Chapter 29:
A Not-So-Happy Ending

As much as OC wanted to mope around for three chapters worth of angst, monologue to Muddy about her feelings, and share a final romantic scene with Hotness, there was something she had to tend to first: Subzero. He was her friend, after all, or at least something like a foil to her character, and he had saved her life back there.

Not in a romantic way, though, OC reminded herself. With everyone sacrificing themselves for her left and right, she had to make sure she kept everything straight. Yeah. Not romantic at all.

But it would be a relief to see him again. She was starting to miss his sarcasm.

Allure, of all dragons, slipped past OC as she entered. The cruel RainWing shot OC a stink-eye, thinking about how much she looked forward to her coerced date with Hotness. Strangely enough, she was also thinking about Subzero (though in a much less creepy way). Had she, too, been visiting him?

OC felt a prickle of jealousy. He's MY snappy sidekick, Allure!

"Hey," she said, sitting down by Subzero's cot, which was still splashed with dried blood and who-knows-what-else from its previous occupant. No wonder so many students here died.

"Hey." Subzero sat up, a breakfast sandwhich still clasped tight in his talons. His injuries didn't look so bad now that they had been properly bandaged. The psychological damage of losing his precious scrapbook was probably going to last longer than his actual burns.

"How's it going?" asked OC, glancing around at the infirmary. So much had happened since that whole fainting incident that she had pretty much forgotten this place existed.

"Oh this place is awful, no sanitation at all," he complained. "The medicine is so primitive, anyone here could get infected and die." His thoughts betrayed some positivity: At least I can finally eat in peace, without drama and murders interrupting every minute.

"The dragonets of destiny are planning a big party to celebrate us!" OC told him. Really, it was to celebrate her, but OC was way too relatably modest to tell him that. "I made them promise to postpone it until you're well enough to come." She smiled and awkwardly patted his unburnt wing. "It wouldn't be the same without you there to, uh, grumble cynical stuff."

Subzero grumbled something cynical under his breath and took another bite of his sandwich. Then, after thinking some surprisingly nice things, he added, "Thanks."

"What was Allure doing here?" asked OC. She easily could have just popped into his memories and seen for herself, but now that she was a bonafide hero, she didn't want to do creepy stuff like invading other dragons' privacy. Hopefully the plot wouldn't require her to suddenly forget about this resolution.

Subzero set his sandwich down and scowled. "She had some new information about the mystery. I had to bargain with her, but she gave me some new leads."

OC's stomach turned. We just solved the mystery! she thought, a little frightened and annoyed that Subzero was still digging for more. Why couldn't they just stop here and enjoy the victory? Then again, Subzero had just (unromantically) saved her life, so she kind of owed it to him to listen.

"How did you get her to talk?" she asked.

Subzero winced. "I... uh... may have promised to give her one of Hotness's blankets."

"Eww!" cried OC. "Three moons, that's gross!"

"I know!" He tried to throw his wings up exasperatedly, but his bandages got in the way, so he just kind of wiggled around. "I'm the morally gray one, so I'm allowed to do stuff like that," he pointed out. "Besides, Hotness has way too many blankets. He won't stop whining about how cold our dorm is. Makes no sense."

The fact that Subzero had doused half of their shared dormitory in ice probably had something to do with that, but OC relatably decided not to point that out. She was too upset by the idea of Allure stealing something, anything, from Hotness. She's not just mean, she's creepy! "But what is she going to do with -"

"I don't think either of us want to know that," Subzero said. OC had to agree. "Anyway," he went on, "after I agreed, she told me all about what's going on in the Rainforest."

"The Rainforest?!" OC's eyes widened. So much drama had gone down in Jade Mountain Academy, she had honestly forgotten that other places even existed. This whole story could have been a lot more interesting if other locations from Pyrrhia's vast fantasy world had been incorporated.

"Shhhh!" Subzero nodded. "Dragons have been going missing. Again. I know, I know, totally a rip-off of what happened in the first arc." He sighed disappointedly. "But now, Glory and Deathbringer are covering it up. They gave all the witnesses free fruit smoothies and a few extra hours of nap time, which is apparently enough to bribe any RainWing into silence, and of course no NightWings are talking because they're all evil. No offense."

"None taken," said OC.

"Anyway," Subzero continued. "Allure said that Webs was spotted around there, too, before he went missing. And remember how Plottwister disappeared there a few chapters ago?"

"But that doesn't sound like Glory at all!" protested OC. "She's sassy and brave. She should be solving the mystery and kicking dragon's tails."

"I know!" Subzero agreed, mournfully remembering his days in the Queen Glory Fan Club. "I couldn't believe it, but Allure said Glory has been holed up in her palace-hut-thing since the disappearances began, with guards everywhere to keep the rest of the tribe out."

"How could she?" cried OC, dramatically loud, prompting Subzero to shhhhh! her again. Then the gears began to turn in her beautiful head, and an even more horrifying possibility than Glory being out-of-character dawned on her. "Unless she isn't really there..."

Subzero's eyes widened. "And Deathbringer is the one doing the cover-up. Because he disappeared Glory."

"His own love interest?!" OC gasped. She could never imagine doing such a thing to Hotness. He's so dreamy and warm, and those chocolate-fountain eyes...

Subzero started to shhhhh! her, then just gave up on it. "Or maybe he has some other reason to hide it." OC could sense Subzero's mind racing with possibilities, most of them to complicated and/or gruesome for a kids book. "Either way, there's something going on in the Rainforest, something that the higher-ups don't want us to know."

OC's head was already spinning. Subzero leaned in to reveal his suspicions, but of course, with her mindreading powers, she already knew what they were, and was already relatably terrified that they were true.

"I think," whispered Subzero, "those dragonets of destiny are in on it. Look at the mess they've made of this school. Maybe they're not really incompetent. Maybe they're messing stuff up on purpose, to distract us from the real story. They know you're the only one powerful enough to do anything."

"No," OC whispered back, her heart filled with pain and disbelief. "No, they're heroes. They wouldn't... they can't..."

"They're buddies with Glory and Deathbringer, aren't they?" Subzero pressed.

"No! No, Subzero, they can't be guilty. They can't!" She burst out, still whispering, just in a very, very angry tone. "You know what? Why don't I just go and read their minds, and prove that -"

"Wait, what?" Subzero stared at her. "You can read minds?" Three moons, he thought, how did I not figure that out earlier? Does this mean I'm just as gullible as all the other one-dimensional characters? Am I one-dimensional?!

"I, uh, well, I guess I can sorta, uh, sometimes..." OC shrunk back meekly, trying to pull herself out of Subzero's racing, outraged thoughts. "Yeah. I can."

"Of course," Subzero groaned, thinking, very loudly and purposefully, THANKS FOR DESTROYING ALL MY PRIVACY AND TRUST, OCEANCURSE!

OC cringed.

"What the heck!" he exclaimed, thinking some extremely explicit curses. "You're doing it right now, aren't you?"

"Kinda." OC's cringe deepened. "Yeah. Sorry." Her scales shifted to a rainbow of confused colors as she tried to explain. "I was going to tell you earlier, but I was so nervous and scared, and... and I thought maybe... I don't know, I just couldn't tell you."

"Three moons." Subzero rattled off some more creative curses, this time out loud. The dragonet with a broken wing on the other side of the infirmary cast them a curious glance.

Then, regaining his composure and trying, unsuccessfully, to hide all of his memories of that time he had thrown a cactus at Hotness, Subzero said, "Nevermind. It's fine. I'm sure everyone's gonna end up forgiving you and ignoring all those ethical questions, so let's just skip that step and say we're good." He huffed a puff of frost and went on. "We've gotta focus on this rainforest lead. I'm sure I'll get better super quickly, since I'm relevant to the plot now, so next week we can -"

"Or..." OC started, nervously placing her talons over Subzero's. He was stereotypically cold. "Or maybe," she suggested, "maaaaaybe we should just... leave it alone?"

Subzero tugged his talon away and frowned. "What do you mean?"

"This is too crazy. Why don't we... why don't we just stop investigating now, and enjoy the party?" She smiled her beautiful, scintillating smile. "We don't have to solve the whole thing, right? Sunny said there are always little plot holes."

Subzero's frown only deepened. "This isn't a 'little plot hole'," he growled. "This is like a whole landfill in the moonsforsaken plot!"

OC laughed meekly. "I know, I know, we're supposed to be heroes. But can't we just forget about this and... and have a happy ending?"

Hurt, frustration, and betrayal pulsed through Subzero's icy thoughts. Why couldn't he see? Why wouldn't he just give up and be happy? I'm the hero of the story! OC thought indignantly. I'm the one who gets to end this! She reached for Subzero's talons again, aiming for a sweet heart-to-heart moment, but he bared his teeth and shoved her away.

"Fine," Subzero snapped viciously. "Okay. Fine. I'll solve this on my own. I'm not your stupid side character anymore." His voice broke and his mind overflowed with anger. "Go have your happy ending, Oceancurse. But leave me out of it." He narrowed his eyes at her, and it was like an icy wall went up between them. His last words were a frigid hiss, "And stay out of my head."

OC nodded and left, relatably silent.

She felt oddly empty and ashamed, as if she had just smashed something irreplaceable. Nothing, not even thinking about the upcoming dance, could fill that emptiness. Maybe this ending wasn't so happy after all.

After seeing Subzero, OC went back to her room. She had promised Hotness that she would see him on the roof again, for a romantic dinner, but now she felt too sick to her stomach to go. He'll understand, she told herself. He knows I'm relatably angsty sometimes. And there's no way he would ever fall in love with Allure, not after that creepy blanket thing.

She had been looking forward to that perfect scene all day. It would have been the perfect way to end this adventure, to wrap everything up in a romantic, relatable way and celebrate the end of their big adventure.

But she didn't feel like celebrating anymore.

OC lashed her tail and and frowned. Her vision from two chapters ago was coming back now... bits and pieces of horrible scenes... flashes of fire and darkness and terrifying new romantic subplots...

She shook her head, trying to keep her relatably painful prophecy powers at bay. No! No more plot twists. No more foreshadowing. Why can't I just be a hero? Why can't I have my happy ending right now?! Confusion and angst filled her until she wanted to scream. It was all too complicated, too confusing, too real. She tried to push it all away.

The mystery was solved. Justice had been served. Well, sorta served. Kinda. Almost. That meant everything was over, right? Yes, she decided. I stayed strong, brave, and relatable. I did everything right. I even found my true love! This is it! This is the end.

Someone knocked. OC sprang up.

Sunny was there at the entrance of her dorm. The SandWing looked conflicted. "Hey, OC," she said, her voice mysteriously low, her eyes shifting around secretively, "there's something I have to tell you..."

OC froze. Oh no.