Midnight Dawn

Chapter 14

Aile sat on the pile of wood Yona carried in her arms. "Young lady!" A voice came from behind. Yona turned around. Zeno hung from a tree. He did a flip and attempted to land but just face planted instead. He looked up with a smiling, bruised face. "Want some help with that?"

He took the top of the pile where Aile still lay. "Whoa!" He exclaimed. "This bundle's heavy!"

"Giji carries it easily with one arm," Yona replied.

"Really?! Zeno's not up for that. But the White Dragon's kinda cute."

"Hee! That's true, he is."

"Yeah. They're all pretty cute." His eyes softened. "And...you are too."

There was a moment of silence as each took in the beautiful glowing moon in the sky. "Yun and the others said a lot of things, but..." Yona looked into the distance. "...I do believe you're the Yellow Dragon. I don't know how to explain it, but...there's just something different about you. It's like being near a little sun." Yona smiled brightly, turning to face Zeno. "I've never met you before but already being around you makes me cheerful." Zeno looked slightly taken aback, staring at Yona with a hint of wonder and sadness in his eyes. "I never properly introduced myself so I'll do it now. My name is Yona. Zeno, the Yellow Dragon, I'm glad you're with us."

—----

That night Zeno looked up at the night sky. "O heaven...thank you for this day. The moon is remarkably beautiful tonight." Aile sat on his shoulder and looked up at the moon too. The big white circular light in the sky lit the night. She smiled. Suddenly, she felt a gaze on her. She turned her head to see Zeno smiling at her. "Now then, why don't you show me your other form?"

Aile's eyes widened. She jumped from his shoulder with her back facing him. She pretended to not hear what he said while digging in the dirt. How did he know already?

For some reason, it scared her.

She wanted to run away, but she couldn't. Her curiosity completely overcame her.

"It's easy. Just think about a reason why you would want to change back, and you will." Aile froze. The dirt flew from under Zeno's hand as he pushed off the ground. "I am sure you have many questions now, don't you, Aile?"

Aile sharply turned and suddenly she was Aile again. Their gazes locked on each other. The wind blew between them.

Zeno's eyes softened, and Aile saw a swirl of silver surround him: the feeling of the past. "You look as beautiful as the past Raito."

It took Aile a second before she found her voice again, "How...do you know about the Raito?"

"Oh, so you already figured it out," he smiled to himself then looked right into her deep black eyes. "You have found the right path." He turned, lingering his gaze on her. "Then there is nothing to worry about." He turned his head and started walking. "Don't use your powers meaninglessly, Aile. There are certain moments when it is the right time, and there are certain that aren't." He put his hands behind his head and continued down the path to the campus, waving a hand.

Looking at his back, there was so much burden on those small shoulders. It was the back of not a child but an adult. Yet he truly did radiate like a sun...

"How...?" The ring of a tear echoed through the night as it hit the cold ground. Why can I see so much sadness dancing around you? What do you already know about the Dragons? How can you pretend to be so happy?

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Aile ran past the trees of the forest. She ran and ran and ran, yet it wouldn't allow her to take her mind off the Yellow Dragon. How could he know so much about her? Should she just go up to him and bombard him with questions expecting an answer? She had a feeling it didn't work that way.

Aile stopped in front of a beautiful lake to catch her breath. She brought her hands up to her face. She was still human.

"Just think about a reason you would want to change back, and you will."

Aile shook her head. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on... She didn't quite know what. Maybe her soul? Morph her soul into a tiny body? No, no. Her body? Bones and blood... At this point Aile started to wince from the thoughts. Why wasn't it painful to shapeshift? Or...maybe it was, and she just never noticed.

When she opened her eyes again, her human reflection stared back at her through the water. Her piercing black eyes wavered with the water. Fear consumed her mind. Aile took a step back, putting her hands in front of her. Her foot hit something behind her, and she fell back.

Her hands fell to her lap, and there she saw blood, small and lingering on her foot. Then a lot of blood. Her hands. Oh her hands. It kept flowing and flowing from her hands. She tried to use her hand to scrap it off, but it only smeared.

No.

She scrambled to the lake and began to wash her hands. But the blood didn't leave them. It didn't even taint the pure lake with red. It would never leave her, no matter what she tried.

Aile pulled her hands out of the water. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry... I just want to start over. I want to change!"

Yet a haunting voice echoed in the back of her head. You will always be a murderer.

Drops of tears fell on her hands. In front of that lake, Aile cried her heart out, ignoring the stabbing pain from her injury. She wished that someone would hear her and come comfort her just like what happened in those books Anna always read to her, in a perfect world. She wished someone would appear out of nowhere and understand her suffering. But of course, no one did because this was her reality.