresh, raw meat.

“Miracle, you have to get use to this. All dragons sent here must get use to this,” he stressed.

She knew the point he was trying to make. To remain hidden in this world, first she had to act like a human. “I guess I don't really have a choice.” And she started digging in her first ever human breakfast.

“You'll be fine.” Lyn squeezed Miracle's hand. “Dad had prepared everything for you. All you have to do is to go with the flow.”

It took a while for Miracle to realize Lyn was referring to the school she had been enrolled into.

“Thanks, Lyn.” She smiled.

***

“Miracle Watson? You may enter now,” Miss Nancy said, glancing over at the entrance.

The door slid open to her applied force and flashed her sweet little innocent face to the crowd. A mask hiding the fact that she wasn't anyone like them, but a 1000-year-old white dragon. Her toes twitched inside her pair of black Bata shoes, feeling the sudden loss of energy to step beyond the line. Flow of frigid chill ran down her nerves contracted the hairs behind her neck. She paused, taken aback by the big number of mortals.

They are the ones who killed Xiao Xun, Xue Er, her mind wavered, holding their faces in her gaze as they waited for her full appearance. Eight rows separated every two, her stare drifted to the nametags sewed below their badges. Such beings, are they really worth to be protected? Worth us to risk our lives to exchange for their peace? They don't even believe in us anymore. Why try so hard to keep them safe? Just before the evil voice could get solely into her mind, the sight of Kingsley and Lyn waving from the class pulled her back. No no no, Xue Er. You’re here to protect. You can only protect, she reminded herself, inhaling a fresh breath and stepped into the long-waited space.

As if there was a limelight shining her way in, almost everyone gaped their eyes. The boys especially, weren't blinking, afraid to miss a single second of admiring her beauty.

“Hello, everyone. I'm Miracle Watson. Glad to meet you,” she greeted with a bow.

“Alright, Miracle. Let's get you a seat.”

Miss Nancy pulled her slipping specs to the bridge of her flat nose and scanned around, aiming for any available spots. She was about to offer her one when noises from the boys took over.

“Here lah! Here lah! Miss Nancy!”

“No cannot! Here! Mine one is better! Clearer view to the board in front!”

“You get to see the sea from here! Sooooo romantic.”

“Shut up lah! Mine one is the best!!”

“Enough,” the homeroom teacher voiced.

But it wasn't loud enough to keep the class under control. Pulling out a piece of cane hung right next to the whiteboard, she flapped and slapped it hard across the teacher's table. Decorative flowers in the ceramic vase scattered to the tiled floor.

“Quiet or get out.”

She didn't raise her voice, but the students understood their teacher pretty well.

“How about the one next to Rex, our class monitor?” Miss Nancy suggested while glaring her sharp eyes at the students, shutting them down.

“Sure sure,” Miracle agreed and hurried off with no hesitations. Too much attention wasn't something she liked.

Right before the lesson started, Rex was quick enough to give a greet under his breath. “Nice to meet you, Miracle. Hope we can get along soon.”

Hanging the padded shoulder straps at the poles of her chair, “Nice to meet you too, Rex. I'm sure we will,” she said flatly, brushing away the strands of hair stuck on her cheeks.

And the conversation ended there.

She didn't like humans. It’d be bad to turn down a greeting from a new friend who seemed no harm. But it’d be worse to engage in real relationships with them.

Classes went on as usual. Tutors came in 5 Lilium with barely any breaks in between the exchanging periods. Miss Nancy – the Chemistry/homeroom teacher, Mr. Sam – the literature teacher, Mr. Maddie – the history teacher and a few others which she could not remember. Spending 8 hours in school listening to human's logic was a crap. A total waste of time. She didn't need to know how the science theories in this world affected the humans' ways of thinking. All the scientific terms and relationships – Newton's first law, second law, and what more, they were obviously lies wanting to ease or to be more exact, to cover the reality of the supernatural phenomenon.

She hated them. Too ridiculous.

As soon as the last school bell hit across their ears, Lyn pulled Miracle away at an instance while Kingsley looped his hand around her school bag. They dashed outside before anyone could stop them.

Before her desk mate could bid her a proper goodbye.

“You did a great job on your first day, Miracle!” Lyn jumped onto her entirely, giving her a big hug the moment they exited the school's main entrance.

“Did I?” She chuckled.

“Good job!” Kingsley patted her head but retreated immediately as he realised the difference in rankings between them. “Sorry I—”

Miracle pulled his hovered hand and placed it on her. “When I told you to ignore the protocols, I mean to put aside the status as well.” She winked. “Treat me as your friend, your sister, and not as a celestial being of a higher cultivation.”

Kingsley smiled.

Laughter followed along the way back home. Miracle and Lyn had their arms linked together, skipping a step at a time, teasing the twin brother for being too slow to catch up. From afar or near, they looked like three close siblings instead of a dragon with two half-mortals as her bodyguards.

“We were born as TinXi.” Kingsley kicked the stones along the road after finally catching up with their speed. And perhaps it was because of the Sun, his high cheekbones stood out more visible than the night before. “Ever since kids, dad had trained our stamina and fighting skills. We were told to protect the dragons, to help them, to look after the mortals even if they aren’t around.”

“Throughout the cycles, dragons may have failed in bringing down the evils. But they still managed to hold them back from breaking the barrier in Big City.” Lyn stopped and rolled up her sleeves. “See?” She pointed to the burn scar on her upper arm. “Mynheex gave me this.”

Miracle ran her fingers gently across the wrinkled patch. “They only attack at night?”

“For now.”

“Why didn’t they expose our identity to the mortals? Mortality breaths don’t hurt them anymore.”

“True. But they’re also part of the myths. And up till now, their cultivation has yet to reach the level that can withstand the sudden outburst of those breaths,” Lyn continued explaining.

“Wouldn't the mortals who survived make a fuss about what they saw?”

“They don't survive. Once Mynheex glued their eyes on you, you can never escape,” Kingsley replied, cursing the stone for almost making him tripped.

***

Hayden was having something in his hands when they reached home. He slid it under the cushion he was sitting on and squeezed it in deeper to avoid any unnecessarily attention. It was obvious he didn't want anybody to notice.

Lyn and Kingsley didn't. But Miracle did. 

“How was your day, Miracle?” He smiled. And within the curl, there was a slight hope that wished her to not see the letter he was holding a moment ago.

At least for now.

“It was fun, Mr. Hayden.” Miracle acted along. “Lyn and Kingsley really helped me out a lot.”

“It's their job.” She saw his muscles relaxed.

Untangling the ribbon on her uniform, Lyn slacked her jaw at the word as though Hayden spat out a curse. “Job? People get paid for their jobs. But we,” she paused for a while, “don't.”

Kingsley held back his laugh, doing his best to stabilize the jug as he poured the water. This little sister of his was so good when it came to making grumbles and complaints. Watching them up close, for once Miracle felt envy. It must be nice to have an elder brother growing up together, she thought. Dragons may be experts when it comes to fighting, but nothing when it comes to relationships like love or family. They had been brought up in such a way that made them feel relationships were just burden. Family was such a strange word. Yes, it was true they had parents, and some might have siblings.

But not family.

“Up for lunch, Miracle?” he asked, tilting his head slightly to the back as Miracle made her steps upwards.

“Later, Mr. Hayden,” her voice echoed.

Miracle stayed in front of her room, making no attempts to enter. She pretended like she was up for a rest as she purposely made a click to her door.

“We need to talk.” Hayden's toned-down voice caught her immediate attention.

“Go ahead,” Kingsley said.

“Not here. Somewhere else.” He chinked the keys.

Quietly, she followed behind the Watsons. It was a hot afternoon. Clouds were scattered, wind was asleep. Hayden led the way with his head fully faced down to the tar. Traces of the paper could be seen being pushed from the peak of his pocket as he walked. Lines of sweats dripped down the back of his neck, almost drenching the entire blue T-shirt on him.

Hayden was disturbed.

Something serious was up.

The TinXi came to a stop in front of La' Oceanies – a hipster cafe with yellow-toned lightings and decorations hanging down the walls. From light to dark, dark to light. Tinkles of bell hit the ears as Kingsley pressed the switch on the tinted glass door, reporting the presence of new customers. It took a moment for the slide to happen. And when it did, there was a sudden increase in noise. People talking about their own problems. Love. Family. Money. Betrayal.

Miracle slid to the seat separated from them by three tables and shook her head when a waiter in brown vest came upon to ask for her order. She locked her gaze on the Watsons, doing whatever she could to listen to their conversation without getting noticed.

"Good evening. What would you like to have?" The same waiter went to them.

"Cappuccino please," Lyn said, handing back the laminated single-sheet menu without giving it a thorough look.

"Make that two."

"No no. Make that three. Thanks."

Just when the waiter was about to deliver their orders, Kingsley grabbed his arm.

"You look familiar." He lowered his head to get a clearer view beneath the overly pulled-down cap. "P-peter? Since when you started to work?! I thought you hated jobs like this! Serving people woo~" he teased.

Glimpsing around to make sure there weren't any supervisions on the newbie him, he pulled his hand away forcefully. “Shut up, Kings. Don't you dare to spread this in school ah."

"What if I do?" he provoked.

"Then be careful with the Cappuccino you'll drink later." He tipped out his tongue.

"That's so Peter-ish," Kingsley mumbled, watching his figure getting smaller as he busied himself away.

Lyn faked a cough to get the situation back. "Serious, please.”

When the mood started to get tense like how it was supposed to be, Hayden began. "We’re a step too late."

Lyn looked shocked, having a kick about something bad. "What do you mean, dad?"

"This morning was already the third one. Heart went missing."

Miracle gasped. Third one?

"W-what? Third one?"

"Yes." Pressure continued to fill up the air. "Third one."

"Why didn't you tell Miracle?" Lyn asked.

"She'll have to know. But I just wanted her to pass her first day as a Stellaerio student in a peaceful way. At least for the first day..."

Miracle tensed. The menu she held to block her face crumpled under her force.

Mynheex, green-slimed creatures who worked for fallen angels. They munched on mortals' hearts to survive in the world of immortals, especially from young and energetic teenagers. The more they ate, the stronger they became.

"Damn you," Kingsley cursed under his shivering breath, inducing lines of cracks to come upon as he pressed hard on the table. "Mynheex."