Melody of the Hidden Dragon

“A Koi swam up the river hard and fast only to find himself at the base of a waterfall. Some of his friends left giving up at the sight of the massive waterfall. He stayed and tried, over and over. Others gave up with each passing hour but him. Demons laughed and taunted raising the waterfall once he got close. After days of swimming up the never-ending waterfall, he reached the top. Only he had persisted, threw it all and the gods saw his efforts and rewarded him. Turning the golden koi into a golden dragon, a symbol of power and strength”

The professor spoke as he walked around the large classroom, the screen admitting the usual blue hue that came from hologram screens. The color filled the darkroom as each student used a similar screen to take down notes. It was mythics 101, a required course for any college student regardless of the field. It was important but it is something that every human is taught about since youth. Mythics...Once humans that were bestowed power by the former guardians of the sky. Each was based on a creature from mythology. They were born shortly before the battle of the sky took place. The Black Dragon of the West grew power hungry and wanted to rule the skies alone, so he waged war on his brothers. The Black Tortoise of the North, The Azure Bird of the South, And The White Tiger of the West. The Dragon Qinglong killed two of his brothers. The Black Tortoise and The Azure Bird. As Qinglong went west to kill his final brother Bai hu The White Tiger. Bai hu’s forces attacked first, destroying all of Qinglongs forces and Qinglong himself. Stricken with grief, Bai hu swore to kill all dragons that were left in the world. Including any dragon mythics that he himself helped create. It’s believed that dragon mythics have long gone extinct. The story everyone knows, including Elara. Letting out a soft bored huff, Elara looked next to her best friend Jei. Jei as per usual was goofing off making faces and sending small emotes from his headset that glowed in the dim lighting of the classroom before simmering off like old fireworks. Letting out a soft laugh at the short males antics, Elara turned back to the professor that pulled up an illustration of the golden dragon. She took in a small breath at the beauty of the illustration that seemed to perfectly capture the allure of the extinct dragons. “ Throughout the years many humans and mythics alike have tried to claim to be a part of the dragons. Especially since the development of the tattoo allows people to replicate the marks that mythics have. The marks as you all know are a depiction of the mythical creature or the origin of the creature. I want you all to do a paper on mythic marks and how they have become harder and harder to distinguish from tattoos over the years” He continues before snapping his fingers and making the lights come to life. “ I’ll see you all next class” The Professor finished. Jei jumped up stretching, letting out a loud groan.

“Fucking finally!” Jei exclaimed, shutting down his holoscreen and turning towards Elara.

“ So El, have you heard Jinyu’s new song? It is amazing!” The way his voice filled the room Elara could practically see the hearts popping out of his eyes

“ Of course I have silly. It’s one of my favorites so far. Oh and the music video? It’s unfair that such attractive people exist in this world” Elara laughed and stood up from her seat quickly turning off her screen as well.

“I know right?” Jei joked along with her as they strolled out of the classroom into the glass hallway filled with chattering students of North Wind University. It is the first school that was created for both mythics and humans to learn together about two hundred years ago. In the courtyard of the school there was an insignia of the four guardians along with a human in the middle. “ Established on November 1, 1982” was written in embossed silver letters. Back then the groups were split into two different sides of the campus, with the mythics learning how to hone the skills they were born with and the humans the knowledge of the world. Over the years the learning became less specialized for each group. Even as the pair walks around you can’t tell the mythics from regular humans. Unless they were transformed of course.

“ Speaking of, have you figured out where you are going to go for the internship credit?” Jei asked, turning his dark brown eyes to her curvy form.

“Nah not yet, I was thinking of going to the guidance office and seeing what my options are. I mean you could always slide me into your company? Need an assistant for your modeling gig?” she nudged the short male.

“ You know I would love that but they just filled the last internship slot for this rotation. Besides, I am just an amateur model, I don’t have much influence.” He groaned, he had been at the company for over a year with very little movement. She knew it was eating at him. He was very into the rich and famous lifestyle. Whenever he could get his hands on a designer piece he wore it constantly.

“It was worth a shot, I better head over there now. If I don’t, all the decent ones will be gone” she sighed giving the male a quick hug “ Love ya bestie” she smiled before heading towards the guidance office across the campus. Not before hearing Jei yelling he loved her back, not caring that half the courtyard heard him. She gave a quick laugh as she looked around her campus. It always felt like she was thrown back in time. The main campus was the same as the day it opened back in the late 1900s, of course, some of the newer additions had the common architecture for the day. Large glass buildings some resting on large floating platforms. The school’s new cast building had a holoscreen that wrapped around the building. It showed everything from school news to the latest in celebrity gossip. It hovered over the main school building, giving it the perfect placement to be seen anywhere outside on the campus. Elara looked at the large screen as out of nowhere Jinyu’s face flashed on the screen. “Concert at the Fallen Star Stadium on 12/03/84. Tickets on presale now” The screen speakers boomed out caring threw the early fall air.

“Man..what I wouldn’t give to see him in concert,” Elara whispered to herself staring up at Jinyu’s face. He had sharp features that seemed to be carved out of gold, with a flat nose and eyes the color of a yellow jasper. His eyes were slightly slanted with thick dark eyebrows framing them. Oh and his fluffy golden-brown hair. It was enough to make her swoon every time his image flashed across her mind. It was only when the image abruptly changed into the next headliner that her trance was broken. A dark red blush covered her face, making a trail all the way to her ears then down her neck. She gave her cheeks a short slap “ Ok. focus I need to get to the guidance office before they close.” she spoke firmly to herself before continuing her journey across the campus.