Welcome to the club

"How...?"

"Eh...?"

"You said we were going to take the fight to them... How are we going to do that...?"

"Oh... Well... Uuhhh..."

Now that she mentioned it, I actually don't know what we could do...

Marcia was staring at me with judgmental eyes as if she couldn't believe how much of a greenhorn I still was.

"You know... I've been thinking about this for a while... But you're kinda selective with your anger, aren't you?" she commented.

"Pardon...?"

"It's just... Lots of things have happened to you... I mean... LOTS of things... Things that would have driven anyone insane... But even after all that, you either keep acting calm and relaxed or you just mope a little bit on the corner feeling sorry for yourself..."

Huh... I'm not sure I like the way she is describing me right now...

"You don't really get angry a lot... Even when your mother or Ellie and her group were attacking you or when your friend abandoned you, you still didn't hold any ill-feeling towards them... It seems you only get angry when dragons are involved."

"Huh... I... I didn't notice that..."

Thinking back... She's kinda right. When I saw that dragon-man in the middle of the forest, I remember suddenly feeling this urge to chase after him and start a fight. And just like she said, when Ellie attacked us, I wasn't angry at her, I was angry at the dragon girl.

But that wasn't a normal anger... Come to think of it... Even when I was younger and would get bullied, I didn't really get angry a lot. I would get sad or hurt... But never angry. It's almost as if I had a voice in my head always telling me 'it's not worth getting angry about it!'

And yet, despite being able to overlook so many things, whenever I think about Kurt, or his sister, or that dragon-man, or even about all the other dragons that just live among us without anyone even noticing it... I...

I just get this urge... To grab their heads... And turn them... To ashes...

"Termina..."

[...]

Marcia tilted her head, "Termina...?"

This was a good opportunity so I proceeded to tell Marcia everything. About how I had a terminal being inside of me, about how we talked to each other in this place called the white void, about how she helps me detect where a dragon is all the time, about how she used my body as a puppet to help us...

And about how much she really, really, REALLY hates dragons... And not only that... About how some of that hate might be getting transferred to me.

Not only that... What if... What if Termina is actually sealing my anger? What if... What if the reason her hatred for dragons is so big is a result of her storing my own anger as well?

But... If that is the case? Why would she do that?

Could it be that something bad might happen if I get angry...?

"Wait... So you're saying that you have a terminal being inside of you, talking to your mind?" Marcia resumed.

"Pretty much... She's the world's number one roommate, whether I like it or not..."

"And you said that she is aunt Evlin's magic that came to life?"

I nodded, "That is what she told me..."

It seemed like Marcia was managing to take everything in rather well. I'm glad! Having someone to share this stuff with lifts the weight off my shoulders!

"So... This is the same being that tried to kill aunt Evlin when she was a mage?"

... ... ... Eh...??

[...]

"Eh... ? The same one that did what??"

"Tried to kill aunt Evlin!" Marcia repeated with a serious tone, "Lance... This thing that is inside of you... It's a murderer!"

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As I rushed my way back to Evlin's house in order to report to Ellie and everyone else about what happened, I couldn't help but wonder where I would even begin with my explanation.

When I was called to aid her and her friends in the search for some kind of runaway dragon, I was honestly a little excited since it had been so long since the four of us fought together.

But after discovering what I just heard? My head was a mess...

How am I gonna tell Lilith that she actually has a fourten-year-old son that she can't remember ever having?? How do I explain that dragons have invaded this world and are living in secret? And that the dragons we were chasing after were just a group of kids who had been placed under a curse!

Oh my heavens... Poor Ellie... She fought so hard to protect that civilian... How is she gonna react when she finds out she almost killed an innocent boy just to defend a dragon that was manipulating all of us?? She's gonna feel so destroyed!

But I guess they will calm down a little after hearing that dragons were not able to learn how to use terminal energy after all... That concept still terrifies me...

Ah! come to think of it... I never asked the boy how he got a terminal being inside of him... Maybe I should have talked more to him.

Or maybe not... Every second counts considering how dire this situation is. Not only that, even if I tried, I couldn't understand a word he says... I was lucky that the woman named Sarah was there to translate everything.

Although... I did get a bit uncomfortable while hearing her talk about the school incident since I was the cause of that during my... Emotionally unstable days... Ugh... Guess you really can't escape your past after all...

"Ouch!"

"Oh, sorry!"

I was so deep in thought that I didn't even notice a little kid that was walking by my side. Poor girl ended up dropping her ice cream on the floor.

"Noooo!!! That was a strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla combo!!! You demon!!!" she cried while the sweet continued to melt on the pavement.

I gazed around and realized that people were starting to look at us as if I was bullying her.

"No, no, no, please don't cry! It was an accident!" I begged, trying to get her to stay quiet. I really didn't have time for that right now, but I can't just leave her like this.

"You demon!! You evil lady!! Witch!! I hate you! Demon! Demon! Demon!!"

Ah... I'm starting to feel nostalgic in the worst way possible... Been a while since people called me a demon...

"Look, I'm sorry about your ice cream, but you can't just go around calling people with such mean names... You might hurt their feelings!"

"I don't care!! You made me drop my ice cream!! I hate you! You demon woman!!"

Where are this kid's parents?? I have a thing or two to say about how they raised her vocabulary!!

"If I buy you a new ice cream, will you calm down??"

"Maaaaaaaybe...?"

Oh, this little... I bet she isn't even really sad. Whatever...

"Fine... Just show me where it is and I'll buy you one..."

"Yay!!! You're cool, demon lady!!" she yelled while clapping her hands.

"I'm not a demon lady... Stop calling me that..." I extended my arm for her to hold it so she could take me to where they were selling the ice cream.

The girl grabbed my hand, and for some reason, my entire body felt some kind of burning pain the moment she touched me.

"Aaarghhh!! What in the world??"

"But you are a demon lady, aren't you?" the girl continued to talk while holding me, "Or at the very least... You used to be!! Myriad!!"

The girl stared at me with her eyes wide open and a terrifying smile stamped on her face. She looked like she wanted to devour my soul!

I pulled my hand away from her and noticed some kind of smoke coming out from my palm.

"Who the hell are you??"

"It's not nice to use the word 'hell', you know? I'm just a kid! I'm easy to be corrupted!"

I turned my arm into a red blade and aimed it at her nose, "I asked who you are!! Answer me!!"

"A better question would be, who are you? Don't you think?"

"W- What??"

"Why is the princess of the demon race hanging out with the people that almost brought the demons to extinction?"

Princess of the demon race?? She knows about my bloodline?? Who was this kid?? Also, she called me 'Myriad'!! That's my name from when I used to be-

"Well... I think I can live a day without ice cream... Nice meeting you! Seeya!!" the girl spouted before turning around and starting to sprint away from me.

"Ah!! Wait!!"

I start chasing after her in order to get some answers, but despite he short legs, she is incredibly fast!

I think I can outrun her if I use my blessing... But I don't wanna risk running out of magic energy in case a dragon attacks.

Wait... A dragon!! I'm such an idiot! Lance just told me that dragons were hiding amongst the human in here!! Then this little girl has to be one of them as well!

"Kyaaaahhh!!! Help!! I'm being chased by some evil demon lady!!!"

"Oh, that little..."

Uhh...? Wait a second...

This street... These buildings... I know this area!! This is where Evlin lives!! I turn around the corner and I can see her home! This girl is trying to take me to where my friends are?

I look at the entrance and there they are! Ellie, Joseph, Claire! All three about to enter the building while still looking completely worn out from the fight with the boy from earlier!

Wait... That means-

"Somebody heeeeelp!!!" the girl continued to cry as she rushed to their side, dropping a river of fake tears on Ellie's clothes.

"What the what..?" Ellie reacted as the girl jumped out of nowhere to hug her.

"Please, save me!! I'm being chased by an evil dragon lady!!" she claimed while pulling her shirt and pointing at me.

The three of them noticed me and instantly began to ready their weapons while holding a very strong glare.

I was played.

"Goddamnit...."