Camille flooded the table with snacks for her new best friend to try. She made sure to include healthier choices such as dragonfruit, bananas, peaches, lychee, and a custard apple on the right side. On the left end were potato chips, meat buns, rice crackers, and chocolate.
The moment the spread lay before her, the girl started chomping into a dragonfruit, purple juice dripping from her lips with each bite. After polishing off the dragonfruit, she moved on to the custard apple.
Camille and her friends watched from a safe distance-mostly Yin and Jin- while the girls sat close by, listening through bites. The girl recollected her thoughts on how she came to find herself in their hideout.
"Okay, let me get this straight: You're telling us YOU are THEE Yellow Dragon. As in THEE Yellow Dragon that lies within the center of the Cosmos, leader of the Sixiang, and Guardian of THEE Jade Emperor?" Camille said, processing the information so her brain didn't explode.
"That's right.", she mumbled while chewing on a lychee.
"And the last thing you remembered was the sky coming undone. Your body was covered in cracks, and you awaited your doom until you awoke and found yourself here."
"That's right, I was expecting to find myself on the other side with my friends. When I opened my eyes, I found myself here in this...new form and nearly died of food poisoning by your pals.", she said, giving the brothers an annoyed glance.
The brothers stick out their tongues before resuming their lunch.
"Least you didn't die, but it was just a bad brand of dumplings. Don't know why they like em', but the worst that would've happened was you spilling your guts to the floor.", Camille said letting out a sheepish chuckle.
"So if I didn't die, my guts would pour right out of me from that dumpling?"
"Not literally, but it would have been super gross."
"Let's steer the conversation back on track." Scorpion Queen interrupted as she turned to the girl with a sincere smile, "Now, I don't know if what you're telling us is true or not. It's not that we believe you-it's just that...It's rather unusual for an immortal beast to pop out of nowhere as a human."
"Demi-Human", she clarified, "I believe that's the right term for my form since I'm neither human nor a demon."
"Right. Demi-human. Anyway, an immortal beast like yourself appearing out of the blue doesn't happen every day."
"Yeah! And we've all seen a LOT of unusual happenings going on in the world: Demon Bull King nearly taking over the city, Spider Queen turning people into zombies, crystals popping out everywhere! Then there were the cracks in the sky before it got patched up, and suddenly folks got magical powers!"
The girl nearly choked on the water when Camille mentioned folks getting magical powers.
"Cough! Cough! F--folks getting powers?!"
"Yeah, when the sky looked like it was going to come undone- suddenly, these colorful lights shot out of nowhere and hit a bunch of folks, including some of us! Then those lights shot back up into the sky; the cracks began to fade, and boom! The sky was normal again, and since then, folk got all magically even a cute doggie with a spinny tail."
The girl stared dumbfounded at Camille. She couldn't believe her ears! Colorful lights shot out, granting folks powers, and shot back up to fix the cracks!? That's not possible! The only way the sky-nay, a pillar of heaven, was to be repaired was the five stones coming together and a noble hero such as Nuwa giving their life to fix it! Never has she heard of the lights repairing the sky after granting powers to mortals!
"That's...impossible!", she slammed her palms on the table trying to grasp the story, "The stones don't grant people power....They are only used to mend the sky...The only way for the pillar to be restored....is someone giving their life....How could this...how could this be?"
"Are you....okay?" the Scorpion Queen asked, taking a cautious step toward the girl.
"It's....It's not possible...How could this be?..."
"Uh, Camille. I think you broke her." Yin chimed in, watching on with his brother.
The girl took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. How was this possible? This wasn't right. This wasn't right at all. Could the stones' lights have any connection to her revival? This didn't make any sense. She recalled that the only way to mend the sky was to watch over the five stones that each Guardian Beast possessed until the Harbinger could take the stones to heal the sky just as Nuwa did! Her hair began to spike; illuminating light started to fade in and out like a light switch, teeth sharpening as her fingernails became more claw-like with each fastened breath. She tightly closed her eyes with one hand on her head, trying to calm herself down. Just then, she felt the touch of a soft, scaly hand take her palm and give it a soft squeeze. Opening her eyes, she turned to see Camille looking at her with an assuring smile.
"Hey, hey. It's okay...You're okay. You're okay. Breathe in slow and deep, then release with ease."
Deciding to follow her advice, the girl took a deep breath for a few seconds and then released it. She continued to take deep, slow breaths for a few minutes. Her hair flopped down with each breath, her pupils returned to normal, and her teeth and claws shrank. Finally, taking one last breath, she released a long, relieved sigh.
"How do you feel now?"
"A little better..." she replied as she glanced at the table, "I apologize...It's just...it's just impossible for the stones to work that way."
"Somebody found another way to use em' to fix the sky. Nothing's impossible unless you try, and whoever tried found an awesome solution.", Camille explained to her.
"Yes, but a solution where the stones grant mortals' powers and those lights help to mend the sky?"
"Yeah. Weird, am I right?"
"Weird indeed...."
When she leaned back on the couch, suddenly, she felt a lump under her. She shifted in her seat before rising to look down at the furniture.
"Speaking of weird, does this couch have a rock in it? I feel something hard underneath my cushion?"
"Let me take a look", she offered, whipping her tail out from behind as it dove into the couch.
The girl leaned back, watching the appendage rummage around the innards of the couch.
"It could be Queenie's hair brush you might be feeling," Camille took a wild guess as her tail pulled out random items, "Or maybe it could be that conch shell I found at the beach last month."
She kept digging until she pulled out a stone, no bigger than a shark's tooth, coiled around her tail as she brought it close to her eyes. The base was shaped like a dragon's jaws clamping around the dimmed golden stone; once that shone bright, it had lost some of its glow.
"Ohhh~What a pretty, little rock.", Camille smiled at the gem.
The girl scooched over to get a closer look at the stone. Her eyes shot wide, and she realized the gem immediately! The Yellow Stone! Her stone! What was it doing in the couch!? More importantly, how did it end up there?!
"T-t-that's....my stone!", she shot up, taking a few steps toward Camille. Inspecting the gem around her tail closely to ensure it was her stone.
"Your stone? Wait, is this the stone you were telling us about?", she asked her, unraveling her tail to allow the stone to drop into her palms.
"I recognize that gem anywhere...But, it looks so...different than how I remembered it...There should be...a swirling flame.. and its shine..." she ran her fingers around the base toward the stone. Her reflection staring back at her in its sad state.
"Yeah, it's either a little dusty or the gem's appearance. Not all stones shimmer and shine."
"The Five-Colored Stones shimmer and shine, but mine....It's like it got drained of its energy and is in such a poor state. Just like its owner..." she sadly stared at the stone.
The Scorpion Queen came up beside her, took a quick glance of the stone in her palms, and softened her eyes plastering a convincing smile as she thought of the right words to give to her new friend.
"It's...still lovely. Just because a stone lost its glow doesn't mean it's lost its shine.", the Scorpion Queen said. "A little polish and elbow grease, and that stone will shine once again."
"Yeah! We could try using your jewelry wax on her stone! That'll help get its groovy shine back!" Camille beamed, pointing at the girl's stone.
"I...appreciate it, but for now...I think it's best to leave it as is until I sort this out."
"Okay-but, if you ever need a polish, ya know who to ask.," Scorpion Queen winked.
"By the way, I don't think I've ever gotten your name...I know you called her "Cammie" earlier?" she pointed to Camille.
"Oh, right! Where are my manners? I am the Scorpion Queen, the most beautiful queen in all the land, but I sometimes go by SQ or 'Queenie' as Camille calls me. You're free to call me whichever you like." she gave her a playful wink.
"Okay, 'Queenie'?"
"And what happens to be your name? Besides your 'official title'?" asked the Scorpion Queen.
"The only name I go by is Huanglong, but not many people call me by that name except a few personal friends of mine..."
"That's no good," said Camille, "Huanglong sounds so long and doesn't sound cute either. Say! Since you're a 'demi-human,' you should have a name to go with your new self!"
"Oh! I know! What if we call her...Starlight! Her hair glitters like the stars", chimed the Scorpion Queen.
"Um....lovely, but I don't think so."
"Whyn't we call her 'Frannie' because she's got Fangs." Jin chipped in.
"Don't like that one ONE bit." she shot Jin a dirty glare.
"What about...The Dragon Mistress?"
"Too basic."
"Saffron's a nice name," said the Scorpion Queen.
"It does sound nice, but...Saffron is second on my top favorite tea list, but I don't want it to be my name.", the girl said.
"Silky because of your dress?" Yin said.
"Lame."
"Scale Gal."
"Okay, now you're not even trying!" she snapped at Jin.
As her friends rattled on about various names to call their new friend, Camille thought for the longest time, shaking the cobwebs in her brain, trying to put together a name that would suit her.
First, she looked up at the open ceiling, recalling how the girl had descended from the heavens, then recalling the stone in her possession and how her hair had shined like the stars themselves. She considered each bit as she pounded different names in her head like a swordsmith striking hot iron to turn into a magnificent sword. When the steam cooled, a single name rose, the perfect name that befits a demi-human such as her!
She snapped her fingers and whistled to her friends. They halted, turning her way.
"I got it! How does...'Aizhen' work for you?" raising a curious eyebrow at the girl, hands cupped behind her back and leaning toward the girl.
"Ai...zhen?"
"Ai as in cloudy sky, and zhen as in precious, valuable, and rare! Aizhen!", Camille explained to her.
"Aizhen...Aizhen..."
She let the name roll on her tongue for a while, grasping the sound and meaning behind her new name. Yes...Aizhen. The name, meaning, and how it sounded in her mind fit her like a glove.
"Aizhen. I love that name. My new name is Aizhen." she gave Camille a small, bright smile.
Camille's eyes sparkled, hands cupped together with tiny hearts around her head. A slight squeal escaped her lips.
"I'm so happy you love it, Ai-Ai!"
"Ai-Ai?"
"Yep! Ai-Ai! Or Zhenny-Zen. AiZey. Zey-Zey. OH! What about...Aize! But Ai-Ai sounds so much cuter~!" Camille gushed over the nickname.
Aizhen shook her head. Camille was such a strange girl, but a creatively strange girl to give her a worthy name to call herself in this new life she found herself in.
Camille removed her phone from her pocket, tapped the camera app, and angled the frame to get Aizhen in view.
"Say, Ai-Ai. Could you hold up the stone just near your chin, please?" asked Camille.
"Sure?" she said, raising the stone to her chin.
Snap! Snap! Camille took a few pictures of Aizhen and began to type on her phone. Aizhen stepped over to see what she was up to, but the first thing she saw was her image displayed on the screen, watching text popping up underneath.
"Wait a minute...That's me! Did you steal my soul and place it inside this magic tablet!?" she was alarmed seeing her image.
"Hahaha, no, silly. I didn't steal your soul. I just took your pic with my smartphone. I'm sending a message to my palsie who MIGHT know about your little stone.", Camille explained.
"And what is that you're adding underneath my 'pic'?
"I'm texting. You write with your thumbs to write a message to who you're talking to. It even includes cute emojis to express what you're trying to tell folks."
She continued inputting a grinning face, sparkle, and five different colored gems and finished off with a dragon emoji.
"Fascinating. It's almost like Oracle Bone script. So, you can 'write' on that 'smartphone' to the person you are talking to?" Aizhen asked, trying to grasp the concept of messaging.
"Yep, but you can even call em' to say what's up. And~Sent.," Camille said, pressing the send button, "Now I just gotta wait for a response and see what she has to say."
"And who is this 'she' you refer to?"
"Only the coolest girl in all of Megapolis-Mei! She is a legend! She won the Great Wall Race."
"Which me and my bro commentaries and shook things up," Jin added with a cocky grin.
"Chaotically awesome it was! Up high!" Yin said, holding his claw to Jin as he got a high five.
"She comes from a line of dragons. That's a major plus: You're a dragon; she's from a lineage of dragons. You two would sooo hit it off!", she expressed her enthusiasm to Aizhen.
"A lineage of dragons, you say? Which clan?"
"Uhh.....I don't know which clan, but they're super powerful and well-known. I forgot, but she told me how she met her Great times something grandpa in the Eastern Sea. She was there on official business with her pals."
"The Dragon of the East...Fascinating. I'll have to ask her myself of her lineage."
Ding! Camille checked her phone, and her eyes lit up like Christmas lights.
"You're in luck! You can ask her when we drop by Pigsy's Noodles! She's going to tell her bestie after he finishes work."
"Pigsy's...Noodles?"
"If you think the food you have there are something, Pigsy's Noodles has THEE best noodles in the city-no! IN THE Universeee~..." Camille exaggerated, parting her hands into a rainbow arch.
"The best...in the universe? They must be a dish of the gods to gain such a title as 'best in the universe', Aizhen thought to herself.
"Pfftt! They're just regular, soggy noodles!" Jin said.
"Though, honestly, they are pretty good.", Yin interjected.
"Well, okay- they are good, but still soggy noodles.", protested Jin.
"I'll have to sample 'Pigsy's Noodles' when we arrive at the establishment to meet up with this 'Mei' person," said Aizhen, scarfing down a few peaches, placing the cores on the napkin and brushing her hands off.
"Well, the noodle shop is on the other side of town, but that's cool! It'll give us time to give you the 'grand tour' of the city."
"City? Don't you mean kingdom?"
"King...dom? Nooo~Megapolis isn't a kingdom. If you don't believe me, why not go outside to check it out for yourself." Camille pointed to the door behind her.
"I think I will."
Aizhen leaped off the stage, landing on all fours like a cat, dashed toward the front door, threw it open, and headed out into the street.
"Camille...You know what you just did, right?"
"She threw open the door, went straight outside, and might get herself killed by the first vehicle if she steps into traffic?" it dawned on Camille of the grave mistake on her part.
"Yep."
"She's going to die", Jin said.
"She isn't going to die, I'm sure she's just-"
BEEEEPP~! A car horn rang through the doorway, alarming Camille and her friends.
"Okay, I was wrong! She's going to die! She's going to die!" Camille panicked as she ran off toward the doorway.
"Wait for me, Cammie!" Scorpion Queen yelled as she ran off after her friend.
"Wanna check out to see if Scaley's gonna bite or break it?" Jin asked his brother.
"I bet she'll break something, and it'll be hilarious. So, I definitely wanna check it out.", replied Yin.
The brothers finished up the remains of their meal, wiped their mouths, and dashed off after their friends with phones in hand to record the chaos about to unfold.