- Whisperpeak Academy for Wayward Dragons - Ch. 14 P.3 - Dying Tears -

Instructions

(+)"My family had a modest house in Colorado. I was their only child. We traveled often, despite the empty wallets we returned with. I'd say the monthly expeditions were one of the only things not neglected in my life." "My parents were never the most responsible, and they figured this behavior could be pardoned if they became alcoholics." She shook her head and sighed, seeming unaffected by the otherwise disappointing fact. It felt familiar. "Me too. My parents took advantage of the streets. My grandparents ended up taking care of me until Oceane retrieved me." For a full minute we were finally breaking that thick barrier we held up that split our lives and locked bitter things away. When I realized I had interrupted I bowed my head and let her go on. "I served my parents and the friends they brought over. Played the part of a degenerate, s*xy woman starting at 11- the little untainted, fresh doll they could use for whatever. They took advantage of me. Behind the scenes it was straight As, cooking, and cleaning. I cried, I got punished. Those little trips were the only fun I got. They smuggled me into parties, but those felt more like torture." The table was dead silent. Only cooking filled the space. "One day, on our way back on a tour bus, - I was fifteen around this time - , the world started doing funny things. There were tears in the sky and crazy monsters raining out of them. The bus stopped and did an emergency evacuation, but there was no reception or connection of any sorts to reach out to. Radios were fried, phones bugged and useless. I remember my mom basically knocked out from wh!skey, while my dad was clocking out too. We lived in a tiny little mountain town, so no one batted an eye as long as the branding were off. For all they knew, it could've been root beer. I ran as far away from the bus as I could after looting the few life-saving resources, half-full bottles of water and sticks of jerky. I hid behind some rocks. Shadow creatures came and wrecked everything. And there were these cranes, too…" "So- does that mean- wait, do you know Mia?" Iris blurted, unable to help herself. "- Uh, yeah. Why?" "Mia might've been brainwashed by Umbra, but… Ius… Ah, it's nothing. Sorry for interrupting. I just solved something I was wondering about." Alex furrowed his brow, looking bothered at our undivided attention. "Those cranes made a dreadful noise. I curled up and threw stuff till I heard foreign voices." "Well! Breakfast is ready, and would you look at that? You all learned so much about each other." Alex sounded less than comfortable now and was twisting his fingers around a kitchen knife. He was right, John was loading up our meals, but that didn't stop Shortie. Just before she started talking again, Alex joined in. Fluidly, as usual. It was like they knew exactly when the other was about to interrupt. "Zurich was going through the same crap. A group over there came up to me and told me they were traveling across the world to save people. Those people we managed to save are the citizens of the Resistance base now, although quite a number of them had Galian blood from the start. I joined and instantly took on the role as leader, although I wouldn't officially become one until Lexi's alleged death- it was my way of warning Ius Principum I would destroy them." He sighed and took his seat as our plates landed in front of us. "... They had technology I had never seen before. It dawned on me the survivors that had recruited me had probably come from some faraway place. When we boarded a large helicopter, they explained to me that everything that was involved in this was magic, explained to me what Skygale was and how all of this was a giant deadly error. Hah, we were flying faster than any jet." Shortie looked even happier. "Oh my gosh, I remember when I saw that huge unmarked helicopter flying at me! I nearly crapped my pants, honestly. I mean, two European boys dressed in dark clothing just sauntering up to a frail girl? Gets you going." Alex laughed and continued. "I saw this tiny blonde dot against a gray column and tell John and the driver to turn that way.(+)