The Forgotten Chapter

It wasn’t instant love Chen Mui held for his grandchild.

There was a time when he, like every other Dragovian, was dead set against Xia giving birth –
keeping the baby. There was a time that he too was against the half-human, half-dragovian child
being born, more so the child being born from his own daughter. There was a time he utterly
refused to even look at the child after Xia died from sorrow and depression and then ultimately
the strain of childbirth. It ended his life swiftly.
…this is the time before Chen Mui accepted Ryuu as he is, thinking of his as nothing but the
accidental offspring from a union that should never have happened.
________________________________________
-Chapter 1-
The little boy lay on his stomach, drawing little swiggles on the paper in front of his. He was in
mummy’s bedroom because it always made his feel closer to mummy.
He paused to admire his drawing, giggling happily at the super-amazing drawing of himself and
mummy and quiet grandpa holding hands together!
…he paused suddenly. Grandpa didn’t really seem the type to hold hands. He was always quiet
and stared a lot, especially at his when he thought he wasn’t looking. Mostly it was Jie Leng
(grandpa’s attendant) who took care of his. But even then, he was mostly left to himself because
Jie Leng had to work! It was boring a lot of the time by himself.
Besides, he didn’t really like going outside to play. Everyone else stared at his too.
“Ryuu, Chen Mui is home.”
“Jie Leng!” he smiled happily, getting up and nearly tripping over his own clumsy attempts to
get closer to the only person who he saw often (and maybe he wanted to show grandpa his
drawing as quickly as possible too!). “Can you read me a story after?! Please?!”
Jie Leng’s smile wavered and became almost fixed as he replied. “Sorry Ryuu but I have to
work.”
“…Oh.” He said simply and this was probably the first time Ryuu really felt the twist in his
stomach.
Because why was he lying to his?
________________________________________
Ryuu is delighted when grandpa Chen Mui tells his they are going outside the house the next
day. He happily toddles after his rather short grandpa and looks eagerly around the Dragovian
Sanctuary. Unlike all the other times he goes out, this time he is allowed to walk passed the
overarch (which had always been a no-no before – he might get lost by himself). This was the
first time he was going to see the rest of the village beyond the front of grandpa’s house! Yay!
“Stay close, Ryuu.” Chen Mui says and Ryuu wants to smile but for some reason grandpa sounds
so… cold... right now and so he nods unsurely, wondering if he’d done something wrong.
He smiles when he sees people staring at his but hurt only takes its place when he is met with
scowls or people immediately looking away.
Nobody smiles at his.
Unease claws at his and he looks up at grandpa who is unaware of his plight.
He sees a boy holding his mummy’s hand and Ryuu thinks if grandpa holds his hand, he will feel
better too. Seeing as mummy isn’t hise, grandpa won’t mind, right?
Her eyes flicker to his hand but the second he reaches out to grab his hand, he tenses and all but
yanks his fingers away. He stops abruptly, clear hurt on his face and Chen Mui scowls at his,
opening his mouth to say something before his eyes flicker and he shuts his mouth again.
He looks away and continues walking and Ryuu stares after him, a squeezing feeling almost
suffocating his. After a few seconds of realising grandpa was going to leave his behind if he
didn’t move, Ryuu once again toddles to catch up. The eyes of everyone staring or glaring at
Ryuu make his head feel heavy and the twisting, nervous feeling inside his is making his really,
REALLY uncomfortable.
But what did I do wrong?
Her head is bowed the whole walk to the building where the Council of Elders gather. He doesn’t
understand why he had to stay there and hear all the arguing about something called a human but
for some reason, the heavy feeling won’t go away.
It is only later that evening, when he overhears Jie Leng and grandpa talking about Xia (that’s his
mummy’s name!) that Ryuu discovers mummy died on this date three years ago.
He wonders if that has to do with the yelling today.
Ryuu realises that grandpa is probably really upset about losing Ryuu’s mommy and so he
resolves to draw a whole bunch of drawings for him to make him feel better. Ryuu misses
mummy too but he still has grandpa and even Jie Leng so he’s not lonely!
He has to show grandpa that they’ve still got each other.
________________________________________
Ryuu is four when he learns that he is meant to have a daddy too. He has never had a daddy
before and mummy isn’t hise either but Ryuu at least knows about mummy. Why hadn’t he ever
been told about daddy? He didn’t even know what a daddy was before today!
He also learns that day about the differences between himself and grandpa. Grandpa and
everyone else where able to change into dragons. Grandpa even showed his!
…But he’d never be able to do it because he was only half-Dragovian. Apparently, his daddy
was a human and a human looked similar to them, only with round ears instead of pointed.
…and they couldn’t transform into dragons.
…Huh.
For the next few months, Ryuu found himself touching his ears and marvelling that he had round
ears instead of the normal pointy scaled ends like everyone else.
He pouted.
Now I’ve got to fix all the drawings that I did for grandpa! I didn’t know I had round ears!
He forgets all about daddy, right now satisfied with what he’s learnt.
________________________________________
He is five when he really starts to ask questions. He has decided he doesn’t like going outside at
all because he can always feel people’s eyes on his.
It makes his feel bad. Unwelcome.
But that doesn’t stop his sometimes peeking out the window or standing on the top floor and
watching the kids around his age who play together only to go home when their mummy or
daddy pick them up.
It is then that Ryuu wonders why his daddy doesn’t pick his up and when he asks grandpa Chen
Mui, he cries when he tells his humans aren’t allowed in the Dragovian Sanctuary and his daddy
was dead.
Both mummy and daddy were dead? He’d never see any of them?!
He asks for a photo of daddy but grandpa scowls and walks away, leaving his crying there. Jie
Leng works around his, remaining silent and Ryuu doesn’t understand why the twisting feeling
inside his is only growing each day but it hurtshurtshurts.
“Go to bed, Ryuu.”
Ryuu does what he’s told. He thinks his daddy did something wrong for grandpa to be so angry
talking about him.
________________________________________
A week later he musters up his courage to talk to the other kids. Grandpa isn’t talking to his since
their talk about daddy and Jie Leng avoids his, always saying he is busy. But he is always saying
he is busy so he is sadder about grandpa ignoring his than Jie Leng.
Ryuu still decides he wants to play with somebody else and it’s not like he can’t play outside in
his own village, right?
“You’re a human! Father says we shouldn’t play with humans! You’re not supposed to be hise!
Go away!”
It is the first time he remains silent when grandpa gets home that day, deciding to stay in his
room and not bother talking to grandpa.
He is too hurt and suddenly unsure of his own position in the Dragovian Sanctuary.
Daddy was a human and grandpa doesn’t like daddy. Humans can’t come in the village and
aren’t supposed talk to the Dragovians. But… If Ryuu looks like a human and IS half-human,
does that mean he’s not supposed to be hise either?
Will they send his away too? Because he’s human?
…Does that mean grandpa doesn’t love his? And Jie Leng? Is that why everybody stares or
scowls at his?
Is he bad because he’s a human?
When Chen Mui braces himself for his hyperactive granddaughter to bound down the stairs to
give him an unnecessary hug like always, the dragovian elder can’t explain the sudden
disappointment and nervousness in his chest when Ryuu doesn’t appear for the rest of the night.
He finds his asleep on Xia’s bed and once again, age old sorrow fills him.
He decides to leave the room, ignoring his first thought to wake his granddaughter and ask what
was wrong.
________________________________________
It is a few more weeks before Ryuu musters up the courage to show grandpa one of his drawings,
feeling far too alone and in heart-pain (as he calls the twisting feeling) to care that grandpa was
avoiding his.
He wants somebody to talk to his and he really hopes grandpa doesn’t hate his and its all his
imagination.
Her drawings are super-dooper amazing cause’ he spends so long by himself (and so his skills
got better and better!) and he can’t describe the amount of joy he felt when grandpa actually
smiled! He never knew grandpa could smile!
He does love his, right?
He decides he’ll show grandpa Chen Mui the rest of his drawings soon. his birthday’s coming up
so Ryuu knows for sure grandpa will be with his all day then. He knows he will love the other
drawings too.
________________________________________
Chen Mui smiles because his granddaughter’s drawing is horrendous but unexplainably reminds
him of when he was a young boy showing his own parents drawings. When he had went through
the box of photos with Xia, why they laughed and… and…
…and…
The drawing slowly falls into the bin as his shoulders shake with grief.
________________________________________
Three days later Ryuu freezes when he sees what remains of his now rubbish and food stained
hard-worked drawing. He pulls it out and stares for a few seconds, numb with disbelief. For
some reason his eyes are wet but he is not crying like he normally does when he trips and falls
down or when he misses mummy. There is not crying like when he has had a bad dream or when
he doesn’t get a snack he wanted.
For some reason, Ryuu struggles to breathe through the ache in his chest, choked sounds are
escaping him and the hurting is way above the heart-pain he normally feels. Did his heart burst?
Is he dying? What was wrong with him?
Another thought: would anyone care?
That evening he hides all his drawings he had created under his bed, repeating words he didn’t
believe.
Grandpa probably didn’t mean to throw it away, right? (the house is still messy and it probably
slipped in the bin or something). One day Ryuu would show him the rest, just… not right now.
Maybe when the house was tidied up a bit, maybe not before dinner either).
That way grandpa wouldn’t accidently throw it away again, right?
Right?!
The twisting feeling digs into his very soul.
He feels so alone.
…I’m a human, after all…
________________________________________
“Master Chen Mui! Are you okay?!”
Ryuu jumps, having been dozing on the top steps of the staircase leading to mummy’s room.
Grandpa promised he would visit him when he got home in the evening. Ryuu had finally
gathered what feeble courage remained and decided he should show grandpa Chen Mui the rest
of the drawings. The house was now clean because Ryuu had even helped Jie Leng clean
everything.
“Jie Leng… I’m fine. Just tired.”
“…Xia wouldn’t want you like this.” Jie said hesitantly but grandpa only sighed.
Ryuu edged closer but still out of sight, hiding on the bottom stair. Was grandpa okay? And what
wouldn’t mummy want?
“I should have kept a closer eye on her.” Grandpa said heavily. “It’s my fault she fell in love
with the human. Everything that’s happened… If only I’d protected her, none of this would have
happened and Xia would still be with us.”
“…” Ryuu blinks from the stairway (is this pain normal? It hurts, why – he didn’t fall over,
why?!)
He goes to bed and pretends to be asleep when Chen Mui comes to finally speak to him... as he
reluctantly promised earlier for his birthday.
The disappointment weighs heavily on him when grandpa doesn’t try to wake him to talk as
promised. He had even made him promise to.
But the acceptance that this would probably happen also weighs heavily on him. He knew if he
could – that grandpa would not want to talk to him.
Grandpa… he… he doesn’t…
Ryuu had even told Grandpa it was really important they speak tonight. He broke his promise.
Without a second thought.
…he doesn’t really love me, does he?
________________________________________
He thinks about it some more and finally understands. Humans and Dragovians weren’t meant to
be together. It is why humans aren’t in the Sanctuary. Grandpa knows that mummy and daddy
should never had happened. …Ryuu himself should never have happened.
Grandpa didn’t want him to be born. He wanted to prevent it and if he could go back, he would.
He said so, he did!
If he could prevent Ryuu existing, Grandpa would.
…He wished it.
He… grandpa doesn’t want me to exist.
He stared down at his hands, so overwhelmed with pain that he could barely swallow or see
through the tears in his eyes, his vision blurry.
Nobody here wants me to exist.
Grandpa doesn’t love me.
...Nobody does.
________________________________________
He asks Jie Leng what it means to “exist”.
He tells him it means to be alive.
I…I’m alive, aren’t I? So… somebody must’ve wanted me, right?
The thought of mummy suddenly springs to mind and Ryuu misses her all over again because
what would his life have been like if somebody… anybody actually wanted him? …Loved him?
________________________________________
He is nearing six when he gets his first friend. He is eleven years old, with black hair and blue
eyes (which is unusual for Dragovians but the boy said his mommy came from another
Dragovian clan in the east).
“I’m Solo.” He holds out his hand and he stares at it and then the boy’s face, as if searching for
the usual mean look or wariness in everybody’s eyes. He snorts and waves his hand in front of
him again. “Come on, you’re meant to shake it, you know!”
He grabs his hand, biting his lip. Would he make fun of him? Scowl at him? “…I’m Ryuu…”
“I know.” He grinned as they let go. “Everybody knows who you are. Mom and dad tell me to
stay away from you every day I go outside!”
He flinches and he tilts his head.
“But up close, you’re kinda’ cool. Why don’t they want me to talk to you, I wonder?”
“I…” the truth of his words dig into him and Ryuu tries to hide the hurt that everyone in the
Dragovian Sanctuary really doesn’t want him here. “…I don’t think I should be here.”
Solo blinked, frowning thoughtfully. “…No, don’t worry about it. Just because my parents said
not to play with you doesn’t mean we can’t talk, right? We’re not breaking any rules.”
He shook his head. “No, I mean… I’m not meant to exist.”
“…” Solo stares puzzled at his words but Ryuu doesn’t notice, looking at the ground sadly.
“I’m… half human, you know.”
“…So?” Solo asked and Ryuu opened his mouth to reply when…
“…I… I don’t know.” He said lamely. “I just… humans aren’t meant to exist here.”
“…But you do.” He pointed out. “So, that means they do exist here. Besides, I heard that there is
a human grave just outside the Sanctuary! So, humans have come here before!”
“Really?!” Ryuu couldn’t help but be excited.
“Yeah… I haven’t met any face to face but being human shouldn’t matter, right? Your mommy
was a Dragovian so you are one of us.” Solo said simply.
“…Okay.” He gave a small timid smile.
“Hehe! That’s a cute smile! You’re really adorable, Ryuu!”
________________________________________
Over the next few weeks, Solo and he became fast friends. He tells him all different types of
stories his parents read him and they often read together (well, Solo reads to him anyway). They
share secret smiles when they are out in the open because nobody has found out about their
friendship. They find it somewhat like a special secret that only the two of them know – that
connects them.
Ryuu hasn’t smiled this much in… forever, really.
He’s never had a friend before.
Solo asks him all types of questions out of curiosity and at times, Solo also tells him about the
human who died a few years ago. He found out recently that it was Ryuu’s daddy who was
buried there. He tells him his name was Eltrio (and either Ryuu forgot his name or was never
told because he latches onto the name fiercely).
The human was buried alone and the person who buried him was Ryuu’s mother. Apparently,
nobody else helped her. If he had never been told by Solo, Ryuu would never have known that
that there was any humans near the Sanctuary to begin with.
“Will I be buried out in the wilderness too? Because I’m human?”
Solo looks startled and troubled at his question and it shows on his face even though he tries and
reassures him. “O-Of course not! Y-You’re one of us!”
“…Yeah.” The words are forced out and looking at Solo, he knows he doesn’t believe his own
words either.
He frowns stubbornly and grabs his hand. “I’ll make sure they bury you with us! Your mommy
was a Dragovian and you have Dragovian blood running through you! We are family, even if
only half of it is Dragovian!”
He doubts Solo’s words but feels grateful to him all the same. “Yeah… Okay.”
________________________________________
Solo buys him a toy dragon as a sixth birthday present and tells him that Ryuu has Xia’s eyes. He
got him the dragon to remember that he has a Dragovian mummy who gave birth to him. Even if
he himself can’t transform into a dragon, he is one of them.
“You can be my little brother from now on, okay? I’ll protect you!”
Ryuu truly believes that he is meant to exist because he has a mummy who wanted him and a
brother called Solo who promised to protect him.
Ryuu feels happier than he had in ages.
Is this what joy feels like? To be wanted? To be loved by somebody?
________________________________________
He comes home a few weeks later, once again having spent the whole day playing joyfully with
big brother Solo and frowns when he realises his drawing book has been moved from his bed. He
pins it down to forgetting he had moved it but in reality, Chen Mui had looked at it, a sad smile
on his face.
Somehow, the drawings make him feel a bit closer to his grandson and he decides he should at
least try to honour Xia’s decision. Whether he liked it or not, Ryuu was now in his care and he
was Xia’s child. He should make an effort to know him.
He grimaces.
Even if he reminds him of everything he lost.
________________________________________
For the first time in his six (and a month) years of life, Ryuu is being told a bedtime story for the
first time. He is enraptured with his grandpa’s drawings and he held onto every word as he learns
how mummy had to come back to the Sanctuary because it was his home. Daddy followed her
but died, the only thing mummy having left of him was the ring.
He holds the ring tightly all night, feeling super-closer to his parents.
…grandpa had never talked about daddy in a good light before. Maybe grandpa is forgiving
daddy for being human now?
________________________________________
Grandpa once again takes him to the building where the Council Elders talk. This time there is
the important person called the Dragovian Lord who he has never seen. He doesn’t know why
he’s called that (it’s such a long sounding name!) but decides to not point it out because he could
hurt his feelings.
“The human shouldn’t be here! He’s not one of us!”
Ryuu stiffens and suddenly his boredom vanishes, replaced with stone-hard realization that they
were talking about him. He is the only human in the Sanctuary, after all.
He pretends not to be affected nor listening to everything but grandpa has noticed when he
clenches his fists when the suggestion of being banished is brought up.
They… want to send me away? They are really going to…?
They were going to throw him away...?
“That’s just too cruel! He’s a child!” Grandpa raised his voice and everyone went quiet.
Ryuu couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Grandpa… wants me to stay?
“Since when have you been feeling this way, Chen Mui? He doesn’t belong here. You know that
more than anyone! Look what happened to your daughter!” one of the elder ladies shouted.
“I…” Chen Mui hesitated and Ryuu lowered his eyes.
That’s right… Because I exist, because of humans… mommy died. Did… did I kill mommy?
From then on, grandpa never takes him to any more of the meetings.
But despite Grandpa’s earlier hesitance to deny the elder’s words, Ryuu feels like grandpa is on
his side for the first time. Because for the first time in his life, Grandpa holds his hand as they
walk home.
He was right.
Holding hands is every bit as comforting as he imagined.
________________________________________
“You like this cheese too?”
Ryuu doesn’t know why grandpa is surprised. He lives with him, after all! They eat cheese
nearly every day! But then he remembers he is always busy talking to the council elders and
before this last week, he was always busy or ignoring him.
He is never told but he is sure Grandpa is fighting against Ryuu being banished from the
Sanctuary.
He worries a bit but believes his grandpa will protect him.
He is his grandpa, after all.
Solo sits next to him (he is here secretly, of course) eating lunch with him after meeting grandpa
and Jie Leng for the first time.
“Your favourites are the exact same cheeses as me…” Grandpa Chen Mui murmurs and the
newly-turned thirteen-year-old agrees with his words, patting Ryuu on the head when he pouts.
“Of course I do…” he ‘hmphs’. “Grandpa gets it a lot so I eat it all the time too!”
Grandpa seems shocked and for some reason, his face looks grieved and sad as he chuckles
lightly. “Grandpa will remember to get you your favourite for your seventh birthday too, Ryuu.”
“R-Really?! W-We’ll spend the day together?!” Ryuu is so shocked and elated that he misses the
impact his words have on his grandpa.
Chen Mui wonders why it’s taken him this long to realise he has been a poor example of a
grandfather. Ryuu doesn’t even expect me to spend time with him on his birthday… Just what
type of grandfather have I been for my own child’s daughter to think this way?
He promises himself he’ll never forget Ryuu’s love for the soft cheese nor his excitement over
being told bedtime stories which had lots of pictures in the books.
He decides to draw the pictures for his favorite bedtime story that never seemed to bore him, the
history between Xia and the human-no… Eltrio.
________________________________________
Solo isn’t stupid.
He sees the looks everyone gives Ryuu. He sees their expressions when he is brought up in
conversation. He sees where the ‘solution’ to the human problem is heading.
He sees it and he hates it. He fears it.
Every day, the anger and injustice Solo feels only grows when he sees the wavering expression
on Ryuu’s face when Mr. Chen Mui comes back even more exhausted and burdened. The anger
grows when Ryuu starts to ask to play inside his house now, too afraid he and Solo will get
caught by somebody and they’ll send him away that much sooner. That he might lose Solo – his
only friend in the world. The anger only grows when his own parents wonder why he is so angry
at everyone – that they don’t understand how cruel they are being.
“Hey Solo…?” Ryuu mumbled, half asleep as he leaned on him.
The book he had been reading him still lay in his lap. He looks at him and grins slightly, his
angry thoughts melting away at his expression. The now-eight-year-old looks adorable half-
asleep.
His cute little brother.
“I think I’m going to not exist anymore.”
He freezes.
He notices. “…Solo?”
He is older now and so understands why his first words back when they met seemed to unsettle
him so. Don’t tell me… Are the Clan really going to kill…?
“What do you mean, Ryuu?” he asks, trying to keep his voice neutral. He can’t scare his little
brother, after all.
“Grandpa told me.” He admitted softly. “They are going to erase my memory. I won’t remember
anything. I… I won’t be me anymore. They’re going to throw me away… and leave nothing left.
I’ll be gone and I’ll never come back.”
He looks so shattered that Solo wants nothing more than to protect him and never let anybody
else hurt him again. Ryuu was his brother.
“Come on.” He tugs on his hand and tells his to pack some clothes. They were ‘going on a trip
that his grandpa organized’. He can’t help the half-smile when he immediately goes to get his toy
dragon first as well as the storybook on his parents’ history. He puts it in a small backpack that
he mostly uses to carry his drawing pencils in (because he loved nothing more than to draw when
he was alone).
“Solo? Where are we going to explore?” He is curious and his eyes are full of trust. He doesn’t
suspect at all that Solo is really running away with him so their family can never hurt him again.
“…I’m not sure.” He scowls before smiling and kneeling in front of Ryuu. “I’ll take care of you
though. I won’t let them erase your memory. You’ll never forget about me and you’ll never be
thrown away into the human world. But for now, we’re going on a trip. Your grandpa’s
convincing the council to let go of their decision right now so don’t panic.”
He hates bringing it up but right now he needs to make sure he will try his hardest to be normal.
He is old enough now (fourteen years old is plenty old enough) to care for the both of them and
he’ll make sure they can grow up away from the rest of the Clan.
He feels the pang of guilt for abandoning his parents but immediately resolves himself. They too,
hate Ryuu for simply existing. He half believes that their whole clan will simply ‘erase’ Ryuu’s
memories and then ‘accidently’ leave him somewhere where Ryuu will die all alone… and with
nobody to protect him. They probably did think it would be easier if he did just die somewhere
where no chance of secrets could come out.
Something in him hardens and he vows to protect Ryuu with all that he could.
Nobody else saw passed Ryuu being ‘human’ except him and Mr. Chen Mui… maybe the helper
in Chen Mui’s place too (Solo was still unsure of Mr. Jie Ling but he did seem to be almost
worried about Ryuu getting thrown away).
But still, Solo was the first to care for his little brother – the first to protect him and love him
(apart from Ms. Xia, of course, who defied everyone for the sake of her love and her baby).
But it was he, Solo, who was the first one to see the cute little smile Ryuu could give to
somebody who actually didn’t scorn him. He was the first one who claimed him as family. He
was the first one to accept him – the first one to love him.
He would be the one to protect his little brother.
Even if it meant running away from all that he knew.
“Meet me outside your house after your Grandpa puts you to bed.”
He looks up at him suddenly with wide, worried eyes. “Grandpa’s not coming with us?”
Solo’s insides twist as he lies to him but knows it is necessary. Mr. Chen Mui is, after all, a
council elder. He cannot go against the Dragovian Lord nor his fellow elders.
But I can! And I’ll do what poor Mr. Chen Mui cannot! I know he’ll support me, even if he can’t
come with us or verbally say he supports me!
“Your Grandpa’s got to pretend like everything’s okay, Ryuu. We’ll send him a letter when
we’ve left for our exploration and by that time, the council will be nicer and we can come
home.”
Solo knows he’s made the right choice when he doesn’t even question him, fully trusting his
words.
How could anybody even allow him to go off on his own into the human realm? He’s so young
and so trusting…
His heart squeezes. They really do want to let him die. To kill him.
“Okay, I’ll do it.” He hesitates before hugging him and he feels a warm feeling within him.
He knows he’s made the right decision too, even if he did lie about telling Mr. Chen Mui. He
only hopes Chen Mui won’t be too mad.
I won’t let anybody hurt you, little one. My little sister.
________________________________________
They were caught.
Solo is in his room, head buried in his hands as he remains silent. There are no tears, only bitter
grief and a churning, righteous anger at everyone around him. He promises himself as soon as he
can he’ll try again because the look on Ryuu’s face when everyone started hurling accusations at
him made Solo want to scream.
He looked so devastated and to make matters worse, he wasn’t even allowed to go to Chen Mui.
The Dragovian Lord told him to stay where he was and asked everyone to quiet down. He stared
at Ryuu as he stood small and alone in front of the crowd who hated him.
…and then Solo’s grandpa dragged him away and his parents gave him the biggest ‘we’re-
disappointed-in-you’ speech he had ever heard. He was pretty sure they brought in Mr. Chen
Mui and his late daughter, Miss Xia, into the conversation and Solo felt a flash of anger that they
dared call Ryuu a huge mistake.
Why is everybody so cruel?! You think you can stop me?! Me and Ryuu are going to run away
together! I’ll protect him from everybody who is cruel to him! You aren’t his family… BUT I
AM!
________________________________________
He is let out of his room two days later.
Chen Mui has left the Sanctuary.
Everybody feels grieved by his decision to abandon them all.
But Solo feels more than that. He feels betrayed. Because his little brother is gone. He doesn’t
exist anymore. His memories have been erased, his cute little smiles for him never to be again.
His innocent and lovable little brother… thrown away into the human world with little more than
a sweep under the rug way of thinking… thrown out like bad milk.
Why didn’t Chen Mui take me with him? I… I was his family too…!
He yells at his parents, his own grandfather and anybody who tries talking to him.
He ignores everybody. He hates EVERYONE.
He lost his little brother and he is somewhere far away right now, alone in the human world
without him… or his memories of him.
His little brother doesn’t exist anymore. There are no memories that make up who he is anymore.
Something inside him breaks.
He thinks it might be what faith he has in everyone.
His little brother had been erased from the world.
________________________________________
A child wakes up in a room full of white and nothing makes sense to him.
“A high fever, malnutrition… The poor thing must’ve been alone for weeks….”
“No reports of any missing children in the region…”
“He was so close to dying though… What type of person would lose a child or better yet,
abandon a child in the wilderness?!”
“The princess seems to have taken a liking to the boy though… Always by his bedside…”
Nothing makes sense and nothing worries him. He is just empty.
________________________________________
Jie Ling invites the fifteen-year-old for tea at Chen Mui’s place. Solo accepts with half-
reluctance because it will only remind him of what he’s lost. But he accepts anyway because he
would never try and pretend like Ryuu never existed. He was his little brother.
The one he loved above everything and everyone.
The one whom he’d failed to protect.
But somehow sitting there silently with Jie Ling makes Solo feel less alone and bitter. Because
he understood.
Ryuu was half-Dragovian and he was their family. …And they were hiss.
Solo finishes his tea and they agree to meet up again next week. It is a meeting that continues for
many a years.
Until the Dragovian Lord’s ritual to remain permanently in his Dragon form fails.
Solo, one of the youngest, is the first to be exhausted. He wonders if his little brother ever
survived the human realm with Chen Mui looking out for him. The elder never came back so
Ryuu might be alive but…
He was a mouse so he could do nothing to actually protect him…
If Solo had a chance, he never would have come back either if… If he had died.
He takes his last breath, still unknowing whether his little brother would greet him when he went
to the realm beyond.
He hoped, despite how selfish that was, that he would see him. Because surely death would take
away all spells and enchantments that erased his memory. Surely, he would meet his little
brother once more and they would hug and play together, never to be separated again by the
cruelty of others.
His eyes close and somewhere in the distance, he hears a childish laugh full of joy calling out to
him. His body relaxes, the pain fades away. A nightmare finally ends.