Chapter 13: Perspective Matters

The pulse in Ayu's ears was louder than ever, urging her to speed over in a flash. Her figure almost blended with the light when she had to forcefully come to a halt when her face was inches away from the wall. She took a sharp breath and backed off slightly, her chest rose and sank at high intervals as sweat rolled down her chin. Her hand caressed the wallpaper with an elegant mix of purple accents and resisted the impulse to punch the wall.

The tug was stronger here, but Ayu couldn't move any further because it was a dead end. There shouldn't even be a room beyond this wall that leads to the outside of the palace.

Was everything she sensed false? Could it have been just a figment of her imagination?

In her mind's eye, she saw a flash of a little human girl with hair of spun gold standing in a dark hallway alone.

I'm scared, the girl's thoughts resonated in her ears like they were her own.

Ayu gnashed her teeth, her canines extended ever so slightly beneath her lower lip. Her tail swished almost menacingly behind her calves, the spikes on the top of her tail erected in the face of a possible battle. She did not realise the scratch her nails left behind on the wallpaper as she stalked off to find another way to "enter" the wall.

Whoever made Irene scared would have to pay.

X

"Hey! I'm talking to you!"

Irene winced at the loudness of the voice, the movement seemed enough to jerk the rest of her system back online as she answered, "M-my name is Irene Wincott."

Everett rose his brow, looking every bit unamused at the answer, but it seemed to satisfy his curiosity.

"Ms Wincott. Follow me then, we'll be starting soon," he declared.

Irene had no other choice but to discreetly follow, ignoring the prickling pain in her head as she went astray from the map that guided her here in the first place. She mentally noted to apologise to her friend for getting sidetracked later.

"When did you arrive?" Asked Everett. "And do you have any hearing impairments?"

Irene blinked owlishly at the questions. She hesitated. "Just a moment ago. And, um, what did you say?" She didn't recognize the last word.

Everett paused in his steps and stared at her. Then, "I can't believe this. What is wrong with the headquarters these days. They've sent an actual retard this time around, I--"

Water vapour began condensing in midair, lighting the tunnel like little firelights.

"Oh!" Gasped Irene. She marvelled openly at the display and clapped her hands together, "That's so beautiful!"

Everett paused for a bit, his eyes showing uncertainty for once. "You think so?"

"Yes," she affirmed. "Why?"

"Well," he averted his eyes, "most find it annoying. Because when these emotions fall through," the water droplets all descended simultaneously, like a sudden rush of rain, "they make a mess."

Irene's lips twisted. "I think those people must be very mean then. You're one of the nicest dragons I've met."

Well, the only one she met was the scary general dragon, but details aren't important.

A shy shade of scarlet adorned Everett's cheeks. His ears twitched like a cat's.

"We're late, come, we must hasten our pace," Everett briskly ate the distance between their current location and their apparent destination with Irene tailing behind him.

"So, what exactly would we be doing?" Asked Irene.

"Ugh, I forgot about this part," grumbled Everett. "I hope you weren't scammed to accept this job, because it's seriously demanding of a person. Thankfully for you, all you have to do is mindless hoeing. I'll be doing the actual brewing and formulating."

Suddenly, they were at the tunnel's end. Everett gave the wall a firm push, enticing a rush of sunlight to fill in the darkness. Irene's lashes fluttered as she acclimated to the change, but her discomfort was quickly pushed aside to welcome the staccato beat of her heart cajoled by excitement. The gateway opened up to a secret world that cultivated a garden, with variegated plants that climbed high up to the lifted glass ceiling.

Everett strolled through the place and knowingly approached a desk that was littered with parchments. Irene obediently followed over and peered at the contents of the desk curiously, taking in the pieces of herbs stacked neatly in wooden bowls, but she didn't dare touch anything.

"This is my workstation, your workstation belongs there," he pointed roughly to some part of the garden. Hence, she was left with little choice but to suck up all her grievances and work her "job". Thankfully, it was easy to spot what Everett wanted her to be doing since there was a clearing of dirt and a hoe planted in towards the ground.

Irene held the hoe in her hands and swallowed nervously at how heavy the tool was. The easy part of understanding the assignment burned into flames, now she had to do the actual hard task of hoeing the dirt. She gripped the handle tightly and began to tug it against the soil, but the hoe kept bouncing off the dirt and didn't manage to hook onto any weeds that she was supposed to be uprooting.

Still, to her, the hoe had simply become lighter. Reenacting the memories of her gardener, she bustled about the soil thinking, "it wasn't so hard."

X

Ayu's search for the opening didn't seem to be going very well. Though her anger has steamed off and she could sense Irene being less agitated, meaning she wasn't being threatened, Ayu still did not feel comfortable in her own skin. She stalked through the halls, her eyes seizing the place up and down until she bumped into none other than Lord Kolfor.

"What is it?" She seethed.

There was a tangible shift in the air as the temperature dropped, causing Ayu's hairs to stand on her skin. She grew aware that her behaviour was uncalled for, but remained stubborn as she fidgeted restlessly on her feet.

"Your highness, there are urgent matters to deal with. Follow me, we shall discuss them in private."

Ayu cursed internally, but the edge in Kolfor's voice suggested it was better for her to follow. The princess had no choice but to put her search on hold while trying to settle this issue as quickly as possible.

X

"Aqua's roaring waves," cursed Everett.

The small dragon's eyes were wide as he took in Irene's progress in the past 30 minutes. The girl had come to fetch him a moment ago to inform him that her job was done. Though he was pleasantly surprised at how fast she had worked, he decided to count it as his good fortune, not knowing that the two of them had a different understanding of "hoeing" was supposed to be done.

"It's basically the same as before! All you did was flatten the grass," Everett criticised. Irene did not shrink, in fact, she thought Everett was being unreasonable.

"What do you mean? You said to hoe the soil. I used the hoe, didn't I?" There was a frown on her forehead as she crossed her arms. She did not appreciate being yelled at for doing her job. She was nice enough to let it slide if Everett didn't think of complimenting her, but to criticise her as well? That was just going too far.

"Hoeing," he gnashed his teeth, "meant this."

He grabbed the hoe with a single hand and slammed the metal head into the ground. Then, he dug up the soil, the weeds that festered there had their roots pointed skywards not a moment later. There was a considerable difference between his work and hers, enough for her to realise her mistake.

"Oh, why didn't you just say so? How about this, I'll come back tomorrow with a proper hoe that, I, can use. This is too heavy for me," she pointed at the tool in his hand.

The dragon was infuriated.

"I have no idea why you're being so insufferable although I've been nothing but kind to you while you were here. Don't come back tomorrow, I have no wish to lug a brickhead like you around when I have my research to complete!" He hollered.

Irene backed off a little at the volume. If it were earlier, she would've been frozen again, but this time, there was a kindling of anger in her heart. Something that felt close, but not exactly belonging to her. Nonetheless, the emotions easily swayed her heart.

"Fine then! I don't want to help a rude dragon like you either! Dragons are so mean!" She yelled.

With that final say, she stomped off where she came, her mission remained forgotten as she stewed in unsatisfaction.