The air in the garden crackled with the "noise" of a desperate prison break. Ignoring
the magic-dampening fields, Sora, Sparta, and Ryuki gripped the heavy iron door of
the carriage in perfect, trembling unison.
"Stop! Don't open it!" Sparta's brothers screamed, waving their arms frantically. "If
the sisters find out you let him out, they'll turn us into luggage! Our lives are on the
line here!"
Sora, Ryuki, and Sparta didn't even blink. They turned as one, giving the younger
brothers a death glance so cold it could have frozen the Aurex oceans. With a roar of
pure, student-led rebellion, they channeled their physical strength and ripped the
magic-reinforced iron door right off its hinges. With a grunt, they hurled the massive
slab of metal toward the brothers, who dove into the grass to avoid being flattened.
As the dust settled, Sora, Ryuki, and Sparta rushed into the gloom. Inside, the skeletal
Jee-shahn and the paper-thin Azure Lizard looked up. For the first time in history,
joyful tears pricked the corners of the Monster's sunken eyes. A weak, trembling
smile broke across his face.
"Oh... my students..." Jee-shahn rasped, his voice thick with uncharacteristic
emotion. "I am so... truly great... to have students like you. My heart... is full."
The Azure Lizard nodded its tiny, shriveled head in pathetic agreement, looking like a
discarded blue sock.
Then, Jee-shahn's expression snapped. His eyes sharpened with a predatory,
desperate glint. "Now... before those four pregnant monsters realize I've escaped this
iron cofin... help me, my lovely, sincere, wonderful students! Move! Now!"
Sora, Ryuki, and Sparta froze for a second, their eyes welling up with tears. "This is
the first time... Master has ever appreciated us!" they sobbed in union, moved by the
fake praise.
Jee-shahn, his "Toothy" left palm, and the tiny lizard all shared a look of utter
confusion. Are they really this easy to trick? Jee-shahn thought, but he kept the smileon his face. "Yes, yes, I'm lucky to have you. Now, can we leave this cursed box? I
need to eat something that isn't a seaweed cracker!"
Sora and Sparta ducked under Jee-shahn's arms, providing him with a shoulder to
lean on as they helped his bone-thin frame stand. Ryuki carefully scooped up the
Azure Lizard, cradling the shriveled reptile like a fragile treasure.
As they stepped out of the prisoner carriage and into the warm, golden sunlight,
Jee-shahn squinted at the sky. "Lizard... look," he whispered. "The sun. We're finally
free."
The lizard gave a weak, appreciative mewl.
But as Jee-shahn looked around, the color suddenly drained from his already pale
face. His skin went from white to a translucent, ghostly grey. His fangs instinctively
slid out of his gums as his entire body began to shake.
"Master?" Ryuki asked, worried. "What's wrong? You're vibrating so hard you're
blurring!"
"Where..." Jee-shahn rasped, his voice trembling like a leaf in a storm. "Where...
exactly... am I?"
"Master, you're home!" Sora replied proudly. "You're in the capital of Virellia!"
It was as if the last drop of blood in Jee-shahn's body had been sucked out by a
vacuum. The Azure Lizard's eyes rolled back.
"Home...?" Jee-shahn whispered. He shoved Sora and Sparta away, standing on his
own two shaky legs. He snatched the lizard back from Ryuki and clutched it to his
chest. "Lizard... we have to run. All the monsters are here. The noise... the noise is
coming from inside the house!"
With a surge of adrenaline fueled by pure terror, Jee-shahn forced his demonic black
wings to unfurl. They were ragged and thin, but he prepared to beat them against the
air to take flight.
"And where exactly do you think you're going... Beloved?"
The voice came from above—soft, melodic, and sharp enough to sever a soul.
Jee-shahn's eyes went wide. He looked like a man who had just seen his own funeral.
Slowly, with a neck that creaked like a rusty hinge, he turned his head toward the
third-floor balcony of the palace.
There, standing in a line of terrifying beauty, were his ten wives. Emiko, Lupa, Yui, Rin,
Faeloria, and the four new pregnant sisters from Aurex—all of them were smiling
down at him. They gave him a synchronized, gentle wave of their hands, beckoning
him to come inside.
The "noise" reached a divine crescendo. Jee-shahn didn't even try to fly. The Azure
Lizard fainted instantly, and Jee-shahn, the 7-foot Monster of the fourteen skies,
simply let out a small, defeated sigh and fainted right alongside his pet.