Call Me Fire

CHAPTER IV

FIRE WAS MAD.

The calming sound of water rustling from the bamboo fountain wasn't enough to cool him down. Not the beautiful porcelain tabletop. Not the gentle wind was swinging the paper lanterns on the ceiling. And not even the soothing voice of the mortal lady singing in her high-pitch voice to the tune of an oriental love song.

The sun was pleasant that morning. The cherry blossom tree just beside the window he was sitting next to was shedding. Some of its petals matted the ground in delicate pink while some were getting blown by the wind, eventually landing on the artificial pond where bright-colored fishes swam freely– koi.

The place could have been perfect if only there weren't some weak souls lurking around him while enjoying what they all called breakfast.

The dragon shook his head indifferently before looking away. It wasn't an accident that he choose the farthest and most isolated corner of that place.

Living with these fragile monsters for the rest of his 'endless life' was an everyday doomsday.

Humans were the worst part of the curse the sorcerer cast on him. His hatred knew no distinction for these poor little things. Thousands of years had passed, and the creature remained the same: greedy, savage, and destructive -- not just to the world they were living in but to themselves as well.

'Imbeciles,' he concluded with a bitter grin. 'If only I don't need you little morons to find my heart--'

"Excuse me, Mister!"

That was when a little girl playing inside that restaurant accidentally hit his shoulder with her bouncy ball.

Fire stiffened when his eyes flashed blood-red before going back to obsidian. With hate flooding him, he gritted his teeth and watched the ball land on his lap.

"S-Sorry." The tiny being smiled at him, showing off two missing front teeth. Her innocent eyes were crystal clear, and her soul smelt pure. She also got a fresh face similar to mornings -- gentle when she scrunched her nose before giving him the cutest puppy eyes. "Can I have my ball back, please?"

'Very fragile and pretty. Easily one of the hideous monsters that dominated this world.'

"Certainly," Fire faked a smile and did as she asked. He was casual when he grabbed the ball and handed it to the child. 

The girl squirmed in excitement upon seeing her butterfly-printed ball coming near. However, little did she know that the handsome man she was talking with was Fire-- the dragon her race betrayed eons of years ago.

A second before the child completely grasped the toy from him, and Fire commanded his whole hand to burst in flames and melted a good part of the kid's beloved toy. It popped right next to the child's face, making the dragon smirked when the toddler's knee shook with fear. One moment the girl was smiling, and the next, she was looking at the handsome man before her as if she had seen a devil – wide-eyed, mouth ajar, and quickly turning pale.

"M-Momma!"

"Fire."

That was when a gruff reprimanding voice made him turn to the function hall's door. There, past the rows of tables crowded by even more mortals, and dressed in his traditional blue satin tunic was the owner of that Oriental restaurant-- the good old, Hào Lóng.

He was the same mighty dragon that many mortals put in movies, in key chains, in good luck charms, on doors, on the windows, on walls, on posters, on their freaking skin, believing that the old dragon would grant their wishes if they do. Too bad that was a myth.

Although powerful, good old Hào Lóng wasn't a genie. And no, he didn't have seven red balls either. That, too, was a conspiracy theory.

"Oh! Fancy meeting you, Great Old Fame w***e--"

"If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow." Hào Lóng cut off his rude greeting with his wise man tone. Then like an emperor, he gracefully moved between the sea of suffocating mortals eating inside the restaurant. Both of his hands were hidden in his overly long sleeves. The way his tunic dragged emptily against the jade-colored floor made the older man look whimsical. 

Fire could bet that the Oriental dragon's feet weren't touching the ground. He knew, of course. He used to like floating that way as well before he lost almost all his abilities.

With the kindest smile, the old dragon tapped the head of the crying child who was still standing before Fire as soon as he reached them.

A little magic here, a little incantation there, and the little girl instantly stopped crying as if her mouth got zipped. She even looked bewildered when her innocent stare bounced between Fire and the strange grandpa with her. Then pouting, her gaze went down to the deflated ball on the floor, totally forgetting that the toy was hers. "Momma?"

"There she is." It was still Grandpa Hào Lóng, who pointed to the woman laughing in the middle of the crowd. Being a dragon, he could read every single mind inside that place, just like how Fire could thousand of years ago too.

The child was already some steps away when the good water dragon, who chose the embodiment of an old Chinese man, turned to his unusual guest. Wiggling the pair of long white brows above his chinky eyes, he asked, "To whom do I owe this pleasure of seeing you again, Great Fire Dragon of Escovia?"

"To a filthy mortal who has the ability to summon me out of nowhere," replied Fire in a bored tone, completely deadpanning how his friend paused from sitting on the chair adjacent to his.

"A mortal summoned you?"

"Yes," he breathed out before looking away from the old man's wondering stare. "She was reading the curse from a book inside an old library, and I was in my lair when..."

"... you suddenly ended up standing before her without any recollection of how you got there." Hào Lóng completed his words for him, finally sitting and leaving with him with no other thing to do but nod.

Seeing his reaction, the older man's face beamed. He aristocratically placed his clasped hands on the table between them and, with a huge smile, chirped, "Yuè Lǎo."

"No way." Fire snorted, understanding what the older man said. What did the Chinese deity Yuè Lǎo get to do with his case?

First of all, he wasn't a mortal whom gods could toy with and match with anyone they pleased- be it through Yuè Lǎo's magic red string or whatever type of emotional attachment. Second, he wasn't even within Yuè Lǎo's territory. He was from the Western Classic Dragon Clan, cousins to Wyverns. "You need to give me another explanation, Great Old Fame Wh*re."

"There isn't any other." Hào Lóng let out a belly laugh seeing how irritated he was. Every wrinkle on his kind face went deeper as he began tapping the table like he just witnessed the biggest joke ever. So funny, his yellowish skin turned red.

"Ai wū..." the old man controlled his entertainment, waving his forefinger in the air like it was a magic wand and he was about to cast a spell. Wiggling his overly long white eyebrows again, he humorously finished what he was saying, "...jí wū."

"You know why I'm here, Hào Lóng?" Fire c****d his head in dismay and took the porcelain teacup before him. Taking a sip, he then talked with the most serious tone he could muster. "I'm here because I thought you're the wisest of us all. You are brutally four thousand years older than everyone--"

"Love the house and its crows."

"I'm not interested in your proverbs, old man." Fire snapped, quickly gesturing the water dragon to stop talking. "I just want to know what's exactly going on."

"Had there been anyone else who had summoned you as she did?" That was the point when Hào Lóng finally squared his shoulders and looked at him with equal seriousness. Then pointing at him with the old dragon then explained, "Only a dragon's destined mate has the ability to summon him at any given time she pleased. "

"That's bloody impossible. I don't even have a heart—f**k!"

Fire's cuss went a bit too loud when an unwanted tingle peppered his skin. In a split second, his chest ached so bad that he had to grab the table before him to keep himself from falling. The pain was similar to how he felt thousand of years ago when someone literally buried a sharp hand into his chest and mercilessly pulled his bleeding heart out.

One last difficult breath from his empty, heaving chest...

One last blurry look at the worried older man who immediately found a way to grab his shoulder to check on him...

And one last painful growl.

The next thing Fire saw was his whole body slowly turning to small specs of burning bright ashes, quickly sipping through Hào Lóng's wrinkled fingers before floating in the air like fireflies. In a second, he felt his whole world dimmed. 

Everything was happening too fast around Fire that even a dragon like him couldn't keep up. It was like having a very short death-- barely a second -- before perfectly getting revived as his flaming dust stuck back together, restoring his whole body and leaving him breathless.

'W-What the hell am I doing here in the library?'

Confusion was still all over Fire's sweaty face when he looked up and recognized the huge bookcase in front of him. Then even before he could utter a word, he heard her haunting voice again, echoing from one of the rooms in that hallway just like the first time they met.

.

.

"Thou, Dragon of Escovia...

Who had bathe in the blood of hundred men,

Endless, thou art shall walk this world. 

Endless, thou art going to seek but not see. 

Endless, thou will exist but not live. 

Endless, thou will die trying to find thy missing piece.

But thou shall not see.

Never will thy wings gracefully flap again.

Until the world remembers who thou have been, 

Groaning thy name in angst.

Thou shall taste vengeance, dragon.

Thou shall taste bitter vengeance, Arag...Ara--

"Kid's let's give up on this dragon's name, shall we? I'm so sick and tired of re-reading this book. I already memorized the script."

'W-Wait.' Fire's eyes widened in horror upon hearing the last thing the woman said. Terrified to his hilt, his neck almost popped when he turned to the door and asked, 'D-Did she really claim that she memorized the curse? Bloody what?'