Tales from the Tavern...

The lavish waiting room was lit brightly as Gantz waited to be seen. The ‘No Smoking’ sign on the wall seemed to taunt him as the minutes rolled by, and even Flora seemed to be getting bored sitting next to him. She had his trench coat creased from clutching it so much, as almost everything seemed to frighten her.

            It took quite a while for her to warm up to Gantz. The main thing she had to get over was the strong scent of cigarettes that he carried around. She did find him to be a nice person, from what she could tell, and she somewhat understood what they were doing here in the first place, but why he was doing it was beyond her.

            “Yes, Mr. Mayor.” The receptionist spoke into her headset, “Mr. Gantz, He will see you now.”

            “Thank you.” He said, standing up. Flora still held his trench coat tightly as they crossed the lobby and shyly turned red when the receptionist flashed her a smile.

            “Detective! To what do I owe the honor?” the Mayor boomed. Gantz and Flora took a seat on an expensive looking, leather couch as the Mayor poured Gantz a drink.

            “The honor is all mine, Your Honor.” He said.

            “You know how long I’ve waited for someone to say that?” he chuckled, “You’ve made my day!”

            “You’re welcome, sir.” He said.

            “Come on now, enough with the formalities, detective. Call me Sean.” He said, taking a sip of scotch. Gantz picked up his glass, lifted it to the mayor and took a swig with Flora curiously looking on.

            “Well in that case, call me Tom.” He said, “Tis’ only fair.”

            “Fine, fine.” He said, “And who is this pretty, young lady?”

            “This is Flora.” He said.

            “Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Flora.” He said, “Would you like something to drink? Juice or milk perhaps?”

            “N-No thank you.” She whimpered.

            “Such a well mannered young girl!” he chuckled, “Is she yours?” Tom coughed on his scotch.

            “No sir,” he said, clearing his throat, “But if you have the time, she is part of the reason why I’m here.”

            “My afternoon is wide open, Tom.” He said, taking another sip, “What can I do to help?”

            “Well, sir, do you believe in dragons?”

            The evening sky and the salty air was a romantic scene, but there was no romance here. The sun cast its beams of light upon the breaking waves, making them sparkle, and as the gentle breeze blew through her hair, a dark presence crept up behind her.

            “I’ve found you.” He hissed, “So this is where you were hiding?” She didn’t move. She didn’t have to. She knew who it was without even looking, and knew that she didn’t want to see him. Right now she wanted to be alone.

            “What do you want, Grim?” she snapped.

            “I want nothing.” He said.

            “Then why are you here?”

            “I was…….concerned.” he said.

            “You needn’t worry about me.” She said, “I’m fine. I’m not the one who was injured.”

            “Not only can the body be injured, but the heart as well.” He said, “You are troubled by Merlin’s words.”

            “I just can’t believe I did that!” she snapped, “If it’s all true, then Ryu isn’t even my brother! He’s supposed to be my enemy! I don’t want that!”

            “Neither does he.”

            “Not even you could say how he’s going to take this.” She said, wiping away a tear, “I don’t want things to change. I love him.”

            “Then don’t change things.” He said, “Keep them the same.”

            “But you wont know what he will do now!” she said.

            “Neither do you.”

            “But what if he hates me now? What if we fight?” she asked. Her grip on the metal railing became tighter.

            “Does he have a reason to hate you?” Grim asked, “Will you give him a reason to fight?”

            “No.” she sniffed. Grim shifted his scythe to his other hand and took hold of the railing next to Crystal.

            “There are only two things on his mind now.” He said, “His family, and his friends. Whether he regards you as either friend or family, he is still thinking of you.”

            “I still want a little brother!” she said, “I want him to be my brother. I want to take care of him still!”

            “Then I ask.” Grim said, turning his hood to look into her blue eyes, “What are you doing up here, and not down there with him?”

            “You are right. You pick up on everything. It must be hard to pull the wool over your eyes” she said, letting go of the rail.

            “Everyone knows that.” He hissed, “You can’t cheat death.”

            “Dragons?” The mayor chuckled and set his glass on the table. Tom could plainly see that Flora was a nervous wreck sitting next to him, “You must be joking!”

            “Okay then, if hypothetically they do exist, what would you do as mayor?” he asked. The mayor leaned back and folded his hands.

            “I see what this is.” He said, “This must be for her school assignment, right?”

            “It’s just a hypothetical question, Sean. If they do exist, and were in this city right now, what would you do?” he asked, taking another sip of scotch.

            “Hypothetically speaking, if they were overrunning my city, I would defend it by any means necessary. If they were keeping to themselves and not causing anyone trouble, I would probably leave them alone. But it depends on how many there are I guess, and if they were anywhere else.”

            “What do you mean?”

            “Well, if they only existed in my city alone for some strange reason, they would not be harmed, but rather taken away to a reserve where the endangered species act would take effect. Why a dragon would rather go to a city and not live in the forest is beyond me anyways!”

            “What if I told you they were intelligent, just like humans?” Gantz asked with a grin, “What then? What if they told you they didn’t want to go to a reserve? What if they wanted to live alongside humans in peace?”

            “If a dragon could talk and did exist, and if it asked me if it could live in my city, I wouldn’t be against it, but how could huge dragons live in peace with humans in a city? They would block traffic and break things!”

            “What if they could take human form?” Gantz asked. The mayor picked up his glass again.

            “Now how could they do that?” he asked, taking a sip.

            “Magic.”

            “Now you’re being ridiculous.” He laughed, “There’s no such thing as magic.”

            “I’m still being hypothetical, of course.” Gantz said.

            “Well if they could take human form and wanted to live like everyone else, I would let them! It is a free country!”

            “So you would think of them as being the same as everyone else?” he asked. The mayor laid his glass on the table.

            “I would in the most sense.” He said, “I would probably have to get them registered.”

            “How so?”

            “Well, they would have to be identifiable as dragons somehow. Perhaps on their drivers license or ID. Along with whatever ‘Magic’ they can do.” He said.

            “Why? Isn’t the point of taking human form to blend in with other people and not be noticed?”

            “But a dragon would be considered as having dangerous weapons, Tom. Even if they are peaceful, they carry around deadly claws and are strong enough to take out a building. Some even without magic.”

            “Registration? Isn’t that bordering on discrimination?” Gantz asked.

            “If this hypothetical question were in fact the truth, it wouldn’t be like that at all.” The mayor said, “If dragons did exist, it would be big news, Tom. This would be right up there with first contact of an alien species. If we suddenly found that the Earth was full of mythical dragons that were assuming human form all these years, the world would panic.”

            “I kind of figured that.” Gantz said.

            “And what do you think would happen if they were allowed to roam around freely, without having to tell anyone who they are? People will become paranoid and with the general opinion of dragons these days, chaos will erupt. People will accuse other people of being dragons and fear them for no reason, sides will form and eventually war will break out. At least with registration, people will know who are human and who are dragons. Neither group would receive more or less rights than the other. It would simplify relations between the two races and prevent unnecessary conflict.”

            “That does make sense I guess.” Gantz said, taking another sip. There was a long, awkward silence and Flora shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

            “Um, Mr. Gantz….” She mumbled, “What are we going to do now?”

            “I don’t know. Flora.” He muttered. The mayor stood up and walked over to the window, gazing out over the cityscape.

            “I’m starting to think that this is more than a hypothetical question, Tom.” He said, “Its utter nonsense that no one would ever believe, but for quite some time now I’ve had my suspicions.” He said.

            “Sir?”

            “Have you ever had the feeling that what you’re seeing, isn’t the truth?” he asked, “Like we’re shown what we should believe, and not what actually is. It’s like we’re being lied to so that we can live a normal life. Things happen, unexplainable things that science will fail to comprehend. There are things that just is, but shouldn’t be according to the laws that we have created to explain our universe.”

            “Life has a funny way of dealing you the wrong hand, sir.” He said.

            “I have no problem with the cards, Tom. It’s the dealer who’s a little shady.” He said, “She’s dealing you cards with the aces hidden under the table.”

            “What are you saying, sir?”

            “I’m saying that you wouldn’t come to the mayor of Toronto just for a little girl’s homework assignment.” He said, “It’s true, isn’t it?”

            “What are you going to do, sir?” Gantz asked. The mayor turned to look him in the eye.

            “I’m going to assume that she’s here to prove that they do. Am I right?”

            “Yes, sir.” Gantz said. The scent of roses began to fill the air.

            “Well, can I see you’re proof?” he asked. His face was dead serious.

            “Flora, can you show him?” Gantz asked, “Please?”

            “A-are you sure?” she whimpered, standing up. Her face turned red as she tried to hide behind Gantz’s jacket.

            “Go ahead.” He said. She ducked behind him as the mayor watched. There was a bright green flash behind his back and a small, green dragon head slowly peeked out from over his shoulder. Attached to Tom’s back, she shook like a leaf trying to look at the mayor, but her shyness got the better of her and she buried her long face in his back. The mayor stared blankly at Gantz, clearly seeing her dragon wings behind him and the sharp, potent smell of roses seemed to embed in his nostrils. In shock, his glass slipped from his fingers and shattered on the corner of his desk, dripping the last shot of scotch down the side of it.

            “Good God man!” he gasped, “That’s a real dragon?” He heard a quiet whimper from behind Tom’s back.

            “I-I’m sorry!” Flora muttered.

            “Hey, you shouldn’t apologize for being who you are!” Gantz snapped, “Be proud for once!” Her small green head poked up and rested on his shoulder.

            “What?” she whimpered.

            “Don’t say you’re sorry for being a dragon, Flora.” He said with a smile, “I’m not ashamed of what I am so why should you?”

            “But I’m scaring him!” She said, “I don’t want to scare anyone.”

            “I-I’m not scared.” Sean stammered, “Surprised, but not scared.”

            “Really?” she asked, “Not even a little bit?”

            “Maybe a little, but I can’t tell if it’s fear or excitement right now!” he said. A smile spread across his face, “This is amazing! Do you know what this means?!”

            “This is why we came here.” Gantz said, “We want to know what this will mean. Will you actually do all those things you said? About them having the same rights as humans?”

            “I will fight to make it so!” he said, “They’re going to call me crazy at the next board meeting, but I don’t care!”

            “How will you convince them without proof? I could barely get Flora to show just you. How can I ask her to do it in front of a whole board of people?”

            “I-I don’t know if I can do that!” she whimpered.

            “You won’t have to.”

            The three of them turned to look where the voice had come from and saw the young receptionist standing in the doorway. She had her hands folded in front of her and was staring at the floor with a red face.

            “Ellen?” Sean gasped, “You heard that?”

            “You should really learn to turn off your speakerphone after you’re finished with it sir.” She said, “I heard the whole thing.”

            “And?” Gantz asked. Flora stared at the receptionist from her perch on Tom’s back.

            “Ellen, what do you mean she won’t have to? How else can we prove that dragons exist?” The Mayor asked. Ellen stepped inside and shut the door behind her.

            “Because I can go with you instead.” She said. Her words were met by a shocked silence that made her blush worse. It took a few minutes for the Mayor to understand what she was saying.

            “Ellen, you too?” he stammered. She quietly nodded.

            “I hope you don’t think less of me sir.” She said.

            “What? I, I mean no! You mean to tell me you were a dragon all this time?” he exclaimed. His question was met with another nod.

            “I’m sorry, sir, for not telling you but it is our nature.” She said.

            “Are you like her?” he asked. Ellen smiled at Flora.

            “No sir, she’s a forest dragon. Me, I’m a wind element dragon.” She said, “And she’s still an infant. I’m fully grown.”

            “Can you show me?” ha asked. Ellen turned a deeper shade of red.

            “I can’t here.” She said, “Unless you want to lose the top floor of the building.”

            “Never mind then.” He said, “I hope this doesn’t change anything between us, Ellen.”

            “I wouldn’t want it to!” She said with a smile, “I want to help anyway I can!”

“Thank you, Ellen”

“So how is he?” Crystal asked. Sparcy looked up from her work of changing another bandage and smiled when she saw her sister standing in front of Grim. Grim looked a little weak, as he was leaning on his scythe quite a bit but it seemed only Sparcy and Nydra took notice.

“He’s going to be fine.” She said, “How about you?”

“I’m fine.” Crystal said. She knelt down next to Ryu and took a hold of one of his claws, “I just want this to be over and I want to go back to the way things were.”

“I know what you mean.” Sparcy said, “But you think we can do that now, knowing what we know?”

“We can. Things don’t have to change.” She said, “And they won’t.” She noticed his claw twitched and her eyes snapped downward towards his slumbering face.

“What?” Sparcy asked.

“He just moved.”

“Really? Ryu, can you hear me?” Sparcy shouted, but there was no response. Again, Crystal felt another twitch.

“He moved again.” She said.

“Come on, Ryu! Wake up!” Sparcy pleaded. Again, another twitch. The girls remained silent after this one as they watched his massive chest move up and down, then he took in a rather large breath. Crystal’s instincts took over as she leaned over to shove Sparcy out of the way before jumping backwards herself. Ryu let out a monstrous sneeze, sending a pillar of fire into the air.

“Ow, that hurt!” he moaned. His sisters jumped back to his side and he began looking around, “Where am I?”

“You had us worried, Ryu.” Sparcy said.

“Where’s Merlin? Where’s Grim.” He muttered.

“I’m here.” Grim said. Ryu looked at him for a moment before turning back to stare at the ceiling.

“Rosette’s worried.” He said.

“We all are.” Sparcy said, “You gave us quite a scare!”

“She’s not just worried about me.” He said, “Something else is happening, Something big.”