The castle grounds were slowly turning frosty, but Rose felt no chill. She could see ice on the rooftops, the flowers wilting outside, and the trees going dormant. She knew winter was approaching, and that she ought to start wearing the thicker stockings the school provided as well as the bigger cloak.
She didn't, though, because she felt no coldness.
One weekend into the winter—it was late November—Rose sat on one of the stone benches in the courtyard and breathed in the fresh air. She was in her standard uniform with the sleeves rolled up, her cloak resting beside her.
A strong wind blew through the courtyard and Rose could see a handful of students shiver as they passed by.
She thought she should have felt cold, but she didn't. Rose felt the same comfortable warmth she always did since her magic awakened.
Will I never feel cold again? Rose wondered.
More students passed by her, barely sparing her a glance. She felt a few gazes on her at times, but it rarely bothered her. Sometimes they made her uncomfortable, but they always looked away if she returned their scrutiny.
She didn't blame them for looking, though. Rose understood she was an oddity to those raised by the Community. There wasn't a single dragon to be found outside Desoul, and given their history, Rose wasn't surprised. They probably didn't know how to react to a dragon in their midst, let alone one raised as a human. One or the other was odd enough, but the two combined?
It was unheard of… or so Rose was led to believe.
No one was mean to her about it, though. Aside from that one note, Rose didn't experience anything cruel or malicious. Her kingmates were always nice to her, and the professors didn't treat her any different, save for Professor Laye and Nigel, who went out of their way to make sure she was adjusting well, which she greatly appreciated.
Despite being the odd one out, most of the students didn't spare Rose much more than a curious glance (although she had to privately admit that a few of those glances were a bit more than curious). She thought they were a lot more accepting than humans were. At regular school, Rose and the other children at the orphanage were routinely snubbed at first. Mother Mara was quick to put an end to that by homeschooling the children from there on, but Rose still remembered how some of those students could be rather mean.
She read about bullying stories and watched Hollywood's take on it. Mother Mara and the Sisters only reiterated the truth found in each of those stories, reciting that only the Church and the orphanage was a truly safe place for them.
Rose believed her at first. Then her thrall forced everyone she had grown up with to turn on her and hunt her down like a rabid dog. She stopped believing in such safe places, then.
But she thought that Gardenia was close to safe. Everything about the school sung comfort and acceptance. She had friends now, her own room, and significantly more freedom. She got to learn about magic and fantastical beings thought to be fictional.
Rose still felt unsafe at times. She still woke up with a scream caught in her throat from nightmares about that. She still had fits of paranoia and instinctively inched closer to an exit.
But it didn't happen very often, and lately, it was starting to become few and far in between.
Rose liked her new home. She hoped she would come to feel safe in it soon.
There was a gentle hum and Rose looked up to find Professor Nigel looking down at her from behind his porcelain mask. "Good morning, Miss Rose. Might I join you?"
Rose patted the empty spot next to her on the bench and her kingdom advisor sat next to her. He pulled out a slim book and flipped it open to about halfway through.
"Do dragons never feel cold?" Rose asked him, folding her hands neatly in her lap.
"Fire dragons carry an inner flame inside their magical core," Professor Nigel answered. "It's rare for them to experience coldness. I imagine only frost dragons or powerful ice magic could faze them."
"Would I be cold in Antarctica?"
"Unlikely."
"Wow. So, I could go see penguins?"
That got a small chuckle out of him, and the professor closed his book and placed it in his lap. "If you wanted to, yes. Do you want to visit Antarctica?"
"It's nice to know I can. Wonder if I can fly all the way there?" Rose looked up at the clear blue sky. "I've never gotten tired from flying, only when I go swimming."
"I imagine such a flight would make anyone a bit tired," Professor Nigel said. "If you wish to know more about Antarctica, you should talk to Professor Yūei. She lived there for a few decades."
Rose's eyes widened as a cool breeze carried the scent of frost into the courtyard. "Wha—how?"
"There's a beautiful magical village in Antarctica. Typically, only the undead and cold-oriented Neheburs stay there, but others are drawn to it. There's a lot of cold Wild Magic in Antarctica, which makes it ideal for nursing certain eggs," Professor Nigel explained. "I believe Professor Laye visited there for a couple years, too."
"Undead? Like zombies?" Rose asked, curious. Would a zombie apocalypse actually happen one day?
Professor Nigel shook his head. "Certainly not like you see in the movies. 'Undead' covers a broad spectrum of Neheburs, such as banshees, dullahans, liches, and so on. Undead are merely Neheburs who have a cold magical core."
"A cold magical core?"
"Mm-hmm. Such things will be better explained to you in biology class if you wish to learn more about it," Professor Nigel told her. "I'm hardly qualified in that area. If you cannot wait, Professor Laye and Professor Yūei are always happy to answer questions, as both are undead."
Rose's lips tugged down, a little disappointed. "So no zombie apocalypse?"
"Unlikely. Our undead don't feast on flesh, for starters," Professor Nigel murmured quietly.
Rose made an affirming sound at that, looking back up at the pretty blue sky and feeling the urge to fly. "That stinks. I bet I would make a great survivor, being a dragon and all. Are there zombie dragons?"
"Dragons are difficult beings to hybrid with," Professor Nigel said, "as a pureblood dragon requires a massive magical core, more than twice the size of the average Nehebur, Hybrids can only occur if both parents have an equal sized core, and the child must have the size of their cores combined in order to fit their magic. Typically when beings of such power mate, their offspring can only form a magical core big enough to be one or the other. Additionally, given how large dragon cores are, it would take a powerful undead parent to create a… zombie dragon. The only undead I can think of that would match that criteria would be liches, and they are usually reclusive by nature."
Rose scratched her cheek. "Are they? Why do you say that?"
"You will be extremely fortunate to find a lich living among society," Professor Nigel responded. "Gardenia is the only school to have ever taught lich children, and our school record was broken this year by not having one, but two liches attend our classes in over five centuries. You know one of them, Mister Mortem, but Miss Kara in Chasm is also a lich."
Rose could see Mortem as a lich, since he could certainly be antisocial at times. He never ate with them, and really only talked to Rose during class. She had never met Kara, though, so she couldn't say much about her.
Returning to Rose's question, though, "So… no zombie dragons?"
"Ah… no. No zombie dragons."
"I bet I would make a cool zombie dragon."
"I bet you would, too."
Rose enjoyed the winter air for a little bit longer with Professor Nigel before she had scrounged up enough motivation to try meditating once again. She tried to make it a point to do so whenever she had the motivation, and at least three times a week.
It wasn't easy, and she really disliked doing it.
But she didn't want to remain the only student behind in her Blue class. She, at the very least, wanted to be able to take the exam with her fellow classmates instead of during the summer like Professor Yūei said she might have to do.
With a reluctant sigh, Rose bade Professor Nigel goodbye and headed to her lava baths.
...🌹...
Rose took in a deep breath, listening to the sound of the lava bubbling around her. She was entirely at ease, filled with a gentle warmth. Her tail was curled around her and her wings were folded neatly at her back. The lava came up to her shoulders, bright and hot as ever.
She took in another deep breath, closing her eyes. It didn't do much good since the lava was simply too bright, but the book said to close her eyes, so she was closing her eyes.
It was still hard not to fall asleep, but it was easier to stay awake in her lava pool. Even though it made her feel completely relaxed, she'd never been able to fall asleep in it. Instead, she entered into a kind of half-dazed trance where her mind wandered in some odd fantasies.
Sometimes she'd be flying high above the castle, and other times, she'd be fighting side by side a wolf-like man and facing down hordes of deformed monsters… and sometimes she was simply floating. Then something would jerk her awake and the daydreams ended.
Right now, she couldn't let herself slip away into those fantasies. She was meditating to try and find her magical core inside her, and thus get a feel for her magic. She hadn't been successful so far, but Professor Yūei said it would take a while and to not feel discouraged.
Rose took yet another deep breath, trying to focus on the second heartbeat she felt. She had a good feeling that was her magical core, but it wasn't very tangible to her. Professor Yūei said that cores were elastic and could be manipulated with a simple thought once found.
Rose focused on that warm feeling, trying to visualize it. It kept slipping from her thoughts like smoke. Every time she thought she could distinctly feel or picture it, it vanished from her. The process repeated many times over until Rose let out a growl of frustration.
She broke away from trying that, her tail lashing and kicking up lava.
That's how the books say to do it, Rose thought with annoyance. Professor Yūei said it would take a while, though. No need to get upset, yet.
Still, her irritation was making it hard to concentrate, even in the comfort of her lava. Rose shook her head, deciding to end it for the day. She'd try again tomorrow.