Start of a new life

I walked towards the balcony with sweat dripping from my face and hoping that people wouldn't be alarmed.

A young lady who seemed to be four or five years older than me received me with a bright smile as she delivered me the menu to pick my option.

"Good evening, welcome to BOnnie's Burguer! May I take your order?" she asked.

I stood there in silence while she continued to gaze at me with her emerald-like green eyes that popped against her red long hair, waiting for some kind of reaction.

"Sir...? Something wrong...?"

I sighed in relief as it seemed like there was no need to worry. I realized her boss was peeking from behind the corner. I don't want to get her in trouble so I just decided to tell her what I wanted.

"I would like four extra-large burgers, two cups of strawberry shake, one pack of french fries supersize, and some chicken nuggets!"

She looked at me for a moment and proceeded to put out my order on the register.

Good... She could understand what I was saying...

"Will that be all, sir?"

"That will be all..."

My heart rate started to calm down and I took my order over to my table after paying with my credit card. The lady wished me a nice meal while sending me off with another smile. Even with that white and blue uniform of Bonnie's Burguer and that hat hiding her red hair, I still felt she looked really good.

Under other circumstances, I would have liked to see if I would have had any chances with her.

"Thanks for choosing Bonnie's! Come back soon!"

"Ah... Sure... Maybe..." I whisper while continuing to take our food.

I find Marcia waiting for me at a table watching me like a hawk.

"How did it go...?" she asked.

"Well... she didn't scream in panic and called the police so... I think we're good..." I reply while taking my seat.

I gazed at our surroundings and noticed that none of the nearby tables were giving us any glances either.

"She didn't think you were a dragon...?"

"If she did, she must have the best poker face on the face of the planet, while also being able to speak dragon language..."

She began to hold her chin and started to process what we learned, "I see... That's good, at the very least..."

"Does this mean the curse is gone? We don't look like dragons anymore...?" I asked while giving her her burger and splitting our fries over the table.

"Maybe... This could mean many things... Maybe the curse only lasts for a certain period of time... Maybe it only works during the day... Maybe it only affects people we already know..." she kept listing and guessing the rules of our situation as if she was a lawyer trying to analyze the small prints.

After going through that emotional crisis, having a small talk with the roommate that lives in my head, and realizing that I was steps away from receiving another dose of information dump that would change the way I look at the world (I stopped counting how many times those had happened by now...), I suggested to Marcia that we went somewhere to eat and rest a little.

She agreed, saying that if we were to be attacked again it would be better to get our strengths back first. Luckily, my phone still had some battery and using an online map I managed to locate the nearest and cheapest food spot.

Both of us were worried though, about the whole 'people think we are dragons' thingie.

But judging from our little test just now, it looks like our situation is not as bad as we expected.

"Your friend..." she mumbled, "When you went to see him, he could understand what you were saying, right?"

"... Right..."

I felt a small sting remembering Kenny.

"And... When we entered that living moving amor on wheels..."

"The bus..." I corrected.

"None of the people that were riding with us glanced at our appearances either..."

"True!" I had not thought about that.

She continued to hold her chin and began to glare at the table, looking like she was in the middle of the greatest math challenge of her life.

"These people... And Your family... What's the difference between them...?"

"The difference..."

Why did my mother, aunt Evlin, aunt Ellie, and Evlin's daughter looked at us like that...? Why couldn't they hear our words? We knew it was Kurt's fault, but why only they were affected?

If we really do appear as dragons right now like they said, how come we can just have dinner here at Bonnie's without anyone calling the S.W.A.T team to take us to Area 51?

Could it be because they were all women? Nah... The balcony lady looked at me like I was just another client that she would have to please...

With those really nice-looking green eyes...

...

And that hair...

Ah! No! No! Gotta focus!

"Come on... What do these four had in common...? What would the enemy gain form a curse like this being planted on us?" Marcia mumbled.

"Well, for one thing, they all seemed terrified of us and wanted us gone..."

"Wanted us gone... Mmmm... Maybe the curse only affects those that can pose a threat to you? They all were really powerful warriors after all."

She commented that and I just stayed there thinking about my aunts and my mother dressed in armor and running around in a fantasy land fighting dragons. The idea that my family members were actually powerful people still sounded so silly to me that if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would never believe it...

"I don't know... Kelly seemed really scared as well, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't lose to her in a fight..." I comment while picking my food and taking a bite.

I'm so glad I had my wallet with me before I left. This burger was exactly what I needed after today.

"True... Then maybe... It only affects people that have access to magic..." she continued.

"Access to magic...?"

"Yes... Evlin, Lilith, and Ellie are all people that have come in contact with magic multiple times. Maybe our curse takes the magic inside of their bodies and uses corrupts it to make them think we are their enemies.!"

"So... Wait... Wouldn't that mean..."

"That would mean that maybe, you're not the target... Maybe you're the test subject... For the dragon to find out if he could use this as a way to make some of the most powerful heroes of my world destroy each other!!!"

"..." I was actually gonna say that this would mean Kelly had magic in her as well despite just being a little girl but her point seems to be more important right now...

That would mean my family is in danger...

Marcia finally raised her face and noticed that I was staring at her, "What...?"

"Nothing... It's just... You're really good at this... You figured all this by yourself?"

"Ah... Thanks... But if I'm to inherit my parent's job one day, I need to be able to do at least this much..." she laughed.

"No, I'm serious... You're like, really, really good at this stuff..."

She flinched for a moment and began to return my stare with her wide-open golden eyes, "R- Really...? You think so??"

"Are you kidding?? Ever since I've met you you have done nothing but impress me! I honestly feel a little embarrassed when I think that you're younger than me considering how reliable you are..."

She started to blush while looking down again, "Nobody ever said that about me before... Thanks!"

Excuse me...? Nobody ever praised her despite all the things she can do?

"Marcia... What kind of life did your parents give you, exactly?? How did they train you to be a warrior without ever complimenting you after all these years?"

Her face of embarrassment vanished and was instead replaced by a heavy look of sorrow, "The thing is... I... I wasn't trained by my parents..."

"What...?"

"Actually... They... Kind of don't even know I'm here... Nor do they know about my training..." she replied while playing with her braids and avoiding looking at me.

"What are you talking about...? You kept telling me that you took this mission so you could officially take the same job they had!"

"That part is true... But... Well... I'm... Not exactly doing this with their permission..."

Oh... I felt like I was approaching a dangerous subject...

I leaned forward and began to speak in a lower tone, "Marcia, did you ran away from home?"

"Maybe...?" she twitched and started to smile to hide her uneasiness, "Just a bit?"

Just a bit... She literally went to another world and considers that to be just a bit.

Also, once again... It felt like everything I knew meant basically nothing. I'm so sick of this feeling! Why can't I just once rely on the information I have??

"What in blazes are you thinking?? I thought you were on some kind of mission from my father to bring me to him in order to earn your job position! But now you tell me you were actually just running away from your parents this whole time??"

"It's more than that!! Your father did ask me to meet you... But... Well... He might not have directly told me to come and get you myself..."

"Marcia..." I slapped my forehead upon hearing that.

"But...! I could slightly tell that this is what he might have secretly wanted me to do... Maybe..."

I really wasn't in the mood to watch Marcia trying to tap-dance her way into a proper excuse. And honestly, I had reached a point where I didn't even care anymore... Doesn't really matter if she came here on a special mission or if she just wanted to go out to sightsee and just happened to stumble upon me, she was still helping me out at the end of the day.

Her and Eclipse, who was resting inside the shadow realm right now, were all the help I had, so maybe it would be better to just let this small detail pass.

But still... The more I hear about her, the more curious I get about how she was raised. She's definitely way more interesting compared to me and my boring as hell childhood.

"It's fine, Marcia, don't worry about it..."

"You're not mad...?"

I flicked her forehead and sighed for a moment, "You saved my life a bazillion times today... It would take way more than that for me to get mad at you..."

"Ah!! I'm glad!" she replied while finally starting to smile again.

Gotta say, that was one really beautiful smile. Girls are such unfair creatures... All it takes is for them to make a small expression like that to send one's frustration away...

Or maybe I'm just easy to please, who knows...

"You should eat before it gets cold..." I recommended.

"Ah, understood!"

She finally grabbed her food and took a small bite out of it, followed by once again starting to blush and... Eh...? Were those tears...?

"Shoooo Guuuuud!!!!!" she literally cried, "Whad's ish thish!!!??"

"Please don't talk with your mouth full... And it's called a hamburger with bacon..."

She started to devour her food like a predator that had just captured a hopeless prey, "I love this!!! I want to eat this every day until the day I die!!! This is so gooooood!!!"

Man... I wish I could be this excited about a sandwich...

"You really worked hard all these years... Didn't you...?"

"Eh...?"

"You never considered just giving up on this idea of inheriting your parents' job?"

She placed her food down and stared directly into my eyes as if she was being interrogated b the police, "Never! This job means everything for me and my parents... I won't stop until I properly earn it!"

"..."

After she said those words with so much conviction, she grabbed her strawberry shake and started to cry again.

"Aaaahhhh!!! This is so gooooood!!! I wanna drink this forever!!!!"

"Oh, boy..."

This girl was an enigma to me...

One moment she was this strong-looking warrior who seemed ready to take on anyone at any time with no regrets or indecision, and another she's is this easily impressed child who looked like it could be brought to tears just by tasting some ice cream.

A warrior in a kid's body...

Still... It was hard to feel sorry for her. She looked like she was living the life she wanted to live with absolutely no regrets or fears of making mistakes.

...

I want to be like that as well...

"Where are you going...?" she asked while watching me suddenly moving out of my seat and marching away from the table.

"Be right back..."

I walked back to the girl on the balcony and stared directly into her eyes as I tried to summon the courage to spit out the next words.

"Oh! Hello, sir! Are you enjoying your meal?"

"Ah! Yes, thank you... But the thing is..." I took a deep breath and finally managed to say it, "I was wondering if there would be any chance you would consider going out with me at some point or another! I think you're very pretty and I would like to get to know you more!"

I said it!

I finally said it!

For the first time in my life, I finally took a risk to approach someone else!

Now... To wait for her response...

"Oh! Thank you, sir! I'm very flattered!" she replied with a gentle smile and with her cheeks turning a little red, "But... I think my girlfriend would be mad at me if I went on a date with a guy... I'm sorry..."

"Ah... ... ... I... I see..."

I returned to my table with the biggest sense of defeat that I had felt all day. And trust me... there were a lot of those today...

"What was that about...?" Marcia wondered.

"I don't wanna talk about it..."