While Ryker was processing the insanity behind mermaid laws, the East and West were both preparing for the start of a new academic year. In Meridian Academy, on top of the tallest skyscraper, was the office of the headmistress.
Kaede Amaterasu.
Her nine tails were moving freely in the room, sometimes picking up a pen, sometimes swirling coffee. She was staring through the bulletproof windows at the bustling campus.
Alya's admission had caused a major stir. Kaede had received a message from Lorelei Kraken herself.
"That hag really has some nerve," the kitsune said to the empty room, "Asking me to look after her spoiled grandchild."
Even the mightiest families understood the importance of Meridian's neutral ground. Yet Lorelei did as she wished. If Kaede could breath underwater, she would've went there long ago to give Lorelei a piece of her mind.
A knock on the door.
"Headmistress, I have Isabella Dracula and Kai Bashe for you," a secretary's muffled voice came from the other side.
"Let them in."
The familiar Dracula with her purple eyes and dark purple hair walked in first, her uniform was immaculate, not a wrinkle.
Alongside her was a man with long floaty whiskers and deep green skin, it was a Bashe, a legless eastern dragon. The aura between the two was hostile.
Kaeda gestured for them to sit. Neither did. A test of patience she had seen many times in her centuries of being a headmistress.
"Children sit," her tails glowed red.
Without any objection, they both sat down as if they were controlled by invisible strings. Both looked uncomfortable.
"Is there a reason why two S-ranks are suddenly volunteering to teach instead of conquering dungeons for glory?"
Her words were gentle but it made the two in front of her even more tense.
"Please do not say you care for the next generation."
Kai shut his mouth when he was about to say just that. Kaede's eyes landed on him.
"Zhao's son teaching instead of fulfilling the family wish to be in the military is quite unexpected. I guess the stories of your battle prowess are just exaggerations."
The dragon clenched his fist. Her remark was meant to provoke and he was giving in.
"And you," she turned to Isabella, "I doubt Valerica would approve of you playing teacher. The heir of the Dracula clan should be forging a new dynasty, not grading papers."
Isabella yawned, showing no interest in this psychological warfare, "I'm just following orders."
Kaede let out a small hum. Then she placed both her elbows on her desk and clasped her hands together.
"So this is about him."
The fox pushed a file towards them. A simple picture of a teenage vampire with purple hair and red eyes was on it.
"Ryker Larduca."
Isabella's face betrayed no emotion but a subtle tension in her shoulders made Kaede smirk.
"A kraken falling in love with a western vampire surely must make your ancestors roll in their graves," Kaede told Kai.
"It's just a childish crush."
His voice confident yet his eyes betrayed him.
Bursting into laughter, Kaede made the two more uncomfortable in their chair. A genuine, warm laugh that was full of life.
"A Bashe being sent to cock block a kid's love life is priceless," she wiped away a tear.
When she finally composed herself she looked at the two with a more serious expression.
"Since I already have given an inch to the ocean. I'm leaning towards giving an inch to the East and West. So I'll permit both of you to teach."
Kaeda had a fluttery feeling in her chest. She wanted to know how far they'd go for this boy. She had her own agenda.
So she plucked two strands of hair from her tails. The fur was glowing bright gold. Then it transformed into a paper, a contract. The contract had no words. It was blank.
The dragon and the vampire looked at the contract as if it was a joke. Neither of them expected her to commit a transgression.
"A blank contract. You're joking," Kai said.
"Sign here and I'll approve your request as instructors here in Meridian," she twirled the pen in her fingers, smiling, "I can't have the East and West just doing as they pleased in my territory. Especially over some teenager's romantic life."
Isabella was staring at the contract. It meant this witch could end her life, could tell her to give out state secrets, could make her betray Valerica. She looked at Kai who also understood what this blank contract meant.
Neither of them got permission to sign a blank contract. Neither of them underwent the proper mind magic training to resist such a binding spell.
Instead of giving an answer, Kai stood up.
"Absolutely not," the Bashe's body coiled with tension, "We refuse this deal."
But Kaeda was smirking, "We?"
When the headmistress said that, Kai turned to look at his equal. He had expected her to stand up with him. But she was actually thinking of signing the deal. Her need to stay near Ryker outweighed the potential of a dangerous contract. She was ready to sacrifice herself.
"You can't be serious Isabella," Kai whispered.
Isabella's reply was short, "You can go."
This Dracula's demeanor caused Kaede's breath to hitch. What did this boy have to make an S-rank with such potential sacrifice herself like this? Her neck was tingling. First a Kraken now a Dracula. What was he going to do next?
"I'll sign it," Isabella said. A glint of madness in her violet eyes.
Grabbing a pen, she wrote her name on the blank contract. As soon as the ink made contact with the special paper, a flash of light burst out, and the nine-tailed fox's smile widened. The deal was done. The magic settled in the office. A low hum as power shifted from Isabella to Kaeda.
"I guess the West wins this one," Kaeda taunted this adorable dragon that was severely outmatched.
"You're not supposed to use blank contracts. It's forbidden in the Mirthra Treaty of 1423," Kai's whiskers twitched with anger.
"And you're not supposed to bring your petty war onto my soil," she said, leaning back into her chair.
Kai didn't back down, "If this got out. Meridian will be attacked by both the West and the East."
Isabella chuckled.
"It doesn't matter now Kai," she looked at her rival with pity in her eyes, "You're not leaving this place alive without signing it."
A deep, rumbling growl vibrated in the dragon's chest, electricity cackled around him. He was considering fighting. Killing Isabella would be possible under the right circumstance but this thieving fox...
"Are you actually threatening me?" Kai's jaw was clenched so tight it could crack stone.
But Kaede didn't answer with her words. She gave him a predatory smile and slipped the contract to him. The dragon was a soldier, he knew when to retreat.
Grabbing the pen with a shaky hand he scribbled his name.
Amaterasu made a purring sound and absorbed the contract.
"There's a reason why Dracula feared my ancestor," she said. The pride radiating from her.
"Isabella and Kai. You'll be combat instructors for the adventure and culture course. You'll report to Ichiro tomorrow. You're dismissed."
They left her office. Kai was seething, not bothering to hide it.
Kaeda was twirling in her seat, humming. The game had just become so much more interesting. Her nine tails swayed lazily behind her, but her mind was racing, calculating, reveling.
She picked up her phone and dialed a number that went deep down in the trenches of the ocean. An ocean that she would never swim in.
"Thank you for the gift, Lei-chan," she purred into the phone.