"Kyon! Kyon!"

Yuki learned two new things from hearing this. The first was that this world's version of Kiyoshi was known as 'Kyon' just like the original, and the second was that his younger sister, Kokoro, also existed in this world. Also, it seemed she had bad news.

"What is it?" Kyon said.

"There's a dragon in the village!" She said. "It's already burned down our house. We need to get the Mage!"

"A dragon?!" Kyon said. "Is everyone okay?"

"They're being evacuated right now," Kokoro said, uncomfortably dodging the exact question. "But there's no time to talk about that!"

Kyon nodded and turned around. He was the only one in his village who could consistently find the Mad Mage's hideout, and while the Mage was typically regarded as a pariah by anyone who'd even heard of her, some people would occasionally ask Kyon to bring them to her when they saw no other solution to their problem. Normally, she would simply dismiss them as 'boring', but Kyon was fairly confident that wouldn't be the case this time.


"A dragon?" The Mage raised an eyebrow skeptically. "In your village of all places?"

"Even if I did know the reason," he said, "there'd be no time to explain. Just come with us, okay?"

"Fine." She stood from her chair in what, for the second time that day, looked to Yuki like the first time in years. "Let's see this 'dragon' then. Kokoro, you stay here."


When they found the dragon, it had a dark blue hide, and an appearance that Yuki would find intimidating even if she did still have her powers. Every time she looked at it, it seemed taller than last time she'd looked, and even the Mad Mage seemed worried.

"Okay, so I wasn't expecting it to be a real full-grown dragon," she said. "You'd be surprised how many things around this area can be mistaken for dra…" She suddenly cast a quick spell in Kyon's direction, throwing him from the spot where the dragon's foot soon landed. Her next spell was more complex, opening the already ruined ground beneath the dragon, but it responded simply by leaping upwards and landing nearby with a powerful shockwave.

This seemed to take the Mage by surprise, causing her to lose her balance somewhat. It was during her struggle to stay upright that caused something to fall from her robes, which Yuki was quick to notice. It was Rei's wand, and its presence raised a lot of questions.

Yuki turned to Kyon. "Are some wands more powerful than others?"

"You're asking the wrong person," he said. "And the right person seems to be occup…" He stopped himself when a rather confusing turn of events unfolded before them.

It seemed that the dragon had also noticed the wand, and the very sight of it had caused it to turn away and direct its carnage elsewhere.

"It's…" Kyon's eyes widened as the implications hit him. "It's headed for the castle!" He ran after the dragon as it took flight, knowing all too well that doing so would be pointless unless the others also chose to follow.

Before she could join them, Yuki found herself staring at Rei's wand, once again wondering why the Mage had brought it with her. She didn't see her pick it up as she left, so it was entirely possible she already had it on her person before they arrived. But now, she felt as if the wand was calling to her, and her hurried mind saw no reason to refuse the call. There was still a chance the Mage needed it for something, so she picked it up and ran after the others.


Ever since her marriage to Ryoko was arranged, Princess Mikuru found herself spending every day wandering anxiously around the castle. Nothing could take her mind off her undesirable fate, but today something felt especially wrong. Every moment she remained idle, she felt as though she was waiting for a disaster of some kind, and she felt as though it wasn't the marriage, since this one felt like it would arrive sooner.

This conundrum eventually began to frustrate her to the point that she was wondering about it out loud, at which point her questions were quickly answered by distant cries of "dragon!"

That word alone was enough to freeze her in place. All her life, there were no dragons to worry about in her kingdom, as many of them would hardly find it to be habitable. Nothing had prepared her, or anybody else, for something like this.

Even as it advanced closer to the castle, Mikuru stayed in her vulnerable little tower, knowing somehow that it was her it was after, and not wanting it to tear through the whole castle to get to her. While it certainly sounded noble, she didn't feel at all brave as she fell to her knees and sobbed, waiting for a fate she still hadn't fully accepted.

When the dragon grabbed the tower she was in, the whole room shook before she slammed into a wall, and soon she was paralyzed not only by her fear but by the throbbing pain in her bones. She barely registered when the dragon suddenly turned around and dropped the tower, only coming to her senses when the fall seemed to slow down and the tower landed gently on the ground.

When she finally felt able to, she poked her head outside and found the dragon looming over what appeared to be a powerful magician and two of her associates. The magician in question looked exhausted, and Mikuru soon concluded it was a result of her having 'caught' the tower. Her panicked mind concluded that it was her fault the magician wasn't in perfect condition, and her guilt only increased when this finally lead to the magician's defeat, with the dragon forcefully knocking her down with a swipe of its claws.

Mikuru's attention returned again to the magician's associates, but it was only now that she truly noticed one of them: A girl with short violet hair and unfamiliar clothing. Because she was holding a wand, Mikuru reasoned that she was also a magician, but she reconsidered this deduction when the girl seemed to do nothing as the dragon returned its attention to Mikuru.

The dragon's head turned.

Mikuru felt an uncomfortable shrinking sensation.

The dragon's body followed.

Mikuru took a step back.

The dragon advanced towards her.

Mikuru went into a fetal position and closed her eyes as tightly as possible.

The dragon prepared to attack.

Mikuru prayed for a miracle.

And her prayer was answered.

The dragon suddenly stopped what it was doing and looked at its tail, which was steadily being engulfed by ice. Before it could even react, the rest of its body soon followed, and after a silent moment of it being literally frozen in shock, its entire body shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, each one quickly melting as soon as it reached the ground.

Once there was nothing left of it, Mikuru looked at the people it had turned its back on, and the violet haired girl was pointing the wand forward with both hands, panting heavily. And it was at that moment that Mikuru finally realized what made the girl stand out moments before.

She was in love with her.


A/N: I'm surprised how much pressure I feel under from the one review I have. When the only person who seems interested in your story says it shows potential, then you'd better live up to that potential.