Tree of Wishes

Beast vs. Dragon: An Eddie Perspective

I can't say I've always been a fan of the common, average folk. When you haven't gone through the same struggles as those worse off than you, it's harder to understand them. If you don't understand them, you might make assumptions, usually bad and/or stupid ones. This can lead to a whole mess of trouble ranging from discrimination to downright disrespect. Since most people are too lazy to bother researching every single type of person out there, not even the ones most relevant to them, nothing's going to change for the better any time soon.

Not that I'm any better either. A minority that hates the majority is still a hateful prick. I just have what I consider to be better reasons for acting the way I do, so I'm going to hate as much as I want. It's not like I'm going to act out on that hate. I'm actually smart and know how negatively that would impact my kind. Instead, I'll take what's given to me and react accordingly. If people are dicks to me, I'll be a dick to them. If they try to be nice, I'll put on a nice guy act too. Do unto others and all that happy time junk.

Meanwhile, the others are way too nice to those who don't deserve it. Junebug and Anubis are quick to help anyone who asks them without a second thought. Cypress knows to keep his distance, yet he'll have his moments where he meddles a bit to make a point. I don't get why they feel the need to be nice all the time. I mean if you're getting something out of it then sure, but sometimes you'll run into some ungrateful pricks who are better off fending for themselves. Still, it's their cheerful and optimistic attitudes that make living here so interesting. Outside of their depressing backstories, of course. Those are fun to listen to.

With all this in mind, it wasn't surprising when Junebug wanted to help out some random little girl while we were out one day. We've gotten along enough to go shopping together without ripping each other's heads off, and on the way back we spotted a blond girl sobbing her eyes out while standing around all by herself. It was on a busier part of the city streets that made it easy to get lost in the sea of people, so one slip away from her parent's grasp was all that was needed to put her in this situation. We could have simply ignored her or turned her over to a cop, but nope. Junebug wasn't having any of that.

"Are you okay?" Junebug said with a calm, gentle voice as she kneeled down to her level. "Are you lost?"

The kid nodded, rubbing the tears off her chubby cheeks as she said, "I can't find daddy..."

Junebug frowned. "Oh no. We'll help you find him. What's your name?"

"C-Charlotte..."

"And your dad's name?"

"Um..."

The kid had to be around three years old. I knew from experience kids her age rarely knew how to properly answer these kinds of questions. Getting a parent's name was like winning the lottery, and that was often because the parent had the brains to teach them. Too bad for Junebug though. If she was lucky, her powers were probably going to pull up a picture book again.

Before we had a chance to find out, a voice in the distance shouted, "Charlotte! There you are!"

I was about sigh in relief over the fact that this was resolved, but once I saw the source of the voice, my heart nearly came to a screeching halt. I recognized those gorgeous, blue eyes and wispy, blond hair anywhere, and the glistening, golden scales trailing up to those smooth, porcelain cheeks confirmed I wasn't mistaking him for someone else.

It was Axel Viper. God, just thinking that name sent shivers down my spine.

As soon as he saw me, he stopped and smiled with teeth sharp enough to rip out someone's neck. "Eddie? Oh, wow. Didn't think I'd run into you again, much less find you with my daughter."