Arrow lied unconscious in a grassy area. Then a butterfly lands on her nose making her squint and her eyes slowly open
"Ms...Ms… are you okay" a voice said. Arrow slowly tried to get up but her left arm started to hurt, preventing her from getting up. She spots a male cyclops and a female satyr boosting her up
"Augh..." Arrow moaned
"Get something to wrap her arm...Hurry" the cyclops said
The satyr went into her red car and brought a bandage her and wrapped her arm tightly to apply pressure on the arm causing her to hiss and moan in pain
"Where am I and what happened?" Arrow tiredly asked
"Well a dragon landed here in this park last night and then the next morning you woke up here miss…" The young cyclops said
"Well, that's good to know" Arrow then looked down and sighed through her nose. "Do you guys have a towel at this very moment?" The cyclops and satyr shook their heads. It was really embarrassing for her to realize that she's naked in public
Arrow rolled her eyes. Then she spotted a store that wasn't too far from the park. She slowly gets up and begins to walk towards it. She received a lot of stares and she paid no attention to them. She went inside the store which had very little customers. They of course shut their eyes upon seeing her
"Geez kid, put some clothes on," the man in the register said
Arrow then spotted a loose blue shirt and shorts on the rack and placed them on her. She then took another pair of shorts and a tank top and grabbed a dark orange sweater and a pair of jeans that fit around her waist.
"Hey You can't take those" the man in the register yelled
"Well sorry I need these" Arrow said sarcastically
"I'm calling the cops"
"Call them then, I'll be sitting right here" Arrow bundled up the clothes in her arms and sat in the store
A few minutes later, the cops arrived. Colt was with them. It turns out that they were looking for her. Laurel, Ian, and Barley panicked and told Colt that she was missing and he told them that he saw a dragon and it might've been her.
Colt convinced the other cops to let her go, but he was a little disappointed to find out that she was about to steal the clothes from the store.
"Well it's better than going out nude" Colt saw her point, he however paid for the clothes and took her home.
"So...was that dragon...you' Colt asked. Arrow was facing the window but she nodded her head. He noticed her left arm was bleeding a little bit
"One of the officers shot me in the arm yesterday...When I was a dragon"
Arrow pulled up her sleeve to reveal her the wound that was still wrapped around her arm
"Was-Was that why you couldn't go out at night?" Arrow bit her lip and nodded. She was still afraid because she said the reactions of some of the people. She was afraid that someone might try to kill her in her dragon form
The two men from yesterday rushed to the large building and quickly took the elevator up to the highest floor. They ran and knocked on the door.
Speak your names said the intercom
"It's Harry and Locke, we got something to tell you now" the satyr spoke.
Then the door opened and they slowly walked in the door where the boss turned in his chair toward the men. He this time was with his wife, who was slightly shorter than him and she wore a velvet green dress and her golden hair was held in a bun
"Have you found the kid yet?" the boss asked
"Yes sir but there was a problem when we found her" Locke the elf
"Her" The wife jumped in getting concerned
"She said to stay and away from her and she-she-she" Harry the satyr stuttered
"Go on, spit it out!" the boss yelled
"She turned into a dragon sir"
The boss and wife had different looks. The boss had a look of skepticism and the wife had a look of fear.
"Now are you sure that's what you saw?" the boss asked
"That's what we saw, she told us to stay away from her and she was looking at the moons"
The wife gasped.
"What's wrong Elaina?" the boss asked his wife
"I think I know what this is" Elaina then grabbed a notebook off the shelf near the door and ran back to the men
"What is it?" Locke asked
She flipped a few pages and she showed her husband and his eyes began to widen
"Do you think you two can find her again?" the boss asked
"I don't know boss...She might've been long gone by now"
"Maybe we can lure her to us...Where does she live?"
"I told you...she's with the cops...that centaur cop," Locke told
"Here's what we're going to do...Follow his car home or any car with that girl in it and when you see their house drive back here and report to me...we gotta take something she loves…"
"Wait...where did you say you found her," Elaina asked
"New Mushroomton Middle School" Harry spoke
"You're talking about hurting a child Maverick"
"I don't care if she's a talon...She took something from me and I gotta take something from her…"
"That stupid ruby...This is a child...She might not have meant to steal it"
Maverick stopped to think about it and said "You have to do what you must to teach them a lesson"
This shocked his wife and she looked at her notebook and back at the door
When they returned home Arrow was met with a bunch of hugs from Laurel, Ian, and Barley and also being jumped on by a worried Shadow and Blazey
"Where have you been...Did you lie about being sick yesterday" Laurel yelled at the teen
"I didn't lie about being sick…I just went to give Mr. and Ms. something, I guess that was a big mistake" Laurel saw that there were tears in Arrow's eyes and she ran past all of them with Shadow running after her.
Colt told the family everything about yesterday and showed them the pictures that Arrow had drawn of Ms. and Ms. and her. The family felt terrible for her and Colt told them that she might've overheard them talking about her real parents. They all had looks of remorse, looking at the direction she had run.
After a few minutes, Ian and Barley went to check on Arrow and found her missing. They quickly looked around for her and found that she was just in the backyard staring at their pool.
Arrow let her reflection stare back at her in the water. She's never seen any before and she's never seen a pool before. She stared at the girl who was staring back at her. Most of the thoughts she had from yesterday were swimming with her reflection in the pool and She tried to wash away what Mr. had said out of her head but she couldn't
Then suddenly, she felt herself getting pushed into the pool. She tried her best to swim up to the surface but was held into a spell and she was pulled out by Ian.
"Barley...She can't swim" Ian yelled at him with Barley shrugging his shoulders
Arrow then had a sly smile. "Hey I think you guys left something in there"
"What" Arrow pointed to something in the pool. Ian and Barley made the mistake to lean into the pool and the teen girl pushed the boys in the pool. They got a little pissed off at her and she pointed, laughing at them, with Barley having to pull her back into the water making her scream.
Laurel and Colt ran over to the pool hearing Arrow scream. They were relieved to find her having a bit of fun in the pool with Ian and Barley. Blazey and Shadow ran out too, barking at the three teens, trying to join in on the fun.
Then Colt got a phone call and left the group temporarily, leaving a concerned Laurel to look back and
"Oh you're so dead" Arrow laughed as Ian and Barley tossed her back into the pool
She ran out of the pool to chase them. Barley snuck from behind her and tried to wrestle her and she wiggled out of his tight grasp and threw him back in the pool.
"Nice one young warrior" Barley said after surfacing from the water. Arrow then spotted his beanie on the grass, which she picked up and placed it on her head. Barley and Ian couldn't help but laugh at her when she tried to style the beanie, but it was a little too big for her and it kept slipping off of her head.
"I think this looks good on me...Hey, where did you get this?" Arrow asked
"I forget where I got my battle beanie" Barley answered.
"I'm sorry your what?" Arrow laughed
"My battle beanie, young maiden.." Barley in his medieval voice explained "Something I wear in battle" This caused Arrow to guffaw.
"Nice definition for a nice hat like this" Arrow commented.
Barley got out of the pool and she gave him back his hat and Barley shook himself off like a dragon.
Shadow then ran to Arrow's side and yipped happily seeing his owner have fun. Arrow then rubbed his belly
"Arrow…" Colt called. The three kids turned their attention to the centaur. They also saw that he was in a serious mood. "I just got a call from the prison and I have something to tell you about Mr. and Ms."
Arrow's eyebrows began to furrow "What is it?" she asked
"They want to talk to you first thing tomorrow"
Arrow felt her stomach sink and rise back up again. It's been 5 years since she has seen them and the last time she's seen them is when they were getting arrested for their theft crime. They had promised that they would come back for her but they never did come back for her. She recently just heard that Mr. was responsible for killing her real mother, but she wondered why he hadn't killed her, ending her life just like that. She was completely somber and said nothing. Shadow whined rubbing against her leg
"Maybe it's a good thing to see them, They knew you overheard them...I think they just want to tell you what happened themselves" Colt added
Arrow could only imagine what had happened that day when her real mother died. She looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was about to set and she began to run inside with the rest of the family following after her. She quickly covered the windows and sat at the dining room table, she did not feel like having round two of yesterday
"So...Is it true...You turn into a dragon at night?" Laurel gently asked her
Arrow bit her lip and nodded her head. "That's why I can't be out at night…"
"Why have you kept this a secret?" Ian asked her
"You know why...as soon as people find that out, they're going to try and kill me...I can't take that chance." Arrow whispered but it was loud enough for all of them to hear
"We're not going to let that happen to you…" Barley said. "In fact, I know a good friend who could help with that problem"
"Who?" Arrow asked
"Ever heard of the Manticore?"
Arrow shook her head. Barley brought in his card set and showed her the card with the Manticore on it. The young teen looked a little nervous seeing how ferocious the beast looked on the card.
"She's friendlier than what the card looks like of her" Ian reminded her
"But getting back into the topic at hand, they're just worried about you Arrow" Laurel commented
"They have a funny way of showing it...especially Mr." Arrow spoke quietly.
"Listen...All they want to do is tell you what happened that day...maybe it can give you a little bit of closure…"
Arrow was still unsure. It may take her a while to be sure. She looked at the others who nodded their heads. With an unsure expression, she nodded her head
"It's just that...I'm not sure if I want to face them tomorrow" Arrow said
"Hey...It's your choice if you want to see them or not Arrow...Don't be afraid to follow your gut" Barley replied
Arrow nodded her head, telling them that she understood.
Later that night, she tossed and turned on the couch. All she could think about was if she wanted to see Mr. and Ms. It's been a long time since they've seen her. She was just scared that something might happen that'll cause Mr. to be angry at her. But she decided that she was no longer afraid of him. Then her decision was made.
The next morning, the others were getting ready to leave. Arrow stepped out in black denim shorts and a mauve tank top and Ian looked up from eating his cereal to see that she took one of his shirts and it was the red plaid one. Her hair was parted in the middle showing the blue and the blonde in her hair. She also wore the silver boots as her red sneakers were ripped to pieces from the previous day.
"Why is it that you always take my clothes?" Ian asked rolled his eyes
"I don't know it's just...I like this shirt… and I just wanna look...uh" Arrow stuttered
"Pretty…" Laurel commented
"No..but...Do you really think I'm pretty?"
"Of course you do, sweetie….Mr. or Ms. never called you pretty, Did they?"
Arrow sadly shook her head. "They never did,"
Laurel had her fist clenched behind her back. She found it very offensive that parents don't call their child beautiful or pretty.
"You look beautiful Arrow, regardless if Mr. or Ms. tell you otherwise," Laurel told her. Then the warmest smile came on Arrow's face and she blushed.
"I think I'm ready to see them….But can someone go with me in case anything goes wrong?" Arrow asked
"Ian and I can go with you" Barley replied
Shadow yipped and rubbed against Arrow's left leg along with Blazey rubbing against her right
"Okay okay Shadow, You can come with me too...and you too Blazey"
The two dragons yipped and barked with glee and rubbed against each other
"Okay, love birds, I know you two have been getting acquainted since we got here"
And with that, the 3 elves hop into Guinevere the 2nd and took off with Colt following after them.
When they arrived outside the prison, Arrow started to get nervous. Barley sensed it and looked through the rear-view mirror. Shadow and Blazey ran to her to comfort her as they sensed her anxiety.
"Second thoughts?" Barley asked
"I don't know if I want to do this...What if they don't want to see me...I-I just don't know-" Arrow stuttered
"Shh...They want to see you, why do you think Colt got that call and told you that they wanted to see you...I'm sure that they're worried sick about you" Ian comforted her, taking his hands in hers
"Ian's right, You'll never know what's going to happen if you don't take that chance"
Arrow then looked down at the dragons and they whined. She smiled and gently petted them
"Feel better.."
"A little…"
When they got inside, Colt told them that they were going to be talking by the tables inside. While he was about to get them out of their cell and into the table, Arrow felt her stomach sinking and her heart racing
"Arrow, it's going to be okay, breath in through your nose, out through the mouth" Barley comforted her. She did exactly what he said and she felt a little bit better.
"It's time," Colt told her. Arrow then swallowed and walked towards the table slowly but surely. She saw Ms. getting up, but she wasn't allowed to touch Arrow. She was in shock to see how much Arrow had grown since the last time she saw the girl
"Avery…my gods how much you've grown up" Ms. commented
Mr. then took notice too but he wasn't in as much shock as Ms. was
"Hi..." Mr. said coldly
"Hi," Arrow said back.
"What's with the hair...It looks weird" Mr. commented. Ms. gave him a warning glare
Arrow then rolled her eyes and sat down with the couple. Ian and Barley watched from afar in case anything went wrong.
Nothing was said for a few minutes, making the atmosphere awkward.
"Oh Avery, we're so sorry we left you all alone these years," Ms. said starting to cry.
"I wasn't completely alone...I had Shadow"
On cue, Shadow ran toward the table they were sitting and jumped into the girl's arms.
"Aw she's adorable"
"That she's a he" Arrow reminded
"Get that varmint out of here" Mr. growled
"Don't you talk to Shadow like that-"
"Guys please, you said that you'd be nice today, let's get down to business" Ms. defused the fight pointing at Mr. who rolled his eyes and looked away
"Listen to me Avery, there's something we should've told you a long time ago…"
"It's about my real mother…."
"Yes…"
Arrow took a deep breath and leaned in "I'm listening"
"You see...when you were a baby...Your mother...Uh...She…"
"She was killed by me" Mr. spatted out
"Why would you do that...She didn't anything to you"
"I thought she had money but instead she had you...and we decided to take care of you"
Arrow then shook her head "No...You knew it wasn't a choice to take care of me… otherwise, you would've killed me while you had the chance"
"You're lucky I didn't kill you, it was Reese's idea to keep you"
"Are you sure you didn't want to dump me off someplace and be rid of me"
"Look kid, She wanted to save you or else you would've died out there alone" Mr. argued
"What do you think happened to me now...I was alone for 5 straight years...and the cops caught me and gave me something better" Arrow fought
"Oh so they make you kiss their ass"
"Matthew!" Ms. said shocked
"They did better than you...all you did was teach me to steal from people who didn't do a damn thing to me and left me alone when you promised me that you'd come back for me"
"I never promised you shit Avery…"
"YOU SWORE IT that day...You said that you swore that you come back...AND YOU NEVER CAME!" Arrow yelled.
Everyone turned towards them, making them the focus in the room.
"Yeah, I taught you how to steal, kid...Not to disrespect us"
"Disrespect you...When was the last time, I've ever celebrated a birthday...or when was the last time I went to school-"
"Both of you stop it please," Ms. said slamming her fist on the table "Did the thing happen?"
"Yes Ms. It happened" Arrow growled
"Did anyone see you"
"No one saw me" Arrow raised her voice. Shadow shrunk in her lap knowing that this was going to be bad
"Don't you dare talk to Ms. like that" Mr. scolded holding Ms. back.
"Are you kidding me...You the one that's always yelling at me...You always told me to never ask any questions, never to trust anyone, what kind of parents do that?!"
"Listen to me you little shit, we're not your parents...We just took care of you-"
"Took care of me...You used me you bastards...just to steal, like I'm your machine"
Mr. then lost it. "I knew I should've killed you that day, you piece of shit...You're an accident that should've never been on this realm"
Arrow was beyond shocked that he would say that. In fact, everyone was shocked that he would say that.
"Matthew!" Reese yelled. Arrow then let something out that should've been let out a long time ago
"Fuck you,"
Then Matthew slapped Arrow with the back of his hand, HARD making her fall on the ground. Arrow slowly got up and punched him back harder, making him fall into the arms of a few inmates
"MATTHEW!" Reese screamed rushing toward him. Arrow then realized her mistake too late and she tried to rush in
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Arrow stood back "GET AWAY FROM ME YOU HORRIBLE BRAT!" Ms then tended to Mr.
Arrow then took off into a run out of the door with shadow running after her
"That's right kid...Run cause you're a coward...you always were" Mr. yelled after her.
Ian and Barley looked at them with utter disgust and ran after Arrow
Everything in Guinevere the 2nd was silent. Barley checked on the teen every so often. She was curled in the corner facing away from the boys with Blazey and Shadow curled on her back. Then choked cries were heard from Arrow breaking the silence. She tried her best not to let them out..knowing that they wouldn't want to hear her.
"Arrow...They're wrong for what they've said about you," Ian told her.
"No...They're right" Arrow sniffled before another choked cry came out. Arrow then took off Ian's shirt and held it out. "You can have this back, Ian...I don't want it anymore…"
Barley overheard this and he pulled over to a stop, confusing both Arrow and Ian
"Why did we stop?"
Barley went in the back where she was and clamped her slightly smaller hands into his larger hands
"Listen to me...They are incorrect about you...You are a beautiful, tough, amazing girl...It doesn't matter what happened before...They failed to take care of you...If anything, they are the cowards defending themselves over you…They are the accidents, not you" Barley told her
Arrow had a few more choked cries. Barley then wrapped her in a tight embrace where she let out all of her cries she held back. Ian joined in the hug and rubbed her back as did Shadow and Blazey rubbing themselves on Arrow and Barley.
Soon enough, they were out on the road again. They went home first to drop off Blazey. Arrow requested that Shadow could stay with her, She really needed him.
They went off to see The Manticore which the tavern was a few miles away.
"Okay, Arrow, Ian and I will do the talking, You stay behind us and we should give her the respect- "
"Wait a minute I thought The Manticore could help me with The Thing" Arrow sniffed wiping the tears out of her face.
"And she will...It's been a while since we've seen her," Ian added
"Okay... now I have a lot of questions"
"Save them for when we get there," Barley told her. All she could do was nod her head
When they got there, the tavern stood proudly on a hill. It looked intimidating to the 13-year-old girl and her dragon.
"Hey...Don't be scared...Ian and I will be with you the whole time"
Arrow smiled gently and carried Shadow all the way toward the entrance following Ian and Barley. Her nerves began to grow when they reached the door.
"Wait, Are you guys sure about this?" Arrow asked, unsure
"Yep" Barley replied
They opened the door to reveal a birthday party was happening, making Arrow even more unsure
"Did we mention that the tavern is one for birthday parties?" Ian added.
The trio then find a spot to sit in the booth as the lights grew dark in the tavern
"Guess we're having an audience today" Barley whispered.
Then there were spotlights going around and sure enough, the Manticore arrived in her warrior outfit in flight. Arrow let out a soft gasp but she didn't let anyone hear it.
"Ladies and gentlemen shall a story be heard today for my audience" a wild cheer was heard
"I shall tell the tale of the quest for the Phoenix Gem"
"You're gonna love this Arrow" Barley whispered. And he was right.
When the story was interesting from beginning to end and Arrow was completely entranced, listening to the whole story...even though it wasn't as accurate.
After the story was done, Arrow couldn't help but applaud for The Manticore.
After everything settled down, The trio made their way toward the Manticore
"Well that was a lovely performance," Barley said behind her.
She jumped but as soon as saw the boys, she held both of them in a tight hug
"Ooh, how are my boys doing!" The Manticore beamed squeezing the boys.
"Great," Ian said, smushed in the beast's grasp.
"Listen Corey we have a sit-" Barley started
"How's your mom doing, It's been a while since we've seen-"
"Corey?" Arrow asked
Corey releases the boys upon hearing the voice and turns to the teen who clutched onto her dragon really tight as the beast approached her.
"Hi Nice to meet you...Are you boys babysitting her?" Corey held a paw out to shake her hand. All Arrow could do was give a small wave.
"It's more of a fostering situation…" Ian replied out of breath.
"My name is….Arrow, mam" Arrow squeaked.
"You sound like you got scared to death...Aw I love your dragon" Corey spoke looking at Shadow, who started to squirm towards her
"Oh um- That's Shadow...He's a boy"
Corey saw how tense the girl was and brought her a cup
"Wh-what's this?" Arrow asked while stuttering
"It's tea sweetheart..it's to calm you down"
Arrow then placed Shadow down and with shaky hands she took the cup and she slowly began to drink the tea. It began to soothe her as she downed the rest of the tea and she gave it back to Corey.
"Such a beautiful girl...I love the hair"
"Oh- thank you...I dyed it myself previously then the salon retouched it a bit. I like the blonde on me I guess"
Barley then cleared his throat signaling the girl to stop the conversation
"We brought her here because she has a….problem"
"Is there someplace private where we can talk Miss Manticore?" Arrow asked
Corey looked around and saw that no one was looking at them and she signaled them to follow her and it led them to a bookshelf. It puzzled the three as to why they were in front of a bookshelf. That was when The Manticore pulled one of the books and it opened to a secret room. Arrow then felt reluctant to go in
"It's okay sweetpea" Corey whispered sweetly. Arrow then felt her dragon rubbing against her leg and a hand on her shoulder from Barley giving her the reassurance she needed as they entered inside.
It was dark and it led them down a long staircase which they descended. They then stopped at a door that Corey opened to reveal a bunch of nooks and crannies of ingredients and spell books and a large cauldron.
"So Arrow, what seems to be your trouble?"
"I-well-I...I have this problem where at night I turn into a dragon and I want to know where it comes from" Arrow stammered but she managed to get it out.
The Manticore had a look of fear, confusion, and skepticism. Arrow bit her lower lip hard
"I-I know it sounds hard to believe, but if I don't have this removed now someone might try and kill me" Arrow spoke, shaking to her core and tears began to form in her dark green eyes
"Woah Woah Hold on…" Corey tried her best to calm the teen. "There's no need to worry...I think I know a way…"
"You-You Do?"
"Of Course I do...It's a DNA concoction...Let me just...get em ready"
Corey began to throw in a bunch of ingredients into the cauldron and began to slowly mix the cauldron and then came back to Arrow with a glass shard in her hand
"Now all I need is a little bit of your blood Miss Arrow." Arrow felt her stomach sink
"I don't know if her blood is necessary" Barley tried to step in
"I'm sorry Barley, but in order to see her DNA I need her-"
"Forget it, I'll do it," Arrow said bravely. She took the glass shard from Corey and she slowly walked up to the cauldron
"Brave girl" Corey whispered
Arrow held out her left hand and took the shard in her other hand and placed it on her palm. She took a few deep breaths and slowly slits her hand. She bawled her hand in a fist and shook it to get the blood to drop in the cauldron. When her drop of blood hits the cauldron, the concoction works its magic and it causes Arrow to step back and gave the shard back to the Manticore.
The beast stirred up the cauldron and smoke began to rise.
"From your mother's side, dear girl...there's elfin genes" The three elves roll their eyes
"There's something from your father's side that I'm picking up….It's elfin but...There are dragon-like traits in him
"Wha-what do you mean?" Arrow asked
"What I mean is...Your biological father is a were-dragon"
"What's a were-dragon?" Ian asked
"A were-dragon is a person that can transform into a dragon at night. There are 2 ways to become a dragon, is either by bloodline or by a curse, in Arrow's case, she's a bloodline were-dragon
"So what your saying is I'm stuck like this?" Arrow said about to burst into tears
"You are by blood but there is a way to subside it...That is if you find another were-dragon"
"But that's impossible...Anyone could be a were-dragon around here, and I'm just a sitting troll here, I could be stuck like this forever" Arrow cried
"How can you tell if someone is a were-dragon" Barley asked
"I don't know, Sometimes it can be hard to tell...but it can be by certain behavior-"
Then the cauldron burst and revealed something else. The four along with Shadow watch a vision come to life.
There was a woman dressed in a ripped dark green gown carrying a bundle walking along the dark streets of New Mushroomton. The bundle started to fuss and cry
"Shh Shh Shh, don't cry baby girl, Mama's here," the woman said. She began to slowly sway the baby back and forth, calming the child
The calm moment was interrupted by two robbers
"GIVE ME YOUR MONEY!" on of the robbers said
Even though they were masked at the time Arrow immediately recognized those voices
"It's Mr. and Ms." Arrow whispered
"PLEASE I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING…" the woman yelled
"Don't give me those lies lady, you have something" said the other robber
"I have a baby please" then the bundle started to cry, sensing the tension and fear
The other robber gasps. The first one pulled out a gun pointing it at the woman
"Please don't shoot I have a baby to take care of, please" the woman pleaded
"You have five seconds to give us some money or kiss lead"
The bundle then cried even louder
The man started to count down and the woman tried her best to plead for her and her baby's life but then 3 shots later and the woman fell to the ground. The first robber began to greedily search her to see if there's anything on her while the female robber took off her mask and looked at the bundle and saw that there was in fact a baby
"Matthew look…"
Matthew then walked over to his wife and the bundle and had a look of horror realizing that he killed the baby's mother and sputtered curse words
"Give it to me Reese" Matthew took the bundle and laid it on the ground and grabbed his gun and pointed it at the baby
"What are you doing?!" Reese yelled
"Taking this baby out of our hands"
Matthew was about to pull the trigger, but maternal instinct kicked in and Reese grabbed his arm and made the man shoot at the sky.
"What's wrong with you woman?!" Matthew said pushing Reese
"You can't kill a baby...Are you mad?!"
Then police sirens were heard and they looked at the baby who was still bawling.
"UGH, we gotta go"
"What about the baby"
"Not my problem"
Reese looked at the baby and the police sirens coming their way and she took the baby and ran. The baby in the bundle reached for its deceased mother
Arrow had nothing but tears slip from her face. Then Arrow's life with the two thieves played in the cauldron like a movie. Arrow wanted it to end...her miserable life...something that she had deep regret for
Finally, the spiel stopped and The Manticore felt terrible for the girl
"Geez, I didn't know you've had it this bad Arrow...But I can tell that you were happier with the Lightfoots.
Arrow sniffled and nodded her head that she was happier with them.
The trio then left for home. When they got there they told Laurel everything that happened to make the guilt for Arrow spread. All arrow had was bad dreams that night about everything that happened
The next day, she went to school and every kid began to stare at her. It continued when she went into her first class. She went into her seat and sank down.
"There you are Arrow…" a familiar cyclops said "We were all worried about you
Arrow said nothing.
"What happened to your arm?" Ali asked her
"I'll tell you what happened...Those mobsters shot her because of the ruby"
"That's not what happened...If I explain this to you, will you have a better understanding of what I had to go through" Arrow spoke quietly
"Humph, hearing words of a thief"
Arrow then told the other 3 kids everything, leaving no detail out, Causing a few students to turn over and listen to her story. Pomona and Ali had nothing but tears and Buzz had a very deep respect for her by the time she finished her story
"There's someone that I want you to meet...If you come with me to where I'm staying." the three kids agreed to go with her
When they arrived at the Lightfoot household with Barley and Ian who picked up the 4 teens, It was in a complete state of disarray, but nothing was stolen but Arrow realized that someone was missing
"Shadow...Shadow"
"So what does Shadow look like?" Ali asked
"He's yellow with purple on his face, back, and on his butt."
Then they all heard scratching at the lower bedroom door and Barley opened it to reveal Blazey running around
Arrow continued to shout for Shadow to come.
"Hey, Arrow...There's a letter" Pomona called
"What does it say
"Dear Arrow, we got your dragon because you have something of ours, and we also have something to discuss, meet at this address tomorrow afternoon SHARP, Signed Double M" Pomona read
"There's also an address on here too," Buzz added.
Arrow then cried for a solid hour, with Ian and Barley and Pomona comforting her.
Later on, Laurel and Colt came into the house and saw the messy house and Arrow in distress
"Hey, Where's Shadow…"
"Those mobsters took him," Ali told them
Arrow then looked at the bag that contained the ruby.
"Shadow's not coming back is he...Not on his own"
The other looked sadly at her and shook their heads
Then Arrow had a look of determination. She ran to the bag and took out the ruby that has shown against the afternoon sun in her baby blue palms
"Only one thing to do" Arrow said