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Gloria, Ramon, Emile, Susan, and Tafel were sitting around a large rectangular block in the middle of the palace. Placed on the block in front of them, there was a large stone bowl filled with fruits that Grimmy had gathered from the underground cave where the pale people had lived. The two baby dragons were staring at the two young phoenixes with curious expressions on their faces. Tafel bit her lower lip and turned her head to the side, staring at the even larger rectangular block where Grimmy and his parents were sitting with Vur and Leila. Although she didn’t mind babysitting the four youngsters—even though the two phoenixes were technically older than her—she was a bit annoyed by the fact Vur hadn’t been assigned a seat next to her; however, she wasn’t going to argue with a dragon that was only tenuously related to her.
“So, you two were just born recently, eh?” Emile asked Gloria and Ramon. “In that case, you can call me Big Brother.”
Ramon wrinkled his snout. “You should call me Big Brother.” He raised one paw and placed it on the rectangular table. “You’re not even as big as my feet.”
Emile glared at the holy dragon sitting across from him and puffed up his chest. He still wasn’t larger than the little dragon’s paw. “Size doesn’t mean anything,” Emile said and tilted his head up to look at Ramon from down his beak. “I’m stronger than you, so I’m older. You’re too young to realize that’s how all magical beasts determine seniority.”
Ramon snorted. “Do you want to fight? Let’s fight.” He got up and pounced over the table. Emile squawked and flapped his wings, escaping from Ramon’s surprise attack in the nick of time. As he retreated, he pecked and clawed at Ramon’s wing.
Leila turned her head towards the commotion. Grimmy and his parents redirected their attention as well. They watched the young holy dragon chase and snap at the phoenix to no avail. Despite his best efforts, Ramon couldn’t even touch a feather on Emile’s body. The red bird was just too dang fast and small!
Grimmy’s mom chuckled upon seeing the sight. “Little Ramon reminds me so much of you when you were younger,” she said and smiled at Grimmy. “I bet he’s quite the handful to take care of. If you two need some extra help, Kal and I don’t mind coming over to work as live-in nannies.”
“Oh, no,” Leila said and waved her front paws in front of herself. “We don’t need any assistance. I appreciate the offer though.”
“Are you sure?” Kal asked and raised an eyebrow. “Think of it as doing us a favor. After Grimmy”—he glared at his son—“destroyed the continent, there isn’t much for us to do around these parts.”
Leila glanced at Grimmy, and the black dragon chuckled. Then, he said, “No.”
“Are you really going to refuse us shelter after destroying our home?” Grimmy’s mom asked. The surface of her eyes glistened, and tears threatened to fall from them. She blinked them away and wiped at her face with her paws. A sigh escaped from her mouth, and she lowered her head. “I understand. You’re a grownup now, and it’s reasonable for you to want your privacy. No one wants their parents interfering with their lives after all.”
Leila glanced at Grimmy again. She wasn’t quite sure how to deal with this kind of approach. If Kondra wanted something, she demanded it and wouldn’t take no for an answer. For her, it was harder to refuse Grimmy’s mom’s requests—especially since she didn’t want Grimmy’s parents to hate her. “Should we?”
“No,” Grimmy said, firmer this time. “My parents might seem nice and kindhearted on the surface, but they’re cursed dragons in the end. If you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile. First, it’ll be, oh, we just want to be live-in nannies. Then, it’ll be, you’re not taking care of them right; do this instead. Afterwards, it’ll basically be their home instead of ours.”
“Nonsense,” Kal said and snorted. “We wouldn’t do something like that. What actions have we done in the past that makes you think we would?”
Grimmy grunted, but he kept his mouth shut. He gestured towards Gloria with his head. “Can you teach Gloria to be a proper cursed dragon?”
Kal shifted his gaze onto Gloria. She was sitting on her haunches, her front legs straight with her paws pressed to the ground. Her head occasionally swiveled to follow Ramon’s and Emile’s movements, but other than that, she didn’t have much of a presence. Kal frowned and shifted his gaze back onto Grimmy. “What’s wrong with her? She looks like a proper cursed dragon to me. In my opinion, Ramon’s the one you want us to teach.”
“What do you mean she’s a proper cursed dragon?” Grimmy asked. “You always said cursed dragons have to hold themselves to a higher standard because of the biases we face. Look at Gloria. Does she look like she’s ready to face those biases? A cursed dragon has to be tough. Do you know what Gloria did when she saw a behemoth bear? She took it in as a pet.”
Kal narrowed his eyes. He leaned in close and stared at Grimmy. “Didn’t you say public perception of cursed dragons has never been better?” he asked. “Why does it matter if Gloria is a bit meeker than most cursed dragons? Perhaps if more cursed dragons behaved like Gloria, she wouldn’t have to toughen up.”
Grimmy scratched his chin. “Well,” he said, dragging out the word. “About that. Not all cursed dragons are viewed better in the public eye. Some of us are more … notorious than others.”
“Are you referring to yourself?” Grimmy’s mom asked. She nodded. “It’d be unsurprising for people to view you in a bad light because of what you did to the southern continent. Are you afraid people will realize Gloria is related to you and target her because of your infamy?”
“Sure, let’s go with that,” Grimmy said. He cleared his throat to prevent his parents from saying anything. “Are you going to teach Gloria or not? If not, we’re leaving.”