-Sapphire-
I was breathing. That wasn't right. I clearly remembered the fire... my skin burning... my lungs full of soot and ash... I should be dead.
I opened my eyes slowly with ease, looking at a soft blue ceiling. My ceiling is white... Where am I? I slowly pushed myself up, assessing my pain first. The only thing complaining was my neck. Then, I looked for a bathroom. The door on the right of me led straight to one. I closed my eyes, unwilling to look at my body until it was in the mirror.
Slowly, I walked in. When I felt the counter, I turned towards it, then stared straight at myself.
I was perfectly fine.
"How is this possible?!" I whispered, feeling my skin. I felt warmer than usual and had a slight pink tinge to it, but everything was there! All my skin, hair, eyebrows... Except there was this unusual black circle on the juncture of my neck. Like a tattoo.
The bedroom door opened and I quickly hid.
"Halfling? Are you in the bathroom?" That voice... I remembered it from the restaurant. I hesitantly open the door, seeing the blonde man from the three top standing in the doorway.
"You... Am I at your house? Why the hell am I not in a hospital, or-or dead?!" He chuckled at me. "This isn't funny! I remember the fire, Blondie! I remember being trapped under a beam and I remember a strange creature starting the fire!"
"Calm down, little one." I growled at the nickname. I HATED being called that. Wait. I don't growl. What the actual fuck?! "My name is Asløv, first of all... my two other friends and I saved you from the fire; Gaston and Acheron... You, yes, should be dead. But, you said you saw a strange creature? That creature is only visible to the magical and supernatural." I raised an eyebrow. Is this dude on crack? "You were in Juvenile Detention for almost killing your last temporary home because they beat you... But you don't remember it." I felt my body freeze up.
"How do you know that?" I whispered, stepping back.
"All will be explained. But you don't remember your fits of rage and temper tantrums because you are part Dark Faerie... In our realm, you're a demon." Crazy alert! Red flag, everybody! "But, you're also half Dragon... That's why you're here and healed."
"This isn't like those Wattpad or Shifter stories! We live on earth! Humans don't just miraculously heal! There is nothing in the world magical! Humans are the only kind of living humanoid on this planet! We aren't in one of those stories!" I screamed at him. "I must be in a god damn coma and I'm imagining all of this.." I whispered, pinching myself to wake up.
"Keep pinching yourself, Halfling... As amusing as it is, it won't wake you up because you're already awake. If you don't believe me... Look outside you're window." I heard a thud and the ground shake gently. I pulled back the curtain to see a pair of gold eyes staring at me and shimmering black leather and scales with some gold horns.
Oh my god...
"That's Acheron... He's the one who pulled you from the fire." I couldn't move. He was staring at me with his head cocked like a puppy. Asløv opened the French doors and stood back.
"It's good to see you awake, Sapphire." My jaw dropped. "Yes, I can talk in this form, too." He chuckled, which made his body shake. This isn't real! This isn't real! I kept telling myself that but Asløv pushed for me to pet him. "It is real, Sapphire. Touch my scales." He put his massive jaw down on the edge of the open balcony. I tentatively reached out, hesitant to make contact... Until he pushed himself to my hand.
Oh fuck... This is real.
I fainted.
-Acheron-
I watched as she fainted and Asløv caught her.
"Well... that went better than expected." He laid her down on the balcony. I looked down at her, glad to see her better, but I felt bad that she fainted.
"Just get some water and splash it on her. She'll wake right up." I told him. He came back with a cup of water, then promptly splashed it on her face, and she shot up. She looked at me, then back at Asløv, then back to me.
"I'm not dreaming..."
"No, sweetheart, you're not." She got up, then reached for the bridge of my snout. I allowed her to run her hand across the scaly leather. The mating pull between us made her touch feel like a cloud. I couldn't contain the purr that ripped through my throat, it just felt so damn nice.
"Dragons purr?" A laugh broke through her lips. "I'm sorry, that's not funny..."
"It's a mate thing... Dragon's only purr at the touch of their mates." Asløv told her.
"Soulmate? That applies to Dragon's too?" She looked at him, hand still on my snout.
"Yes, but the odds of finding our mates are slim. Most reside in the Magic realm, which as you can see, we're not in... But, the magical creatures here, chose to leave willingly. I was born here, way back when." She cocked her head.
"Just how old are you?" She asked curiously.
"I was born around 200 B.C... Acheron, born about two years later than I. His father was a Greek politician, mother an Archer... Both very powerful Dragons."
"Isn't this like... pedophilia or something? You're thousands of years old and I'm in my double digits." I snickered at her.
"Funny, but no." Asløv began to educate her.
"Since your gene was dormant, you didn't feel the pull like Acheron did... but that black circle on your shoulder is his mark... He had to do so in order to kick your true healing abilities in." Her soft golden eyes met mine. "We don't know if you'll ever shift or not, but... we also don't know how this will react with your demon." Her face fell.
"So... I'm basically an empowered Human is all?" I nudged her hand.
"We don't know, Sapphire. This hasn't happened before." I told her. "You could be a shifter like us, or not... you may be more demonic... But, your father was a very powerful dragon and your mother was a middle-level demon. His genetics should overpower hers." She closed her eyes.
"How do you know who my parents are?" Her voice was sad.
"I saw a very faint memory when I marked you... You were two months old when they were slaughtered unmercifully by Hunters." Tears formed in her eyes. "When we heard the news, it was tragic among us all. They were good people... But, nobody knew where you were in all this, or that you existed." She pulled her hand away, her sadness overwhelming me. "I know this is a lot to take in, Sapphire, but you're part of our world, now..." She looked at me, pain visible. "You'll get to know everything you want with us. We won't hide the truth from you, but the mortal world cannot hear about us." She nodded, but remained silent. Her stomach rumbled loudly, making Asløv burst out laughing.
"Why don't we just go to the buffet? Dragons have a super large appetite, it's the best place in the world for us." A smile perked on her lips.
"Is it bad to ask if I could uh... ride on your back?" She asked me. I smiled at her, then held out my claw for her. She climbed in my hand, then found a spot on my neck where one of my spikes was there for her to hold onto.
"Hold on tight." I told her, then went to the cliffs by the lake. She was a tad bit scared but when I leapt off, her scream turned into laughs, and I flew around the house.
As I landed, I felt her happiness come out and it was like a warm blanket on my heart. I helped her off, then set her down on the balcony.
"Thank you." She pet the bridge of my snout, sending a shiver through my body.
"Of course." I rumbled, backing off. "I'll be back momentarily." She nodded, then went inside, closing the French doors. I closed my eyes, shifting back to my Human form, then gathered my clothes from the front porch. I slid my jeans on before I walked inside. I had one of my Djinn's, or Genies, grant her clothing. I spared them during one of the slaughterings in the seventh century and gave them shelter while I was flying through Persia. I gave them sanctuary in Rome and they were with me ever since.
I walked into the guest room Sapphire was in, seeing her dressed in the clothes Saffron materialized for her. It was a deep purple, off the shoulder long sleeve shirt, some black skinny jeans, and leather booties with studded straps. Her blonde hair was in a messy bun and she just looked delectable.
"Where'd the clothes come from?" She asked curiously.
"My Djinn, Saffron... She took care of getting you personal products and clothing for the next few days." She looked at what she was wearing, smiling a bit.
"She certainly knows my style." Her stomach rumbled loudly. "But, if I don't eat soon, I think I'm going to die."
-Sapphire-
Eight plates of food later I finally felt my stomach give.
"You're going to be hungry again in about an hour." Gaston was finishing his last plate of desserts.
"It doesn't help that it's Chinese food." Acheron noted. I could already feel my stomach digesting the food.
"Yeah, well... I might go back for another plate here in about five minutes..." The guys snickered. "Is it always going to be like this?" I asked.
"Once and if you shift, it should stabilize... You have three forces in your body. You, your dragon, and your demon... You have to have enough energy in your body to counteract each other." I groaned, sinking into the booth.
"It gets easier to handle as time goes on... You just found out about this." My lips twitched.
"If I was going to shift... When exactly would that happen?"
"It could be any time from now... We were born as cubs, so we didn't shift until our dragons matured to their full size... It was nearly fifty years for me." Acheron spoke up. "But, again, when and if." I prodded a leftover dumpling on my plate.
"Are you guys ready to go?" Gaston asked and a woman with long blonde hair and a gold and white dress walked in.
"I think she's following us." Asløv muttered, getting up. We had paid the check awhile ago, all we had to do was leave.
"I remember her.." I whispered.
"That's Eris..." She noticed us and came our way.
"There's my lovely gaggle of dragons... Oh, and you, halfling... I'm sorry for searing your skin and nearly killing you." Anger suddenly seated through my veins. "That attack was meant for one of the cooks who has some bad karma built up... No imps today... I actually like this place, and I am starving." She had this primadonna attitude and I didn't like it. "Oh! Congratulations, Acheron... I'm sure the other lovely ladies in Thelrissia would not be pleased to hear such a story." A sly smirk grew on her face. I finally had enough. I threw my soda on her, making her scream out. "You stupid little-"
"That's for setting my restaurant on fire, trying to kill someone in the process AND BURNING ME ALIVE!" I walked out. Goddess of Chaos or not, she was not worth my time.
"Sapphire-"
"What?" I was suddenly growling all over again as I turned to meet who was talking to me.
"Holy shit, your eyes!" I looked in the window seeing an unruly purple staring back at me.
"What the-"
"You need to calm yourself before your demon comes out." I clamped my jaw tight. Suddenly, it felt like my body was trying to rip open. "Asløv! Gaston!" The pain... I fell over, holding my chest and stomach, trying to push the feeling back. It was no use. My vision began to fade out and I felt my skin rip and explode.
-Acheron-
Her demon was deadly and beautiful...
The faint purple hue skinned demon had glowing purple eyes, and wicked curved horns out the top of her head. Her skin was adorned with glowing azure tattoos, and she was naked.
"That stupid little bitch... keeping me locked up for so long..." The demon hissed, eyes snapping to me. "And you... you tried to kill me off.." Her hand snaked out for my throat, but I caught her wrist, and snapped it. Sapphire would heal, after all, but to stop her demon? As long as it meant she was still alive, I'd do anything to stop her.
Her demon roared and then tried to swing. The other two got her restrained and I got her in a choke hold, watching her eyes droop. She finally was asleep after a few minutes and she returned back to her mortal form. I quickly wrapped her up in my jacket before we got her into the car. It was a good thing she was out cold because she used a lot of energy and I don't think she'd take well to being naked in public with no knowledge of what happened.
"We need to get out of here... Like, now."