Pranks went on for the rest of April with the Hero kingmates starting to fire back. Even with the professors handing out detentions like candy, it didn't deter the students.
It seemed like it would be going on for the rest of the school year until the headmaster visited each kingdom on the last night of April and lectured those involved. Rose hadn't been a part of that lecture—along with Wei and Shō—and was promptly shuffled off to her bedroom.
She couldn't hear anything through her bedroom door, and after a minute of trying to listen through it, she gave up and went to bed.
To Rose's surprise, Aella was waiting for Rose when she left her dorm the following morning. Rose glanced back behind her, wondering if Lanna would be out shortly. When she didn't see her knight, Rose turned back towards Aella.
"Do you want me to get Lanna?"
"No, thank you," Aella said, smiling hesitantly at Rose. "Listen, Rose, I think I need to warn you. You can't travel alone anymore, okay?"
Rose shifted uneasily. "What do you mean?"
"The headmaster came to the Hero Kingdom last night and warned us to leave you alone," Aella explained quickly. "He said—he said if anything else happened to you, he would call the authorities and expulsion would be the least of their worries."
Rose's eyes were wide, and her heart leapt up her throat. She wasn't sure if she was grateful the headmaster had taken such action or terrified he might have incited them.
Considering Aella had come to Rose about this… it was likely the headmaster's threat didn't quell their hatred.
"They're angrier?" Rose asked quietly, barely keeping the tremble out of her voice.
"They think you've blinded the headmaster, or tricked him somehow, and that you turned the whole school against them," Aella muttered, her face twisted in frustration. Her hands clenched tightly into fists. "They're completely insane, Rose! It's like they're—they're delirious in their fear of you! They're completely convinced you're going to release your true form and eat all the other students."
Rose gaped. "I would never do that!"
"I know!" Aella hissed out, thoroughly disgusted by the situation. "You're the sweetest girl I know. You would never do anything to hurt someone."
Rose nodded, appreciating Aella's words. "Thanks."
Aella shook her head, her blonde curls bouncing. "Everyone else knows that now. The only ones bullying you is my kingdom. The Hero Kingdom. Ugh! It's our job to protect and serve! This is so—Rose I'm really, really sorry. I swear—I swear they're not usually like this. I don't know what has them in such a frenzy. I do know though that they're completely unreasonable right now and you cannot go anywhere alone. I mean it, Rose. I'm going to talk to the professors too, so they know to make sure you get to class safe."
Rose flushed. "That's not—"
"I'm not going to take this lightly," Aella cut in sharply, blue-gray eyes flashing. "That Chasm girl was almost killed, Rose. Frankly, I don't know why the headmaster hasn't already transferred you to a different school, or arranged private tutoring, and then called the authorities."
Rose didn't have an answer for that, so she shrugged.
"Go back inside now and get Lanna or Havi," Aella instructed her brusquely. "We're going to escort you to class."
Rose did as Aella instructed and brought out Lanna. The two knights personally walked Rose to the cafeteria—along with a watcher—and made Rose promise to be extra cautious.
The whole situation unnerved Rose to such a degree she felt physically sick. She summoned breakfast for herself as Chester and Keinan took their usual seats beside her, but was unable to stomach looking at it, let alone eating it.
With a shaky voice, she asked Chester, "Hey, Chester? How come—I mean, how come the headmaster is letting me stay in school? Wouldn't it make everyone happier if I left?��
Chester gave her a piercing glare. "Don't be stupid. I wouldn't be happy, for one thing. None of your kingmates would be either, I bet."
Rose's cheeks warmed at that.
Chester gave a short sigh, turning around to fully face Rose. He looked her straight on and said, "Because you're the first dragon to ever go to a Community school. You're—you're the breakthrough. You're the potential bridge to reunite the Community and the dragons. You're the poster child, the example, the… whatever you want to call it. The Community wants you here for some reason. Enough they've literally rewritten several laws within the past years to accommodate your visit.
"The Community is not going to let some snot-nosed kids ruin that. If you got pulled out of here, then whatever momentum is being carried to push for an alliance, or peace, or whatever with the dragons, is going to lose. The majority will continue thinking of dragons as—as second-hand citizens. So you can't get pulled out, or at least it would take a lot for them to pull you out. On the other hand, they can't expel a bunch of students so easily, not without definite and good evidence. Especially ones with connections to the higher social circles. They would simply spin a pretty tale to the public about how you persecuted them, or how you threatened them, and unfortunately, they would probably win. By keeping those cretins here, the headmaster can limit their access to the public and try to mitigate the damage. It's not ideal. Not by a long shot. But that's what they're going to do.
"For better or worse, Rose, you'll be stuck at school. My brother honestly thinks the bullying is going to stop after his lecture, but he's an idealist. You and I, though? We both know it's not going to stop after a little slap on the wrist."
Rose's hands clenched into fists as a rush of anger hit her. "What do I do to make them stop?"
Chester looked back at her. "I don't know."
...🌹...
That night, Rose went to bed more anxious than she had been her entire life. She wondered what would be in store for her tomorrow, and she wished and hoped that everything would settle down.
She slipped away into an unsteady sleep only to be awoken by abrupt, powerful, cruel and terrible magic.
Rose woke up with a gasp. Something was pulling her.
A cold hand grabbed her heart and started pulling it out of her chest. She could feel a stir of disturbing magic around her and faintly hear the sound of chains rattling.
Something was wrong.
Something was very wrong.
Rose threw off her covers, grabbing at her chest. An unseen hand was pulling at her magical core, drawing her out of her bed. The magic was calling out to her, luring her someplace dangerous. The sense of danger that permeated the air and filled Rose with dread was familiar.
Another monster? Rose wondered, her eyes widening. Another student might be in danger!
That was all it took for Rose to bolt out of her room, allowing the magic to pull her along. She didn't stop to think to call for help, as the rush of her draconic blood pounded in her head. Her wings and tail popped out, and her heart started to pound with adrenaline.
Fight! Another fight!
Wait—no—fighting was—
But if someone needs help, it's okay?
Rose wasn't sure. All she knew was that the magic called to her and promised her something very dangerous at the end of it. A distant part of her mind wanted to resist the temptation, to call out for help, but it was drowned out by the dragon inside her roaring for battle.
She flew down the halls, everything blurring past her until she reached her destination.
Rose's tail slammed against the tall wooden door that guarded one of the unused classrooms, splintering it before completely shattering it. She flipped forward, her body almost moving on its own accord before she landed on her feet and took in an almost unbelievable sight.
Yellow Magic permeated the room, and glowing yellow seals were drawn nearly everywhere. There was a twisted circle drawn on the classroom floor, and ten students sat around it. Above them, the full moon's light filtered in through the skylight, giving everything a cold tint.
The Yellow Magic fluctuated, and Rose could see each of the students' magic being slowly pulled out of them towards a ball at the center of the circle. Rose gaped at what she saw, because what she saw was unbelievable.
Yellow magic? They're—I have to stop them.
Rose took a step towards the circle, but a rush of raw magic snapped out and grabbed her wrist. Yellow chains shot out from the circle, wrapping around her arms and legs and rendering her immobile. Her tail thrashed around dangerously.
Then a haze she hadn't realized was there lifted over her. The pull of the magic that called her there had stopped, and Rose was left fully aware of what she had done.
Why—Why did I—?
"Welcome, monster," greeted Kyros, lifting his head up to glare hatefully at her.
"You… what are you doing?�� Rose asked. "Are you going to summon another monster now? I-I beat the one before, I'll beat this one, too."
Kyros sneered, his handsome face contorting into something dark and twisted. "That monster was a prototype, a grunt. We had to see if the ritual would work after all. It didn't, of course, because we didn't have something strong enough to pull you here and complete the summoning. Hair, as it turns out, is not good enough for something like this."
Kyros gestured towards the center of the circle, a little above the ball of magic. Rose's eyes narrowed in disbelief.
"That's… how did you get one of my scales?"
Kyros's sneer grew into a smirk. "You were still drawn towards the prototype enough to fight it, and it did a nice job tearing off a couple of your scales that you kindly left behind for us."
"You almost got Delilah killed too," Rose snapped.
"A sacrifice necessary to save everyone else," another student muttered.
"I'm not someone they have to be saved from!"
"You are," Kyros disagreed.
There was a lurch of magic in the room. Suddenly, all the students cried out and a rush of their magic flew out of them in droves. No longer did it flow out of them freely, but instead, the core of the ritual began to rip it from their beating hearts. It wasn't long after they began to fall to their knees, crying out.
"What's going on?!"
"Why is it taking so much magic?"
"The ritual is going out of control!"
"Stop it! Stop it! I don't want to die!"
The Yellow Magic was starting to become heavier, more apparent. It was becoming strong enough to be palpable and left a bitter taste on Rose's tongue. The dragon started to struggle more so against her bindings, realizing that the ritual was going awry.
The magical bindings strained under her struggle, sparks of orange light jumping off them. The magic was starting to turn chaotic, ripping the energy out of its unwitting participants' cores. With one final yank, Rose ripped free of the yellow chains and dove towards the circle to try and disrupt it.
Unfortunately, that was when the monster appeared.
The ball of condensed magic exploded, knocking Rose back and into the classroom wall. Rose was dazed the moment the back of her head hit the sturdy stone wall, and in that brief second, the magic rapidly snapped back and started to take shape.
Limbs were the first to form, limbs of white fire and stone. Next came a thick body of some kind of cat, and then the head of a proper monster. The monster was made entirely of white fire—of spiritual fire. Burning yellow eyes locked onto Rose and the creature let out a vicious roar.
It swung its gaze towards one of the barely conscious hero students and raised its massive paw.
Rose didn't think, she only reacted. Her body flung itself towards the being, and she spun around so her tail smacked against its paw. Sharp, hot pain raced through her, and the stench of burning stone started to fill the air. Rose grabbed the student—Viola, she realized—and tossed her out of the way.
Each of the students stared at her in disbelief, the Hero kingmates barely able to hold themselves up.
They won't be able to get help or fight, Rose thought.
They could only lay there, barely awake, after having so much magic drained. Rose noticed a thin line of magic connecting each student towards the center of the monster.
It's—it's still draining them.
They would die, undoubtedly, if the fiend completely drained them. Which very well could be within minutes, given how thoroughly exhausted they already were.
No time, Rose thought to herself, clenching her hands into fists and glaring defiantly up at the monster. I stop the monster, or they die.
Rose didn't even have to think about her response to that.
She flew towards the monster of fire and breathed out her own scarlet flames. She wasn't filled with rage, so she could think a bit clearer. She slammed her tail again into it, slapping its snout. It swung its massive paw at her, throwing her to the ground and burning her. Rose dug her claws into it, feeling the stone crack beneath her desperate grip.
The monster didn't feel pain, so it didn't let up, but Rose wasn't done.
She found her magic and she forced it to do what she needed. Her magic lashed out of her palms with such significant force that the fire-covered stone paw shattered, and the monster screamed in rage.
Adrenaline kept the pain at bay, and Rose threw herself back into the air, her damaged wings flapping furiously. Again, she twisted in the air, and again, she slammed her tail against the beast, but this time she followed it up with another focused blast of her raw magic.
The monster stumbled back, and bits of stone and fire fell off it, crumbling into ash on the classroom floor. The monster leapt at her, batting her back out of the air and throwing her through the classroom wall and into the hallway.
Rose rolled several feet before coming to a stop, every inch of her body screaming in pain. With trembling arms, she forced herself to sit up just as the monster jumped to her, jaws open as if it was prepared to eat her in one gulp.
Rose threw up her hands, her magic lashing out like a gun and effectively knocking the monster off its course. The monster's head snapped up like it had been punched by the force of Rose's magic, and it stumbled to the ground.
She took that opportunity to throw herself back into the air and breathe out a steady stream of scarlet fire that was speckled with black. The monster screeched—almost as if it was in pain—when the blackish fire touched it, and it swiped at Rose with its one good front paw. The dragon was forced to stop her stream of fire to evade the attack.
She threw her palms out once more towards the beast, and her magic didn't fail her. Raw, red and black laced magic shot out of her hands like streaks of lightning and pierced the monster straight through its head.
It writhed under Rose's onslaught and the dragon dove down, raising back her right fist and gathering every bit of her magic within it. She snapped her fist down, releasing her charged magic, and punched down hard on the top of the monster's head.
An explosion of white fire, stone, and magic threw Rose back into the classroom as the monster and ritual fell apart. The little dragon landed awkwardly, her head slamming hard against the stone wall, effectively rendering her unconscious.
...🌹...
"Clever," Mortem whispered, his voice piercing through the air.
The students stirred at his arrival, all of them tiredly lifting their heads to look at him in unhidden fear and regret.
"Very clever. Using a monster of spiritual flames to hunt a dragon of fire. Poetic, almost. It wouldn't even be traced back to you, since each of you poured an equal amount of your magic into the ritual, there would be no single discernable signature to tie the monster to you. All you needed was a way to control the beast."
Mortem walked slowly—deliberately—to the unconscious girl. "You summoned the first beast to attack her almost a month ago, didn't you? You tried to tie it to her magic, which was why she was able to sense it… and hunt it down. But that didn't work. It didn't hunt her specifically, so that could only mean you couldn't control it. Whatever you used to try and bind it failed, and so you tried again."
Mortem's shadows wrapped around Rose, gently lifting her off the ground. "It was a clever idea to try and use a physical manifestation of her magic: one of her scales. Had you enough raw magic, you would have succeeded in summoning and forcing a proper monster to kill a little girl. The castle wards wouldn't have noticed such magic since it was performed by students, and you would have each been able to clean up the mess before the authorities arrived. No one would be able to definitely tie you to her death."
Mortem nodded. "It was a clever idea, truly. It makes one wonder who came up with it, doesn't it? Last I checked… no one was taught Yellow Magic in over three centuries. How did you come across this ritual, I wonder?"
No one answered him, and Mortem wasn't expecting them to.
"We'll find out, I suspect," Mortem murmured, partly to himself. "Whoever taught you that magic clearly wasn't expecting you to live."
That caused a small reaction, pale faces exchanging glances, and eyes darting about.
"They must have been fully aware you wouldn't have enough magic. You all would have died trying to kill a girl you've spent half the year bullying, a girl you claimed to be a monster." Mortem tilted his head. "And now the little dragon saved you from a real monster. You owe your worthless lives to her, a debt you will never be able to repay."
Mortem turned away, carrying the little dragon out of the room.