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Kim Hajun stared at the procession of dragons and phoenixes with a blank expression on his face. Behind him, the human lords and their subordinates were also staring at the scene with slack jaws and wide eyes. All the phoenixes and dragons were lined up in two neat rows, the dragons on one side facing the phoenixes on the other.
“Alright!” Stella said from her spot at the head of the two lines, hovering in the air. Her chest was puffed out, and her hands were on her hips. There was also a fat grin on her face. “You.” Stella pointed at the dragon at the head of the line. “You do know what to do, right? Were you listening?”
“Yes,” the dragon said, mumbling its words.
“And you know what’ll happen if you mess up?” Stella asked, her grin spreading even wider.
“Yes,” the dragon said, still mumbling.
“Tell me,” Stella said.
The dragon blinked. “What?”
“Tell me what will happen if you mess things up,” the fairy queen said, staring the dragon in its eyes despite being smaller than its eyeballs.
The dragon took in a deep breath. “If I don’t sincerely apologize to each phoenix by name,” the dragon said and sighed. “There will be a collective punishment delivered by Vur.”
“Right,” Stella said and cupped her hand around her ear. “And what does that mean?”
“If I mess up my apology, you’ll make everyone hate me,” the dragon said.
“Exactly,” Stella said. “And what else?”
“After the punishment, I’ll have to start over from the top and apologize to every phoenix again until I get it right.” The dragon’s brow furrowed as he mumbled the words he had heard during the fairy queen’s introduction as to what was going on. Now that he was saying them himself, he realized he didn’t like what he was hearing.
“Of course,” Stella said and nodded. “Not even dragons are perfect; you’re bound to make a couple of mistakes here and there.” The fairy queen turned her head towards the first phoenix in line, ignoring the dragon’s displeased countenance. “You.” Stella pointed at the bird. “Do you know what you’re doing?”
The phoenix glanced at the dragon before turning its head back towards the fairy queen. “I know,” the phoenix said. “I’m going to apologize to every dragon, and if I don’t”—she made eye contact with Vur, who was sitting on his haunches not too far away—“collective punishment by Vur.”
Stella nodded her head, her grin growing even wider. Although managing such a huge event was a tiresome task, the fairy queen didn’t mind. Whenever one had the chance to bully dragons and phoenixes, they had to take it; opportunities only knocked once after all.
Kim Hajun’s brow furrowed as the dragon and phoenix apologized to each other before moving down the line, apologizing to each individual phoenix and dragon from the bottom of their hearts. Supposedly. Kim Hajun wasn’t sure if the dragons were being sincere or not, but did it really matter? What mattered was where the heck was the swarm of Oebu Sin? He poked his head out of the shelter and looked around. The lords behind him crowded at the exit and stood on their tiptoes to get a better view as well.
“I refuse your apology!”
The humans turned in the direction of the upset commenter. A phoenix was glaring at the dragon standing in front of it.
“You scattered my brother’s ashes, preventing him from coming back to life,” the phoenix said. “I’ll never forgive you.”
The dragon wrinkled its snout. “Do you think I want your forgiveness?” he asked. “I’m apologizing to get this over with quickly and without suffering.”
“Wrong!” Vur said, slamming his tail against the ground, causing it to shake. White light streamed out of his mouth and washed over the two neat rows of beasts, blowing them backwards and out of position. A few of them shouted and yelped as they tumbled along the ground, but none of them fought back.
“Line up!” Stella said, flying back into position after having avoided the amplified purifying beam. “Do it again!”
“This isn’t fair,” Fern said as he got back into place on the line of dragons. “You can’t treat us like children.”
“If you didn’t want to be treated like a child, then you shouldn’t have acted like one,” Stella said. “What good does fighting do for dragons and phoenixes, huh? There are so much more you guys could accomplish if you work together instead.”
“No one cares about that,” Fern said, making a face. “What we want is vengeance!”
Stella let out a sigh and flew back into Vur’s chest. Vur also let out a sigh as he climbed up, his already large body expanding once more.
“Are we not even allowed to voice our opinions?” Fern asked, taking a step back as Vur advanced towards the yellow dragon. “I’m not trying to start an armed rebellion; I just want to open a dialogue.”
Vur blinked before shaking his head. “No,” he said and grabbed Fern’s tail. Vur lifted the yellow dragon up with one paw. “No opinions allowed.”
“Do you have to be so unreasonable?” Fern asked.
Vur nodded. “Great-gramps has a really cool title, Tyrannical Dragon Monarch.”
A bad feeling welled up inside of Fern’s chest. “And…?”
“I want tyrant in my title too,” Vur said, nodding his head again. “That’s why”—Vur squinted before whirling Fern around and slamming him into the ground—“you have to listen.”
“Unreasonable Tyrant King,” Fern said as shattered rocks slid off of his body.
“No,” Vur said. “It doesn’t sound good.” He released Fern and walked back to his spot before tapping on his chest.
Stella flew out and stopped in front of the dragons and phoenixes with a smug grin on her face. “You heard Vur loud and clear,” she said. “We’re not asking you to do things; we’re making you do them. Now, hurry up and apologize to each other already!”
Vur nodded. “Once you’re done,” he said, “we’re going to collect ingredients to have a delicious feast. Working together and eating together will help you bond.”