Chapter Text
When Opal hatched again- resurrected to live alongside her beloved Sea God- she had been the most thrilled little dragon known to human kind.
Every time she wakes up from her soul’s slumbering she is elated. The Sea God still lives and she has been given the privilege of another lifetime with him.
There were many lifetimes spent together- many resurrection cycles and memories that she can barely remember like fuzzy dreams- but she knows she loves Rafayel with her whole soul. She is his and he should- hypothetically- be hers.
Unfortunately, that changed when a girl named Coraline introduced themselves into their lives.
Rafayel was smitten and Opal was heartbroken, but she still dutifully protected him and Coraline. The two would play and while Coraline would try to include Opal, Rafayel would often cast Opal aside to give Coraline all of his attention. Opal knows Coraline is a good person- she can see and feel her soul and in every lifetime, she has liked and accepted Coraline as much as she can. However, she’s still disgustingly jealous of her and that will never change.
But then Coraline disappeared and Rafayel has been moody since.
So Opal has spent the last few weeks collecting every treasure, pearl, shell, and any other item that may appease him and creating a proper stash for her hoard so they can both enjoy it.
Today is the day of the big reveal and Opal is so very excited. She is certain this will make Rafayel feel better.
Rafayel had been reluctant and fussy, but he eventually agreed to go with her (after much tugging and huffs of frustration).
Opal pushes through the seaweed she fashioned into a curtain and excitedly pulls her friend through the entrance. She squeals with excitement upon seeing her hoard and her heart immediately feels far far better. She had found an especially lovely pearl on the seafloor as a gift for him- it was the shiniest one she’s ever found.
Opal turns and holds out her hand- the pearl sitting in her palm and she smiles widely at him. Her little fangs prick her lower lip and her eyes shine with so much joy.
But Rafayel just looks annoyed.
“You really dragged me out of the house for a stupid pearl?”
She blinks a few times in surprise- fighting the tears that threaten to overcome her. Opal holds the pearl out more earnestly for him and he just scoffs before swatting the object from her palms- it rolls along the cave floor and cracks.
Dragons are very protective of their hoards. It takes time to create one and everything is picked with a certain precision and admiration- for her anyway- and seeing that pearl crack kind of broke her.
“I… I help…” she whimpers walking and picking up the pearl again, trying one last time, “pretty pearl- like love. Rafayel happy?”
He just seems even more irritated, “no, I am obviously not happy. I don’t want some dumb pearl! I want Coraline!”
It’s an earth shattering statement for her to hear.
She failed him- how could she do this to him!? All she wanted was to help and all she did was make him hurt more- she hangs her head in shame.
However, it’s not until she hears the heart breaking sound of her other treasures being obliterated that she finally looks up.
Shells are everywhere, every pearl she collected is either broken into minuscule pieces or cracked. The seaweed curtains are in flames and the water around them is too hot and suffocating. Tears fall down her face and there is a massive lump in her throat.
My treasures!
All of her items were either on fire or being lit on fire- some of the items he flung at her and he certainly has a good arm on him. Opal yelps when one hits her on the forehead painfully- she rubs the top of her head and she feels her anger, fear, and resentment growing.
But she isn’t capable of attacking Rafayel- even the thought makes her feel violently ill. She is his protector- not his enemy- but right now, she can’t tell the difference.
When Rafayel finally looks at her- his once angry and explosive demeanor changes into one of extreme regret.
“O-Opie I’m so sorry,” he goes to reach for her and she clambers backwards, Rafayel’s little heartbreaking as his best friend cowers away, “Opie please- I- I messed up. I- I--“
But she was gone before he could say anything else- he had taken another step forward and Opal was far too afraid of herself right now to be approached. She could kill Rafayel if she so wanted and right now? Well right now she wants to.
He isn’t strong enough yet to take her on and slay her or at the very least defend himself from her. She could hear him calling out to her as she expertly swam away in her full dragon form, the ocean scenery passing in a blur.
It’s never a good idea to swim while in distress- especially not with the likes of EVER running about and their recent hyperfixation with Lemurians and Lemurian culture.
Aunt Talia had told both children to not stray too far out into the ocean and if they did, to remain next to their friends, the local Orca pod, to avoid being kidnapped. Opal had been cautious in picking her spot for her little underwater hoard, but she didn’t think about the fact that her consistent patterns of swimming across the area and collecting items put her on Ever’s radar. They put a massive bounty out for her capture and it’s been a race to find her.
And she hadn’t been back in five days and a group of nearby Sailors were now desperate.
There were traps haphazardly thrown into the water- nets with powerful currents of electricity that had never been tested before. They weren’t told to bring the dragon back alive- just to bring it back.
Within seconds- Opal finds herself wrapped up in a net, the wiring lights up with electrical volts and she cries out in pain. She can hear Rafayel calling for her frantically- she looks and he is trying to reach her and light the net on fire, only he’s too slow and her body is no longer able to muster any strength as she’s dragged lazily up the side of the boat. Her little body can’t support her remaining in her full, slightly more ferocious and strong form and she is a little girl with a tail and horns once again. All Rafayel sees is her yellow eyes looking at him for what he fears may be the last time.
When the Sailor’s pull the little dragon up onto the deck- they cheer. Not only did they catch a dragon, she’s a Lemurian dragon! A very rare and unusual species indeed. One of her kind.
It feels like a sick nightmare- their roaring pride and joy fills her with dread. One of them grabs her horns and the other her tail, poking, pulling, and prodding as she weakly tries to fight them off and cries.
They drag her to the bottom of the boat and throw her into the cage amongst the hundreds of dead fish, shrimp, and crabs. Some of the men leer at her with hungry eyes that make her cower, but it’s the captain who comes down and beats the men back- telling them that any of them so much as “touch the child then you will lose your life.” A lot of the words don’t make any sense to her, but the disappointed looks on the men’s faces tell her that whatever intentions they did have, they wouldn’t be acting on them.
She didn’t realize this was only the beginning of a horror movie and this was the easiest part. Sitting in the cage allowed her to realize and recognize some of the fish colonies she had made friends with and she cried and cried even harder.
Then she thought of Rafayel- he looked so scared, he looked so afraid for her, and she prays that he didn’t follow her or try to save her. She couldn’t bear it if they were both caught.
And Aunt Talia! Who will keep Rafayel out of trouble for her and make sure they are safe? She was supposed to protect them!
Some of the men come down and scream and yell at her just for fun- throwing their glass bottles against the wall of the back of her cage as hard as they can and laughing when she shrieks. The captain joins in this time and she looks at him with her eyes filled with feelings of betrayal and she is met with the scariest human emotion of all.
Apathy.
She thinks it may have been a day or two since she was kidnapped and she has since lost some blood from the glass, been bruised and battered by bottles being thrown, and she is so hungry, her stomach growls painfully. The sailors tried to force feed her chicken, but she threw it up- unable to tolerate the offensive taste and they just scooped it up and tried again. Eventually they gave up but it took longer than she would have liked and bits of glass had cut up her mouth.
It felt like a miracle when the boat stopped- she was hoping someone would save her, but then she was shoved in a wooden crate, thrown in what she assumes is a car, and ended up in a place that smells like a hospital and is as bright as one too.
She didn’t anticipate being taken to the lab, stripped of her clothes and photographed, constant blood draws and tests- scale samples and horn samples (she never knew they could grow back). They force her to work her Evol to it’s fullest extent and they teach her how to use any liquid- forcing her to hurt others as she whimpers. It’s just to survive this hell.
Just to get her through one more day.
The scientists were not good people, but there was one man who had been kind. He gave her lollipops and stuffed bears, he praised her and was nice to her. She always looks forward to seeing him.
He was a younger man with fine, yellow blond hair and eyes that were kind but flat. It bothered her a bit, but he showed more emotions than the other scientists so she assumed he was safer than the rest. Besides, it was better than no love at all in this bright, scary place.
The man’s name is Lucius and he says she’s a very special little girl. She only understands so many words and he teaches her new ones, but only the ones he wants her to know- the ones that will unknowingly become weapons she didn't know were possible.
So she doesn’t question when he comes and checks on her one night nor does she shout for help because she’s anticipating being given a toy, a hug, candy- something to soothe the sadness of the day.
She had been poked and prodded at- been bare in front of everyone all day, Lucius had been smiling at her the whole time in what she thought was reassurance that she was okay, and when she tried to cover up, they pulled her back and strapped her down to the bed. They didn’t care that she screamed or sobbed, they kept diligently working. They said she was just trying to get them to free her so she could kill them, but Opal had no desire to. She just wants to go home.
Glass shatters in her head as he begins to touch her- and when she tries to push him off- a large needle is shoved into her arm and she falls back, awake but entirely numb. Her body can’t even shake as he takes off her clothing and his own- slotting himself on top of her.
“This will only hurt a little,” he cooed at her, tears rolling down her face, “and you’re a good little girl who behaves right?”
She whimpers, lower lip jutting out, but it’s her silent acceptance and he kisses her cheek. A gesture that might have made her feel safe mere minutes ago makes her want to throw up and cry.
“Very good,” he whispers and her body begins to float away from her, “don’t worry about being loud- the others won’t stop us.”
It was the beginning of the longest night of her life and she tried to be far away from the scene.
She imagined being in the ocean- swimming amongst her friends and with Rafayel. They play along the ocean floor and find new hiding spots. They race with the Orcas and help clean up the trash and then they go home to Aunt Talia and her yummy cooking.
Opal imagines being tucked into her bunk bed, the loft beds were L shaped so they could whisper and talk throughout the night- coming up with their plans the next day before lessons.
Every movement from Lucius is met with further derealization and before Opal knew it- she no longer existed at all.