I arrived ten minutes sooner, but she was already waiting for me.
"Did you have a good night of sleep, Hel?" She opened the door of her office to me, and I followed her inside, sitting on the leather chair in front of her fancy quartz desk.
"I do not sleep, Headmaster, but I hope you did."
"Thank you, dear, I did, indeed," then she held a copper iPad pro with its pen in her hands and handed it to me. "Here, it's your student tablet. All students have one which they use to note things down, use the digital books, consult their schedule, the search tool, to consult the professors, the calendar with all the Academy events, holidays, and also the Eclipse."
Very fancy, "Like in the cosmic phenomenon?"
She smirked, "Not quite, but it's good to know that was your first thought. The Eclipse is BABS private social media. Every student has a profile in it with their basic information. All the people who work in here are also in there, so you can just search for a name and you will find it."
"Supernatural Instagram of Belladonna then?" I mocked.
But she actually agreed, which made me scoff. "You can follow the students of your choice, and you will also be followed. You can post things like pictures, stuff you enjoy, quotes, and other things. It's like all human social medias put together in a better way. There also the profile of previous students added. Nevertheless, you can only contact those who are in here."
"Who's this?" I glared at a photo of a snow-white skinned girl with dragon blue eyes, and silver hair in front of me. It can't be me.
The Headmaster stared at me as if I had lost it, "It's you, Hel."
"Me?" I chocked. "I'm this… ugly?"
"You don't have a mirror?" Aye, not this again.
Clenching my jaw, I avoided her eyes, "I don't look at my reflex in anything. The last time I saw me, I still had… normal blue eyes and black hair. I don't recognize this girl in the photo." Why do I have dragon eyes? Is it because I'm the daughter of two?
"Ah, kid, I'm sorry," what? "You are not ugly, Hel. In my honest opinion, you are outstandingly gorgeous?"
I flinched, "You should get your eyes checked, Headmaster." Then I avoided her amber spheres altogether. "I look hideous, but I understand that each person has a different view of things. I looked less ugly as a child, black hair suited me more, and my eyes were normal."
"Your eyes are normal, Hel!"
"No, they are not," I gasped, glaring at the picture adorning my own profile. "These are dragon pupils, Headmaster, I'm not a dragon. Something must be wrong with me. I don't even know when this happen. At least my hair I was able to tell given how long it is."
"Not a dragon, but a serpent. These are reptile eyes, not dragons!"
My body froze. I froze. Of course, she would be able to tell, she's old as fuck. I wouldn't doubt if she turned out to be as ancient as the old world. "Since when you knew?"
She tilted her head to the left softly while grinning, "Even before you came here I knew it. But I wasn't going to say it in front of the entire student body of the Academy. You wouldn't like that, would you? As you also didn't go around telling everyone what you are."
Hah, "I owe you one then."
"No, dear, you don't!" She softened, her posture seemingly tired as she sighed. "You don't remember, but we've met before."
["Did you?"]
Absolutely not. "That's impossible."
"It was a long, long, long time ago, Hel. You were two years old. I went to the Himalayas to see your mom and meet you. I couldn't tell you this when we met, given that we met in front of everyone. But I was friends with her, she was my granddaughter's age and also friends with her, so we got closer. She was an extremely talented and powerful black dragon," Headmaster Mia leaned back on her chair, sadness covering her eyes.
This is too much to take in.
["You mom had crazy connection, Hel!"]
Seems like she did. "You met me?"
A nod, "In fact, you mother wanted me to be your godmother. And But when I was finally able to free myself out here and go to her, to tell her that would love that, it was too late," oh shit. "Did you watch it?"
A shiver ran down my spine, "Her assassination?" I growled.
"Yes. Did you watch it, Hel?" Her amber eyes lost with concern.
I swallowed hard, thrown off guard after learning her connection with my mom, and that fact we are also supposed to be connected, "Yes."
Mia let out a horrified squeak, "Fuck."
"How did you know mom was murdered, Headmaster?"
She gulped, "I came day after it happened, Hel. Shay's body was still there, it was only a look to tell me that it wasn't a natural death. And when I noticed you were gone, I tried my all to find you, but I couldn't. In fact," she pushed her hair back, "I only got a word of your whereabouts two weeks and a half ago, when Meredith Bloom told me to open a space for another student."
Clenching my fists, I arched my eyebrows, "Did you think I died?"
"Never. I knew in my bones you were alive. There was no body, and I know who your father is, child. Just as I always knew that you were not a dragon. Your mother only trusted me with this, she was also scared that they would come for you when you awakened," could she be the witch?
"Which happened," I did my best to control my impulses. "Are you perhaps the witch that helped my mom with making Cosmos's cape? When I went to see her… spirit in the lair some days ago, she told me about it, but I didn't know who it was. Now that I know your connection, I'm wondering if it was you," though yesterday I thought it could have been Ivy.
A nod, "It was me, indeed."
"You said mom was friends with your granddaughter," could she be the dark witch who's Abellona's great-something grandmother? Because she was apparently friends with mom, and she told me to send her a word.
She smiled softly, "It's my great-great-great-great granddaughter."
"Abellona!"
"Yes," she sighed. "A long time ago I mated with a vampire," what? "I was also surprised, and well, we had a baby. That baby had a baby, who had a baby, who had a baby, who had a baby, who had Abellona. But after… an heartbreaking event happened and I lost my mate, I distanced myself from them. Abellona is the exception, as she insistently got closer to me when she was in Belladonna."
["Now it makes sense!"]
Blinking, I took off my gloves and showed her the palms of my hands with the Serpent's Lock and Key on it, "You created these?"
Her eyes widened in shock, "Did Bell tattoo this in you?" Bell? "I, yes, I created it a long, long, long time ago," then her eyes met mine and there was something I couldn't name it there. "I made them when your kind was still alive and roaming the earth, Hel. Did you tell Bell what you are?"
["Oh my Crone, then she is fucking old!"]
I'm sure my eyeballs almost popped out, "You are from the old world!" I mumbled in pure shock. I knew she was old and all, but what the hell? "You knew others like me?"
A soft nod, "I did. The silver hair is very characteristic, by the way. No matter what hair color you were born with, when you reach a thousand years old, your hair naturally turn silver, and your pupils stay permanently in the slits characteristic of reptiles like serpents and dragons. Between other things," what?
"Then it wasn't because of what I went through? Was I always bound to have this hair? These… eyes?"
"You were indeed. Plus purple flame, black water, green wind, and red earth. They only take longer to evolve. Each person's different."
I leaned closer to the edge of my seat, "All of my kin had it?"
"All of them. Their scales varied from yellow, red, blue, green, purple, white, and black. Color of the eyes were always inherited from one of the parents." She pointed to my necklace, "I helped your mom do these. She had a vision of you and draw it out, then sculpted it and I helped her with the magic. The black winged serpents were the strongest out of all the seven types."
What? "Aren't I a black one because mom was a black dragon?"
"No, kid," she giggled softly. "Each color of scale has a meaning."
"And what could that be?" I've been dying to know more about my kind, about what I am, what I can do, but there was no one old enough to help me out, until now. Mia can do that, I hope.
She raised five slander fingers, "Yellow scales means they are an energy winged serpent, who can control the all kinds of energy from the sun, thunder, to light. Red scales means they are a blood winged serpent, it's the dangerous type, they are bloodthirsty and feed on blood of anything, and control the crimson fire, the most corrupted one. Blue scaled means they are an ocean winged serpent, and they control the water like no one. Green scales means they are a nature winged dragon, and control all kinds of thing front the earth itself to plants and food.
"Then there's the winged serpents with purple scales, who were all able to control the skies, meaning control of weather, clouds, and of the air itself. White scaled winged serpents were the ones with control over mineral stuff, all types of minerals, also adding crystals, gems, and thing that we all think of dragons when we hear about." And black…?
"What about me?"
"Your type was the rarest, not much was known about them except that they are the strongest, the so called winged serpents of nothingness!"
I blinked confused, "I'm sorry, what?"
She chuckled amusedly, "Don't think it means that they control all that nothing is, kid. In truth, it's more of kind name for those who channel the magic of the void, the vacuum, of chaos. But that's all that was known. They were secretive even between their kind, only walking with the black ones, but all while balancing the power between all the others, and ruling over all seven winged serpents."
["Uh… does that make you what? Royalty?"]
How would I know? "Excuse me, what?"
Again, the ancient witch laughed, "You have the innate power of either destroying the world or saving it from it's destruction, Hel. And, well, the black winged serpents were also the only ones with control over the stone indestructible army!"
["What?"]
"The what now?"
I don't think I've ever felt this confused in my entire life.