So many new spells. So many new things to try. Zelena paced the yard of the farmhouse, deliberating which ones to attempt. She felt like a kid in a candy store. For now she was alone, the kids having gone with Mal and Lily to the store. Eric was inside the house, on "guard duty" to make sure Teressa didn't show her face, but his attention was taken by the tv. Zelena sat down in the grass and looked at a self replicating spell. She uttered the spell, feeling the immediate drain of her magic as it was used to bring the words of power to life. Across from her there was a small cycline of green magic that slowly dispersed to reveal another Zelena.
"Oh my- aaaah!" Her replica suddenly threw herself at Zelena, wrapping her hands around her throat. "What the fuck? Get off of me!" Her replica was suddenly dragged away. Teressa smirked as she snapped its neck, causing it to disperse in a cloud of dust.
"I should have warned you that the replicas will immediately try to kill you. It hasn't been perfected." The blonde apologized.
Zelena rubbed her throat and glared at her before grinning. "That was amazing. I wonder what else it can do." She grabbed the Grimmerie and flipped through the pages. "Oh, there's a way to turn fire into water and vice versa. Ooh, and I can grow another limb."
Teressa chuckled deeply. "You're as excited as a child."
"I don't often get a chance to use my magic anymore." Zelena replied. "Never needed to. I used to study for days. It was the only thing I was ever good at."
"Surely you jest." Teressa frowned.
"No."
Teressa shook her head. "Foolishness. Try another." She encouraged.
"Okay." Zelena turned the page and found a spell for a ball of electricity. She put the book down and stood up, taking a deep breath. The words of magic fell easily from her lips and the great ball grew in her palms, increasing in size before her very eyes.
"Careful." Teressa cautioned her.
"I know how to cast a spell." Zelena snapped. She launched it into the air where it exploded, igniting the sky with lightning. "That was amazing." A bright smile lit up the witch's face. When she noticed Teressa watching her closely, she frowned. "You should leave before my mate gets back." Teressa scoffed and teleported away. Zelena returned to her book and practiced until she heard running footsteps.
"Mama!" Erec yelled as he raced up the driveway and into her arms. "Mommy said we can get tattoos today!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! Can you do them for us?"
"Absolutely." Zelena grinned. She closed the Grimmerie and tucked it under one arm as Erec pulled her back to the front yard where the girls were helping Mal and Lily bring in the groceries. She followed them and Mal magically put everything away before grabbing Zelena and placing a heart stopping kiss on her lips. "Wow, what did I do to deserve that?"
"You were born." Maleficent smiled, pecking her lips again. "Now please give our children a tattoo before we all lose our minds."
Zelena smiled and went to go get her tattoo pen. She lead the little ones into the living room and sat down on the floor. Erec quickly sat in front of her while Adrienne sat down on the couch behind her and Cynara waited across the floor, brushing Oz's mane. She pressed Erec's feet against the ground and pulled out her pen. She delicately drew the intricate diamond patterns on her son's feet while he watched intensely. Tattoos were not something she nor Mal cared about, considering they had ones of their own. The tattoos on the feet seemed to be a running tradition in the family now since Lily, Ruby and Eric now had them. However, more could be added at any time. Zelena now sported three more, two on her shoulder blades and one right in the middle for the three little ones she now had. Mal had three new diamonds going straight down her back, but Zelena noticed that she had left lots of space for more.
"I want tattoos on my hands, Mum." Cynara said. "And my wrists. And my shoulders and back like you and Mommy. Can I get that?"
"Why would you want so many, dear?" Zelena asked. "Done." Erec hopped up and ran to show his feet to Mal and Adrienne took his place, pressing her feet to the ground so Zelena could do her tattoos.
"I am going to be the most badass Dragon Bitch there is." Cynara continued, moving next to Zelena. "I'm gonna learn how to fight and be powerful-"
"Knowledge is the best form of power." Adrienne smirked.
"Not my style." Cynara scoffed.
Zelena smiled, listening to them bicker as she finished Adrienne's tattoos. Afterwards, the small redhead magically braided one side of her hair and turned her head to Zelena could draw another tattoo behind her ear.
"My turn!" Cynara yelled. Zelena had no choice but to give her little one all the tattoos she desired. As she was finishing the last ones on her hands, there was a knock at the door that Adrienne went to answer. Regina stepped in, smiling a little at her niece.
"Can I help you, Regina?" Zelena asked without looking up.
Regina came to take a seat on the couch near her. "I was just wondering if this Teressa woman contacted you again."
"She did. Earlier. Just stopped by to help me with a small problem and when I told her to leave, she did."
"You trust her?"
"Of course not. But I'm not a hero, so she's not my problem." Zelena leaned her head back with a smirk at her sister. She teleported her tattoo pen away and climbed into the chair next to Regina. "So far, she hasn't been a threat. I'll see if I can find her again and talk to her."
"It might be better to stay away from her. You wouldn't want Mal getting upset, would you?"
Zelena narrowed her eyes. "Honestly, I think she was only pretending so I would take the pregnancy spell off because she hasn't been the least bit jealous or upset since. Crafty dragon." Mal had done a lot of scent marking every night, but for the most part she was completely relaxed and didn't seem the least bit worried about Teressa or anything else. Zelena felt like she'd been tricked and knowing Mal, she probably had.
"Then we need to find out her story. Especially if the sky opens and something else falls through." Regina murmured.
Erec came barrelling back into the room and grabbed Zelena's hand. "Fire breathing practice, Mama. Come on!" She smiled as she was lead onto the front porch. Her little boy wouldn't be able to breathe fire for at least another year so he could do nothing but watch the training session. Regina came to her side, jaw dropping at the sight of Mal, Eric, and Lily in their dragon forms. Both father and daughter bore red scales that glittered in the sun, but Lily's was a darker red. A blood red. Even though Mal had black scales, Zelena thought hers were the most beautiful. They caught every ray of sunlight that showered her from above and almost made her shine. The bellies of all three dragons were covered in priceless jewels and gems, protection as well as adornments and symbols of their status. This was the ultimate dragon family. Adrienne and Cynara changed into their dragon forms quickly and ran to over to Mal, sitting between her legs and looking up at their elders, waiting patiently for instruction. Eric's chest rumbled as he spoke to them in an ancient dragon tongue that he had begun teaching the family a year ago.
"What's he saying?" Regina asked.
"Fire comes from within." Zelena translated. "It is destruction and it is creation. It is life, symbols of our kind. Our weapon, our strength. Fire cannot kill a dragon, it cannot harm us. It is a part of us."
"No wonder it hurt Mal so much to lose hers." Regina commented softly.
Zelena nodded. A dragon without their fire was hardly a dragon at all. Losing that fire, what made a fire breathing dragon a fire breathing dragon would be devastating. It had devastated her wife. To the point of almost no return. Oh, but you could hardly tell that now. Not now for the only thing devastating about Maleficent, was her beauty. Unrivaled by any, untouched by time. Zelena smiled as Mal threw back her head, her chest glowing as fire erupted from her mouth. Eric roared deeply. He had a distinct voice, as if his voice was breaking, but it sang with untold power. A jet of fire from his maw joined Mal's in the sky. Lily shook her head before doing the same. Their flames created a firestorm in the heavens and Zelena's smile grew wider seeing the awe and determination on the faces of her children.
Mal looked down as they ceased breathing fire and gave Adrienne an encouraging nudge forward. She moved forward and closed her eyes. She inhaled slowly and Zelena could see her chest start to glow. She and Erec leaned forward, waiting. With a silent roar a wave of fire erupted from Adrienne's jaws, fire that burned so hot that it was blue. Zelena had to quickly send up a protection spell to save the house and her garden from the flames.
"Whoa! Go Adrienne!" Cynara yelled, bouncing around her sister as she shut off the flames. Mal covered her daughter in affectionate licks and nuzzles.
"She's strong." Regina said.
"Of course she is." Zelena replied.
"Your turn now, Cyn. Knock 'em dead." Adrienne skipped back to her place between Mal's paws as Cynara confidently trotted into her former spot. She tried the calm start that Adrienne had used and the deep breath, but when her little dragonling opened her mouth, no fire came out.
"Try again." Lily encouraged. Cynara nodded. Zelena was well aware how frustrated her daughter became when she couldn't master something right away. They would have to work on that in the future. But right now, Cynara just could not seem to tap into her fire. She tried again and again, getting more irritated by the second. Then the witch saw Adrienne's eyes light up.
"Hey, Cyn, remember a couple weeks ago when those kids were being rude?"
"Yeah, they were calling you a lizard." Cynara snarled. "You're not. I wish I could've set them on fire." If a dragon could scowl, her daughter was certainly doing it. Zelena didn't know about any kids being rude, but she smirked, knowing that that was not going to be tolerated by Cynara. Absolutely not. Anyone that disrespected her family, especially her twin, were indeed liable to be attacked.
"Did that make you angry?" Eric asked. "Use that! Get angry now!"
Cynara growled, literally shaking with rage remembering the incident. She took a deep breath, the fire burning behind her chest and making it glow, begging to be unleashed. She tried once more to breathe fire like her sister...The only thing that came out of her mouth was a tiny spark that fell onto the ground and fizzled out. Zelena's heart broke seeing her daughter's wings slump. Mal lowered her head as Cynara tried to hide her tears.
"Don't cry, dear. You'll get it. Maybe not today, but you will."
"But Adrienne got it on her first try."
"Just because you accomplish something a little behind your sister doesn't mean you failed. It just takes t-" That tiny spark suddenly exploded, blasting Zelena, Eric and Regina off their feet, setting fire to the front porch and nearly blinding Mal.
Zelena slowly sat up and quickly looked around for Erec. "Erec, are you okay?" Mal shifted down and was by her side in an instant while Eric put out the flames and Lily removed the charred grass. Erec was completely unharmed of course and Adrienne had picked up her sister and was carrying her around while she spit sparks of fire in their wake that exploded moments later like bombs. Maleficent laughed and grabbed Erec, racing after them.
Zelena threw out a healing spell and got back to her feet, Regina doing the same. "I'd say today was a success." Her sister commented.
"Indeed." Zelena stepped off the porch. Regina followed and they walked to the end of the road.
"We still need to be sure that Teressa's presence isn't a problem."
"I am aware, but she is not my priority." Zelena shrugged. "My kids are, and finding out who was being rude to them."
"Kids will be kids, Zelena." Her sister scoffed.
"Kids will be cruel." Zelena returned. "I'm sure you're not used to it, but that can have a heavy effect on a child."
Regina stopped walking and looked at her. "You act like I grew up in a perfect world. No, I didn't know hunger or struggle or loss like you did, but you have no idea what I did go through. There was competition everywhere amongst the nobles, all of them jockeying for this position or that, trying to get a ounce of respect and prestige that they didn't deserve. That was its own type of hell."
"No," Zelena chuckled. "But I bet you weren't beaten every day by the other kids. Beaten, left out, treated like shit by everyone else. Go home and it's the same thing. My daughters, do you know what they want to do with their lives? They've already decided." Regina motioned for her to continue. "Adrienne wants to become powerful enough to bring magic back to this world and for one reason only: so she can heal it. Healing the world so it will bear more fruit, more grain, more food. She wants to end world hunger because she heard about her mum starving back in Oz. Cynara wants to find other dragons and create a haven for them, so they wouldn't have to grow up and live like Mal did, alone, afraid and not understanding their power. That's what they want. I won't have someone else's child bullying them. Do you know that does to a kid? It makes them mean. It makes them angry. It turns them into something else." She sighed and crossed her arms. "I know I'm not going to be able to protect them from everyone and everything, I get it-"
"No…" Regina shook her head with a sigh. "I get it. I just...there's still a lot I don't know about you."
Zelena shrugged. "It's fine."
"No, it isn't. You promised to give me a chance. That was years ago and you've barely spoke more than 5 words to me at a time since."
The witch shrugged again. "This is my first time at a lot of things. Motherhood, being a wife, having a family. I'm afraid all of that comes first." Before you, she really meant. It wasn't that she hated her sister. She didn't anymore. Regina was just...not really important. Every time they managed to take a step forward, they got pushed back due to conflicting views and experiences and ultimately, Zelena had come to the conclusion that she had lived her entire life without her sister...and she could live the rest of it without her as well. Besides, her interest was probably more in Mal than anything.
"I see." Regina said. She turned around. "Let me know if you see Teressa again." She teleported away and as soon as she did Teressa took her place. She was dressed in a little black dress and nothing else. No jewelry or anything.
"Why am I the only person you like to annoy?" Zelena asked.
"I'm sorry that I annoy you. I enjoy your company." Teressa replied simply, folding her hands behind her back. She glanced over at the other dragons with an arched eyebrow. "I didn't realize there were so many dragons here."
"Teressa." Zelena said, causing the blonde to look at her. "What happened to you? Just tell me. No more games please."
"Fine." Teressa shrugged. "I'll tell you over a date."
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