“Rosette, why do you keep dragging your friends into my class?” The teacher yelled from the front of the class. Rosette turned red as the class laughed and she sank lower in her chair. She had no choice but to bring both Ryu and Flora into her Mythological Studies class for two reasons. Ryu wasn’t feeling very well today and had to keep even closer to her because he would get sick quickly. Flora was there for the simple fact that she was again attached to Ryu.
“I’m sorry!” she said, “You won’t even notice them here!”
“You know we have a daycare on campus, right?” the teacher asked with her hand on her hip.
“She’s too shy and there are other reasons.” Rosette said. The teacher sighed.
“She’s your responsibility. Make sure she doesn’t disrupt my class.” She said, “And whoever is wearing that perfume should learn to wear it in moderation!” The class again laughed as the scent of roses drifted through the class.
“I think it smells nice.” A girl in front said.
“Yea, it covers up the musty smell of chalk.” Someone else said.
“Regardless, there are people with allergies to these kinds of things so whoever is wearing it, remember that!” The room remained silent, “Anyway, let’s begin.”
The computer screen bathed her face in a soft glow in the dim lights of the student lounge. It was more of a café anyway. They only served every kind of coffee under the sun, and nothing else. Ryu didn’t mind, he sat staring at Rosette as she stared down at the computer screen and he sipped on his double espresso with Flora still attached to his arm, sitting beside him. He didn’t understand why someone could sit and stare at a screen like that. The television was different. At least there were moving pictures and sound, but on her screen, strange text was displayed on the screen that he couldn’t understand.
Rosette first started her search on the only piece of evidence she had, the fan. She tried searching for fan retailers, repair shops, and even huge cooling system businesses, but none of them had a fan as their corporate logo. None even came close. She was about to give up, when she got an idea, and needed more information.
“Flora, where did you see this picture of a fan?” she suddenly asked. She felt bad for asking because Flora jumped and seemed to have been asleep on Ryu’s shoulder.
“Wah??” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes, “I saw it on mommy’s card.”
“Did you see it anywhere else?”
“It was on a big sign over where her friends used to work.” She mumbled.
“Do you know where that is?”
“It’s where the big metal birds fly to.” She said.
“Big metal birds?” Rosette took a minute for this to sink in, “You mean airplanes?”
“Yea! That’s what mommy called them!” she said with a half smile. Rosette went back to the computer and pulled up the website for the Toronto Airport
The drive to the Airport that evening took quite a while. Rosette felt somewhat lonely being the only one in the front seat. She occasionally glanced in the rear view mirror to see Flora resting her head on Ryu’s shoulder, like a little sister. She smiled as the wipers flapped back and forth in the wet snow.
Once they arrived and found a parking space, they entered the Airport through huge automatic doors, and Ryu gazed around at the huge space. Scanning the departure area, Rosette had no trouble spotting the propeller logo of the airline she was looking for.
“Yes, where would you like to fly today?” the clerk asked. Rosette smiled.
“I’m not flying anywhere but I am looking for someone.” She said.
“Oh, I’d be happy to help!” she said with a smile, “What’s this person’s name? I can call them on the PA system.”
“No, you don’t understand.” She said, “I’m looking for an employee of your airline. Can you help me with that?”
“I’m not sure, but I can get my manager for you.” She said, “She can probably help you.”
“Thanks.” Rosette said. After a few minutes, a slightly taller woman came out from the back.
“Can I help you?” She asked, “I hear you’re looking for an employee?”
“Yes.”
“Is this an emergency?” she asked, “Because I can’t give out certain information to unauthorized personnel.”
“It’s kind of an emergency.” She said, “I’m looking for Jessica Porter.”
“Let me take a look.” She said, pulling up her file on the computer, “Oh my!”
“What?”
“Are you a relative?” she asked in a somewhat sympathetic tone.
“Sort of. She’s a friend.” Rosette said, “Why?”
“Our records say she passed away three months ago.” She said. Rosette gasped.
“What?!” she said. The manager’s words knocked the wind out of her, “That can’t be right!”
“I’m sorry, but she died in a plane accident.” The manager said, “She was a pilot and was involved in a freak accident.”
“What happened?”
“A lightning bolt hit the plane just as it was taking off.” The manager said, “The plane went straight through a major highway and into a ravine.”
“Oh my God!” Rosette gasped.
“She was a pilot?” Ryu asked, his eyes narrowed.
“Yes.” The manager said. He could tell she didn’t want Rosette to make a scene, and Rosette looked as if she was about to break down any minute.
“Come on, Rosette.” Ryu said, “Let’s go.”
Rosette was in no condition to drive. Tears rolled down her face and Flora wasn’t making it any better, staring at her from under Ryu’s cloak in the lobby. She looked totally confused and frightened, but that was understandable for a child like her. Even though she was twenty, and not much younger than Rosette, she was still a child. A child who has lost her mother and now has no one to care for her. An orphan. The fact that she was also a dragon just complicated things even more. There isn’t and orphanage that would accept a dragon child, let alone a family that would adopt, unless they were dragons too, which was next to impossible. Rosette knew that she would have to be the one to tell her about her mother, but she just couldn’t. She’s frightened enough now, and she already begins to shake even if they just leave the house, so another shock to her system could only do worse. And being attached to Ryu, she couldn’t ask him for help without her hearing.
She had to wait until they were in the car, on the way back from the Airport. Flora had fallen asleep against the door in the back, so Ryu and Rosette could talk in the front seat.
“Ryu, what am I going to do?” She whispered over the drone of the engine, “This is going to kill her.”
“Don’t tell her anything.” He said.
“What? She has to know!” She said, “She has to know the truth!” There was a long silence as the sound of the wipers flopping back and forth seemed to bore into their heads.
“Then tell her the truth when we find out.” He said.
“But this is the truth, Ryu!” She said, “Her mother is dead.”
“I don’t think so.” He said. Rosette slowed down and pulled into her parking space at the apartment building.
“What are you saying?” she asked.
“I’m saying that I don’t think she is dead.”
“Why?”
“Because when a dragon dies, they revert back to their dragon form.” He said, “If she did die in that plane crash, then they would have found a huge dead dragon next to the plane.”
“And they didn’t…..” Rosette said, trailing off.
“No they didn’t.” he said, “There would have been a bigger fuss about it if they did.”
“So if she didn’t die, then……”
“She must have gotten mixed with survivors or something.” Ryu said, “Whatever that manager had is wrong.” Rosette wiped her eyes.
“Then she’s still alive!”
“Somewhere.” He said.
The street light flickered, then died as he dropped his cigarette on the ground. The metal felt cold as he leaned against it, and an eerie shiver ran down his spine. The light overhead flashed on again glinting off the freshly falling snow, and his breath hung in the air before his face. He pulled another cigarette from a worn package in his jacket and searched for a light, but found his matchbox empty. A flash of light beside him made him jump, and the stranger lifted the flame to his cigarette, setting it aflame.
“Jesus, don’t do that!” the man said, fixing his tie, “You scared the shit out of me!”
“Sorry, I can’t help it.” He spoke from the shadows and even then, the man in the streetlight couldn’t tell what he looked like, “Have you heard anything?”
“Not much.” The man said, “There is a broad who says she actually saw one of them. A live one.”
“Does she have proof?” He hissed from the shadows.
“Yea, she has pictures.” He said, “Her name is Michelle Higgins.”
“Anything else, Thomas?” he asked.
“Please, call me Tom.” He said.
“Pardon me, Tom.” He said, “Is there anything else?”
“Well there’s this kid at the college.” He said, “Always hanging out with a young girl.”
“Most of them do.”
“This kid is different.” Tom said, “He’s, well, one of them.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. I saw it with my own eyes.” Tom said.
“What about the girl?”
“She’s normal, but he seems overprotective of her.” He said, “They could be dating, I’m not sure.”
“Interesting.” The man in the shadows drifted closer and extended his arm, holding out a rather large wad of cash, “Thank you for your services.”
“You’re not going to hurt any of them, are you?” he asked taking the money.
“Of course not!” he said, “Is there anything else?”
“Yea, could you give me your lighter? I’ve lost mine.” He said. The man in the shadows turned and laughed.
“What makes you think I have a lighter?” he laughed, “I don’t smoke.”
The waiting room was empty except for the three who sat quietly in the back corner. The room was quiet except for the faint sobs of Rosette. Still, even in the wide open space, the feeling if sadness gripped her heart and seemed to close in on her. The only comfort she had was Ryu sittng next to her, and she cried on his shoulder. She didn’t care anymore, and he didn’t mind. He knew that she was having a hard time, and he wanted to help her, even if the only thing he could offer was his shoulder. As she hugged into him, Flora sat on the other side of him and stared at the floor,
The hours seemed to crawl across the clock on the wall, and with each passing minute she became even more worried. Her mother went in for surgery in the morning, and as the clock passed noon, she was sure there was something wrong. Her father was in worse shape than her. He kept walking up to the nurse’s station, asking about what was going on, but all she could do was shake her head.
Ryu watched a few hours later when the doctor came out to talk to her father. Dave conversed for a moment with the doctor, and the doctor ended the conversation shaking his head. When neither Rosette nor Flora moved when her father sat back down, he realized that both had fallen asleep, their faces still stained with tears. Ryu stared at Dave from under his hood.
“What happened?” he asked quietly. Dave sighed.
“They got some of the cancer, Ryu, but not all of it.” He said, “It’s not like anything they have seen before. He said that they’re not even sure it is cancer.”
“Then what is it?” Ryu muttered.
“They only call it cancer because of what it looks like.” He said, “They even think that chemotherapy is futile.”
“Futile?” Ryu asked.
“Not worth doing.” He said, “It’s a figure of speech.”
“Isn’t there anything they can do?” Ryu asked, again Dave sighed,
“There’s nothing,” he said, “They think she has less than a week.”
“I’m sorry.” Ryu said, he glared down at the floor.
“Can I ask you something?” Dave asked.
“Yes?”
“What about you dragons?” he asked, “Aren’t you supposed to be magical beings? Is there anything you can do?”
“I’m a fire dragon. I can only destroy things.” He said, “The only dragon that would be of any use in this situation would be a white dragon.”
“A white dragon?” Dave leaned forward.
“A holy dragon. They have the power to heal and to bless.” He said, “I’ve only heard of one ever existing, but I also know that it died.”
“So there’s no way?” he asked.
“I’m sorry.”
Ryu had to carry Rosette out of the hospital that night. He just didn’t feel like waking her just so that she would have to face more bad news. Dave drove her car home with the three in the back seat, with Rosette sleeping on Ryu’s shoulder. Ryu softly stared out the window at the dark trees flying by, and Dave found himself glancing at them in the rear view mirror too often.
“Ryu, I want to apologize.” He said. Ryu looked at him in the mirror.
“What for?”
“About how I treated you when we first met.” He said, “I know I said I was sorry before, but I want you to know that I was wrong.”
“T-thank you.” He muttered. Ryu thought that his sudden change of heart was because of the situation with his wife, but he realized that this must have been a real eye opener for him, and he was thinking hard about everything.
“Can I ask you something, man to man?” he asked.
“Okay.”
“Do you love my daughter?” he asked. Ryu looked down at her peaceful face resting on his shoulder and it took him a long time to respond.
“Yes.” He finally said, “Yes, I do.”
“You’re saying this seriously?” Dave asked.
“Yes.” He said, “I’m not confused anymore about this. This time I’m serious.”
“Thank you.” Dave said, “Please take care of her.”
“I will.” He said. The silence in the car afterwards was awkward, but they seem to have gotten their points across. It’s uncomfortable enough for two guys to share their feelings like this, but for the object of those feelings sitting in the car next to him, he felt even more nervous. It just felt right. It felt right for her to be this close to him, and it felt right to have these feelings for her. He tried blaming his confusion on being frozen before, but he could no longer use that as an excuse. He finally figured out that it was love itself that was confusing him, and not knowing what it was he was unaccustomed to the feeling. His gaze drifted out the window again, unnoticing that Rosette’s eyes were open, and began to fill with tears.
The bright sun shone in through the window as Detective Gantz sipped on his coffee and read his morning emails and news. It was a beautiful morning, but he just didn’t feel like smiling. He didn’t know what it was exactly, but he felt like crap. He knew he wasn’t sick, but he felt as if the whole world was against him, and that nothing was going right.
“Hey, Gantz! What cases do you have open at the moment?” the chief asked from the door. Gantz placed his coffee on the desk.
“Not much, Chief. I just closed that missing persons report last week.” He said.
“That one about the kid up north? The one with red hair?”
“Yea. That’s the one.”
”Well did you find him?” the chief asked closing the door behind him.
“Yes, sir. He went home to his sisters.” He said.
“That’s good to hear.” The chief said, “So nothing in the works now?”
“No, but I assume you want to give me something?” he asked, and a folder was dropped on his desk.
“Here’s your next case.” He said, “I want you to investigate this strange stuff that’s been happening lately.”
“Strange things, sir?” he asked as he thumbed through the pages.
“Yes, the strange footage taken at the university by the security cameras, the unidentified flying object that the Airport radar picked up, and those strange sightings that have been reported around the city.”
“I’ve heard of the University and Airport incidents, sir, but what sightings are you talking about?” he asked. The chief gave a chuckle.
“People are seeing strange things, Gantz. Some have seen huge beasts with wings, and others have seen monsters in darkened alleyways.” He said, “Honestly, I think the news report about the beast at the University has everyone a bit paranoid.”
“So what do you want me to do, sir?” Gantz asked, putting the papers away.
“Just keep your eyes open for any monsters.” He laughed, “Be sure to report if any Loch Ness monsters or dragons show up in the city.” The chief laughed as he left the office and closed the door behind him, leaving Gantz speechless.
“Dragons?” he muttered, “Yeah right.”
The sun seeped through the curtains and shone in her face as Rosette began to stir, and then blinked a few times to get her surroundings. It took her a moment to remember what had happened the night before, because she didn’t know how she got home. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep at the hospital. But as she put her feet in her slippers the scene in the car from the night before suddenly flashed in her mind, when Ryu finally admitted his true feelings.
She figured that he didn’t know that she was awake, and thought it would be less awkward to pretend that she didn’t know, but the fact of the matter is that she did know, and now she was worried about what this would mean.
She didn’t have any classes this morning, but she had planned on getting up early anyway so that she could go back to the hospital and check on her mother. As she opened the door to her room, she noticed immediately that there was something wrong. It was cold. Not just cold, but freezing cold, as if someone had left the window open all night.
She had never had to turn on the heat recently, and now that she thought about it, she stopped turning it on about the same time that Ryu had started to live there. She found it stranger still that no windows were open, and there was no way for the place to get so cold.
“Ryu, are you awake?” she called through the door, “I’m going to the hospital again this morning. Are you coming with me?” Her call was met with silence.
Rosette put her ear to the door, expecting to hear him either snoring, or the hollow sound he made when he slept as a dragon, but in the silence of the chilled room, she heard nothing at all.
“Ryu, are you okay?” she called a little louder, “I’m coming in, alright?”
The door creaked as the cold metal hinges groaned, and she felt an even colder draft hit her in the face as she stepped inside. She began to shiver as she looked around the room, and spotted him on the far side of the bed, still wearing his thin cloak.
“Ryu, are you alright?” she asked as she approached. Still he didn’t move. For some reason this situation reminded her of the time she was doing the same thing with her pet hamster at the age of ten. She tried calling it, rattling the cage, but nothing seemed to wake it up from its spot in the corner. She then opened the door to the cage to give it a poke, but found it dead and frozen in its curled position in the corner. She hesitated as she inched forward, hoping that the outcome isn’t the same as then.
Her hand shook as she reached out to touch him, and she gasped when she saw that he wasn’t breathing. In a panic she grabbed his shoulder rolling him over so he was lying on his back and sighed in relief when he took a shallow breath, but he still didn’t wake up.
“Ryu! What’s wrong? Why won’t you wake up?!” she cried as she gently shook him, but he still remained quiet and still. There was a commotion in the hall, and Dave appeared in the door with panic on his face.
“What happened? What’s wrong?” he yelled, but stopped when he saw the tears rolling down her face.
“Ryu won’t wake up!” she cried.
“We have to take him to the hospital!” he said darting down the hall, “We’re going there anyway.”
“We have to hurry, Dad!” she yelled.
“What about his sisters?” he asked, “Should I call them?”
“Yes!” she yelled. Neither of them noticed the cold air anymore, and the quiet morning wasn’t so quiet anymore.
“You should have called us first.” Crystal
The two sisters sat across from them, both holding cups of coffee. Rosette still had tears streaming down her face and Flora was still trying to figure out what was going on. Dave had left to find the doctor in charge of his wife, leaving Rosette in the girl’s care.
“What do you mean its no big deal?” Rosette yelled, “I didn’t know what to think! I thought he was dead!”
“Well there’s no manual to a dragon, you know.” Sparcy said in a lowered voice, “And there’s no way we could have remembered to tell you about it.”
“So what exactly is wrong with him, anyway?” she asked, wiping her tears.
“He was just in his human form too long.” Crystal
“What about you two? How long can you stay like that?” she asked.
“About three weeks.” Sparcy said, “What do you think we have the cottage for?”
“So what do we do now?” she asked. Sparcy smiled.
“Nothing. He just has to rest in his dragon form for a while.” She said, “And make sure he changes back from time to time.”
“So that’s it, right?” Rosette sighed, “No big deal?”
“No big deal.”
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