"I don't want to go to school anymore." Troyd growled. His tail lashed around like leaves in the wind.

The events of yesterday had not been forgotten. In fact, Troyd had a dream about the experience, save for a few more sparkles and shimmers than usual. He didn't know why he was still alive. That mystery dragon probably had something to do with it.

Culuphom looked down at him. He tilted his head. "Why is that, little one? Just a moon ago you were super excited to go! What happened?"

"I DON'T WANT TO GO!" Troyd screamed. "M-my friends... they hurt me! They said playing in the river was ok and fun and then they left me! I-I can't... I can't..."

Concern flashed across Culuphom's face, but Hoita was the one to speak up. "You've got bad friends. Give 'em a piece of your mind if you're so damn angry!"

Culuphom whipped to Hoita and yelled at her. Troyd's attention turned to Scoria, who was taking the day off. Scoria stared at Troyd, like the day they met each other.

Slowly, Scoria signed something to Troyd. 'I'm not going to tell you what to do. But if you feel the need to do something, do it, no matter what everyone tells you.'

Troyd took this advice. While Culuphom and Hoita were distracted, Troyd made a run for it. He ran out the restaurant and to his school. He needed to give his "friends" a piece of his mind. At this point, considering Clove's behavior towards him, Troyd theorized he was the one that got the others to leave him to suffer.

Troyd busted into the school. Clove, Marge and Silverpoint where in their usual spot, with big dumb smirks on their faces. Troyd ran and tackled Clove, catching him off guard.

"T-Troyd!" Clove shrieked, his eyes wide. "What are you doing?!"

"You tell me!" Troyd roared.

He looked at Silverpoint and Marge. They too were surprised. It only confirmed his suspicions. Clove picked himself up from the floor and smacked Troyd with his tail, knocking him away.

"Seriously. What are you doing here?" Clove sneered. "I thought you ran home during recess."

Troyd was quaking. To him, it felt like an earthquake would wreck the entire kingdom if he let his anger get the best of himself. But this was a good reason to be angry. His so-called friends didn't even acknowledge him anymore. Even Silverpoint didn't stick up for him. Troyd wanted to cry.

"You... don't remember?" Troyd choked out, his tail wavering. "We went past the fence yesterday, and to the river. You all jumped in and you all had fun. I wanted to join you, but you didn't include me! I didn't know how to swim and NONE of you helped me! You kept playing and swam away from me while I suffered! I almost DIED!" He screamed. "If it weren't for a complete stranger, I would have been dead forever!"

Tears were streaming down his face. Marge and Silverpoint were taken aback, but Clove... he was grinning. He was happy. It only made Troyd more angry.

Silverpoint's star-riddled wings drooped. "Troyd... w-we didn't know..."

Troyd glared at Silverpoint with icy eyes. "How could you have not? I was flailing and splashing and trying to get your attention! You were avoiding me on purpose!!" He turned to Clove, who was still grinning. "And YOU! You never even cared, did you?"

Marge and Silverpoint glanced at Clove, whose amusement faded. "What's to say? You inserted yourself into our lives. We were better without you, until you came and took everything for yourself. I only did what was natural: cleanse the curse."

"You ADMIT!" Troyd howled. "YOU SLIMY DISGUSTING WORM!"

With all his fury, Troyd slashed Clove's face, and didn't regret a single thing. Clove screamed and clutched his snout. Students definitely noticed. They were shouting for the teacher and to get help. Not wasting a moment, Troyd turned and ran to the nearest open window.

"Murgatroyd, wait!" Silverpoint cried. "Come back! I'm sorry!"

Troyd didn't look back. "Thanks, Silverpoint. But I'm going. It's clear no one cares about me at this point."

He hopped out the window and ran. He ran through the streets and back to the river where he drowned. His paws squished under the gravel sand. The water rippled tauntingly and lapped against his scales.

Troyd glared at the river. "Not this time." He snarled.

The river didn't respond, and kept reaching towards him. Troyd looked down at his reflection. He was a runt, a freak amongst perfect pristine individuals. He turned to the bridge and saw a space underneath. He decided to hide there.

Troyd pressed against the walls. He could hear his name being shouted, over and over again. By his teacher. By guards. By random people. He even heard Silverpoint's voice among them, but said nothing. He waited them out.

The sound of glass gently clinking brought his attention to his right. The mystery dragon was there, glimmering in the dark with him. He didn't even notice she was beside him. He was frozen. Was she going to rat him out? Did she even remember him?

The mystery dragon smiled gently, her scales shimmering between colors. "Hello, Murgatroyd, my son."

"Mom?" Troyd whispered. "It's... really you?"

She chuckled. One of her wings draped over him and beckoned him to relax. "Yes. I believe it's high time we meet."

The world was crumbling around Troyd. He had a mom. His mom was here. With him. Right NOW. She was the one that saved him from the river. But this beckoned the question... why are they only meeting now and not earlier?

"Mom..." Troyd whispered. His eyes traced her body, up to her eyes, the same blue as his. "Why...?"

The shimmering dragon sighed. "It's a long story. I'm afraid I'm not like the others, and that's what drove me into hiding. I couldn't let the guards know you were related to me, otherwise they would have killed you before you hatched." She explained. Her voice began to echo and overlap on itself, like she was a mystical, distorted choir. "I've been waiting for the time to show myself to you... I'm so, so sorry we had to meet this way."

Troyd looked around at the underside of the bridge. "Yeah... would be better if we met in the sun and the guards weren't looking for us."

"No, Murgatroyd." His mother said. "I meant yesterday, when you perished."

Suddenly, Troyd's mind projected a memory he had completely forgotten. Or maybe he was unaware of it. Or suppressed it. Sometime between blacking out in the river, and waking up on the bank, he was standing in an endless expanse of shimmering colors, all fading into each other like a shattered rainbow. Every step he made splashed particles that swirled and fizzled around him and out of existence.

And then in front of him, he saw his mother. Dazzle. She blended in with the surreal surroundings. Leaning forward, she whispered something in his ear, and kissed and hugged him like a mother should. Warm and gently. Lovingly. She pulled him out of the sparkly dimension, and dragged his body onto the river bank. He saw himself. His own corpse. And she was about to reverse it.

Troyd snapped out of his trance. He looked up at Dazzle with wide eyes. "You're... magical? You brought me back to life..."

Dazzle nodded. "I am. It wasn't that hard, to retrieve you. But please listen to Scoria next time. His wisdom sheds light on the inevitable truth."

Troyd gasped. "H-how do you know ab-"

Dazzle put a talon on his muzzle. Up close, Troyd noticed something he didn't before about her. She had four wings, but her bottom wings were well hidden. Her claws seemed to be floating off her hands. Even her eyes were different. They were triangles that shortened and elongated to show emotion.

"I̸ ̷m̸e̸t̶ ̶S̶c̶o̵r̸i̸a̶ ̶b̵e̴f̷o̴r̵e̴ ̷y̵o̶u̸ ̸h̸a̸t̶c̸h̵e̴d̷." Dazzle said. Her echoey voice seemed to multiply and further distort. "H̷e̷ ̷m̴i̷g̷h̶t̸ ̷n̶o̴t̵ ̴b̵e̸ ̷a̷b̴l̵e̷ ̷t̶o̵ ̶t̷a̵l̶k̸,̸ ̶b̸u̵t̸ ̵w̴e̸ ̸u̴s̷e̶d̴ ̷a̵ ̷s̵i̴g̸n̸ ̸l̶a̸n̶g̴u̵a̶g̶e̶ ̷t̷o̵ ̵c̶o̵m̸m̵u̵n̸i̶c̷a̴t̴e̶.̷ ̷I̶ ̴h̸e̵a̵r̶d̶ ̴t̷h̷a̶t̴'̵s̷ ̵h̴o̸w̸ ̶y̸o̸u̶ ̶a̷n̴d̶ ̶h̵i̴m̵ ̷c̴o̸m̸m̸u̴n̴i̵c̷a̵t̷e̸ ̷t̶o̵o̸,̸ ̷n̷o̷?̴ ̵B̴u̷t̸ ̸h̶e̷ ̴d̵o̸e̶s̷ ̶k̶n̷o̴w̷ ̶s̷o̴m̸e̵t̴h̸i̶n̸g̷ ̷w̸e̴ ̸d̴o̵n̵'̸t̸.̷ ̴I̶n̴ ̶f̷a̶c̵t̴,̸ ̷h̵e̶ ̷k̴n̷o̶w̵s̴ ̵e̴v̷e̸r̴y̶t̴h̵i̵n̶g̵ ̶w̷e̵ ̸d̶o̸n̴'̸t̶.̴ ̵A̵n̴d̵ ̶t̴o̶ ̵t̶h̵i̵s̸ ̶r̶e̸a̶s̵o̵n̵,̷ ̶h̷e̵ ̵c̸a̴n̸'̷t̸ ̸t̵e̶l̴l̵ ̸a̶n̶y̴ ̷o̵f̴ ̶i̸t̵."

Troyd didn't know how to feel about this. Not only was his mom magic, but his mute caretaker was too. And magics were hunted! Troyd looked to Dazzle and tried to say something, but nothing came out.

"I'm thankful you two know each other." Dazzle continued. The echoing and distortion cut down. "And I'm so, so sorry I couldn't be there for you."

Troyd found himself trying to suppress tears. Never, he thought, would I get to ever meet my mother. An abstract hand cupped his face, and Troyd hugged Dazzle's arm. Dazzle hugged back. They stayed like this for what felt like hours.

And maybe it was hours, because the shouts for Murgatroyd stopped.

"What do I do now?" Asked Troyd. "I can't go back to school and I abandoned the Pad... do I leave the kingdom..? I don't want to leave the kingdom. This place is my home!"

Dazzle tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well, considering the ç̸̢͉̠͈̮̜̼̜͓̬̹͈̈́͂͛̋̅́̊̇͗̕͝i̸̡̮̖̦͇̮͌̓͌̈́̈̾̄̀̕r̶̫̻̗̬̣̮̼͖͑̓̈́̌̄̅̅͝c̵͍̠͈̝̯͈̬̞͎̋̃͐̀̎͛͋̀̕͝ũ̶̖̘̲̱̥̯̖̪̬͌̍̀̂̈͗̆̄̽̅̌͊̔m̶̨̰͍͔̟̤̫̲͖̺̈̀͗̆̈́͐̚͘̚͝ͅs̷̨̪̰̩̝̩̘̞̱̣̔͂̀̚t̶̨̡͉̤̝̭̙̥̼̲̟͇̩̏a̷̛͉̯̼͉̤͍̘͉̱̝͈̻̮̺̪̐͗̆̚͠n̴̡̤̩̺̗͖̘͎̣̘̻̯̓̈̒̍̽̂͜c̷͎͉̲̘̍͗͂͑̃̔̀̀̐̽̔́͘͝͝è̷̟̭̜̫͉̣̗̮̗̐̋͝͝ş̴̹͈̘̰̦̮̜̠̠̯̰́͊̽, I think it's fair that you can live with me now." She said. "I have a nice place outside the kingdom, and Scoria knows about it, so he can visit us. Would you like that?"

Troyd nodded. "Yeah... I'd love that. Can we get my stuff from the Pad first?"

"Of course."

Slowly, they stepped out from under the bridge, and reentered the kingdom. Dazzle suddenly looked normal again, but Troyd knew that she wasn't. And Scoria did too, apparently. Troyd wondered how Scoria was able to tell something to Dazzle that happened in the future...

Before he could react, Troyd heard a shout, and a hand tightly clasped over his snout and limbs. His eyes widened. He was found. He screamed but nothing came out. He struggled but it was useless. He quickly realized that Cathorn of all people was the one holding him down.

Dazzle quickly turned to Troyd, but a deep blue dragon with big wings pinned her to the ground. She roared. "What's the matter with you?! That's my kid!"

The guard cleared his throat, his black eyes looking down at her with fury. "Ahem. WEE WOO WEE WOO CRIMINAL ALERT! You are wanted for multiple acts of theft, vandalism and attempted murder! And so is he!"

Dazzle's shimmering scales flickered, a horrified expression now on her face. Suddenly her facade broke. Suddenly her eyes turned into glaringly-obvious triangles. Suddenly her limbs broke free from her body. Suddenly she was abstract and suddenly the guard looked a lot more angry than normal.

"And of course you're cursed." He grumbled. "The icing on the cake. Why not.

Dazzle... Dazzle was going to die. And Troyd just met her and they were going to live a good life! Were. He refused to believe this. He struggled to escape Cathorn's grasp, using all of his will and might, but the guard was a lot bigger and stronger than him.

"Flyswatter! Hurry up and kill it!" Cathorn hissed. "This grub is proving to be more of a handful than I anticipated."

Troyd managed to wiggle his snout free. "MOM!" He screamed. "MOM! FIGHT BACK!-"

"Quiet, you!" Cathorn snarled, gripping tighter than before.

Troyd felt it was harder to breathe, which brought back unpleasant memories. He stopped struggling in an attempt to get the guard to stop strangling him. It worked, but he dared not try to escape. He didn't want to die again. He closed his eyes, but Cathorn forced them open.

Flyswatter, the other guard, looked down at Dazzle. In his hands was a spear. Swiftly, he raised it, and with a quick blow, plunged it into her heart.

At first there was silence... and then there was a scream. A very long, painful, distorted scream. Dazzle was even more abstract than before, her entire body suddenly becoming a mess of assorted shapes clinking together like shards of glass. Tears streamed down Troyd's face. He thought drowning was bad... he didn't want to imagine how painful it was for Dazzle. Even the guard doing the deed looked mortified, as if he was finally questioning his life choices.

And then Dazzle exploded into a shower of multicolored sparkles that instantly vaporized in the air. Some of the sparkles got on Flyswatter's hands and wings, and he yelped and shrieked and dropped his weapon.

And Troyd... his heart broke into a shower of misery and hopelessness. With his mother dead, friends gone, and home abandoned, he was now truly alone.

"Wow." Cathorn breathed. He was stunned. He looked down at Troyd. "Honestly, squirt, I didn't think it would go that way..."

"S-so... you'll let me go, right?" Troyd whispered.

Cathorn laughed. "Of course not! Oi, Flyswatter! Take this little one to the station for a fitting punishment!"

Oh no...