She’d been telling Bloom the story of the Great Dragon. Of how he created the Magic Dimension before selecting Domino as his final resting place. Of how she and her fellow nymphs had watched over him as he slumbered, a tradition starting so far back that their ancestor had done it as well. How a piece of his flame now burned within Bloom, a gift passed down in their family. She’d conjured a small dragon of her own to fly above her infant sister’s head. Showed her the beauty of the Domino Daphne remembered. Though reluctant at first, Boq had sat with the sisters, entranced by the teenager’s display. He’d called the governor in to join them- called her Nessa, for the first time in Daphne’s memory.
“I’m so glad to hear that darlingest cousin,” The blonde chirped, her eyes flickering to the woman serving their breakfast. ‘Tserafena’ smiled at her, thanking her ever so much for the little treat she’d given to her sister the other day. Turning back to her guardian, the girl’s smile softened. “Ever since Mother.. well, I’ve been so despondiary,not really myself at all. Everyone’s been so good and kind to Melie and I. With the holiday coming up, and there being no classes and all, perhaps… we could do it again sometime?”
cool head had , at least , become easier over the past few weeks . nessarose found that it was much harder to go about arguing with daphne than to simply try and talk things out , even if the girl was far from being agreeable . in some ways , the dramatics reminded her of how she could be herself – though , never did nessa have a doubt toward her guardian ; she knew better than that . ❛ it is only a school , ❜ she explains , her voice filled with contempt toward the other . tutors would draw too much attention , as they had with her own father . daphne was past the age of needing an in - home education and , should this arrangement be permanent , needed to attend an institute of higher learning . ❛ and it isn’t far from here . why , we could even arrange for you to come home on the weekends . the train ride is an hour or two , nothing more . ❜ it had been an option for her a few years back , and really was the one that her father was pushing his daughter to choose . though , eventually , the alma mater of her mother won . ❛ you must understand , your life cannot stop because you’re afraid for your sister , ❜ nessa says , the words rather ironic , given her own past . ❛ we can handle things here . you have too much doubt in me , and i find that disrespectful . ❜
To see Bloom every weekend, it’s better than to not see her sister at all. Daphne barely notices as her clothing shifts, changes back into the intricate gold gown of a Nymph of Magix, finally allowing a few stray tears to fall from her eyes. The wind in the office died, the mist evaporating as if it never happened. In their place, a single photograph- Two parents, two daughters. “My normal life, ended the second the Ancestral Witches set foot on Domino, before then even… When my parents founded the Company of Light.” Another photo, one of said company before they went into battle. Mother, Father, motherly Faragonda, wise Saladin, stern Griffin with her green skin and her no nonsense attitude. They and Hagen had made up her band of honorary aunts and uncles. The hovering teenager falls to her knees, arms wrapped around herself. With her hair up and her shoulders uncovered, scars are visible for the first time since she’d entered Oz. Old burn marks and what looks to be a handprint, still red and raw after all these months.
“I do not yet know what’s become of them, nor of the witches. My home is a frozen wasteland and our people are dead or scattered or both. I am the last Nymph of Domino, there used to be nine of us… I mean no disrespect, you were kind enough to open your home to us and I am grateful of that. However, I promised my mother I’d watch over Bloom. My sister is the only family I know that still lives… she’s so young, vulnerable, and still a target due to the great power within her. Would the sister you sometimes speak of have entrusted your very life to someone she’d just met?”
The girl’s nostrils flared, her eyes blazing, almost literally in her anger. For months now, she’s kept her head down and her mouth shut. Not once had Daphne complained, did whatever this aggravating woman had asked of her. She took care of her sister on her own for the most part, appeared in public when her ‘cousin’ had needed her, devoted herself to hours of study so their secret would remain in tact. All she asked, the one thing she needed more than anything, was to stay, to not be sent away to school when Bloom was still so small, so dependant on her big sister… she wasn’t even a year old. The dragon within her roared, the temperature of the room rose. Daphne was more than angry, but still completely and utterly in control.
“Nor will I ever.” She did not shout, but her voice carried all the same. Her feet lifted from the ground, a wild wind whipping her hair about her back. Papers scattered. Daphne summoned a mist, a window to the night of Domino’s destruction. If this stubborn, selfish, entitled woman couldn’t see past her own stresses, her own pains and understand the pains of others, the nymph would just have to show her. the sounds of screams and destruction filled the study, though anyone passing outside would only hear the quiet whispers of two cousins arguing. “Look there. I did not survive the complete and total destruction of my home. I did not travel all the way here just to leave my infant sister behind. Do you have any idea what’s it’s like to not be able to go home again? To not know what’s become of your parents, your friends? Bloom has six months old when we had to flee, but I remember everything and everyone. Should something happen, should someone- be it your Wizard or any of the witches who came before- find her… try to take the Dragon Flame for themselves, you and Boq cannot protect her. If her powers should come early you’d have no clue how to control the Flame. My sisterneeds me, and I will not leave her!”
