Chapter 684: Skinning A Dragon

Every single being in the room went still.

The three sisters, who had been watching the dragon standoff with mischievous, knowing grins snapped to attention like soldiers hearing a general’s voice.

Mika’s expression flickered with genuine amusement; he hadn’t expected her to appear.

Korra’s aura dimmed as a bolt of pure recognition shot through her.

’It can’t be. Is that—’

But no one’s reaction came close to Vorthar’s.

The beast who had just been ready to burn a boy to ash went pale. His dragon face, mere moments ago the visage of terror incarnate, somehow drained of color.

"The Maiden of Fate." He whispered, his voice small. "Why...Why is she here?"

A small portal opened in the air above them and through that unassuming portal a pair of beautiful, purple, utterly terrifying eyes were revealed.

They gazed down at the scene below with an expression of cold, imperial displeasure.

...The Maiden of Fate had arrived.

"You wish to fight my son?"

Her voice was silken.

"You, a dragon king who has lived three centuries, against a boy you believe to be nothing more than an ordinary human?"

Vorathar scrambled backward, his massive dragon form moving with the graceless panic of a startled lizard.

"No! No, my lady, it’s not what you think! I wasn’t seriously going to—I was just—it was a joke! A jest! I would never actually—"

"A jest." The Maiden of Fate’s eyes narrowed. "Let me see if I understand. You, in your berserk form and your killing intent flooding the entire mountain range—you were merely jesting?"

Vorathar’s mouth opened and closed. No sound came out.

"You don’t know anything about Mika, do you?"

The portal widened slightly as she continued, her tone dropping to something colder still.

"In your eyes, he is nothing—a human boy without a blessing, a nobody. And yet, despite that, you were perfectly willing to charge at him and bathe him in dragon fire. If he truly was just a normal human, one flicker of your flame would have incinerated him to ash."

Her eyes narrowed to slits of pure death.

"Which means...you wanted to try and kill my son?"

The entire hall shuddered under an impossible pressure.

Bam!

Vorthar slammed flat against the ground, pinned as surely as if a mountain had been dropped on him.

"My Lady, please have mercy! I beg you—"

"Mercy?" She chuckled, and there was nothing warm in it. "I’ll show you mercy."

She turned her gaze to Korra. "I trust you wouldn’t mind if I discipline your husband a little?"

Korra, who had already reverted to her human form the moment she’d heard that voice swallowed and nodded.

"Do whatever you want with him."

The Maiden of Fate’s gaze swept across the room and landed on Maria.

"Maria, dear. Would you cover Nuri’s eyes once again? I’m afraid this isn’t something a daughter should watch."

Maria, who had felt, for the first time in her life, a lick of genuine fear was far too stunned to question how the supreme existence of the known realms knew her name.

She simply nodded, grabbed Nuri, and pressed the little dragon’s face into her chest.

Nuri protested. "What’s going on?! Why are you covering my eyes again?! I want to see!"

The Maiden of Fate’s attention then settled on the three sisters, who had gone rigid under her gaze.

"Normally." She said, her voice turning into a motherly tone. "When someone goes after your family, you simply kill them. Pluck out their hearts, throw them aside."

She paused, letting Vorthar fully absorb those words.

"But the loss of a Dragon King right now would throw the realms into chaos. And unfortunately for him, he married a close family friend. So I’ll let him live."

Vorthar let out a shaky breath.

"But that doesn’t mean I’ll be letting him off easy."

She looked at the sisters with a meaningful gaze as she said,

"Watch closely, you three. This is how you treat anyone who dares to touch our family."

The sisters obeyed, watching with a mixture of horror and fascination.

The Maiden of Fate didn’t look at Mika, almost as if she was avoiding his gaze. She simply turned her violet eyes toward the Dragon King and let them burn brighter and brighter and brighter until...

.....Vorthar screamed.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"

It was a scream torn from the very bottom of his soul, Because what the Maiden of Fate was doing was bringing the previous trial to life.

No, not the trial. The trial had used fake scales, mana constructs, mere simulations.

She was removing his real scales.

The armor of a dragon king, embedded in his flesh for three hundred years.

They were simply being...torn out.

Rip! Rip! Rip!

One by one. Slowly. Methodically. Scales pulled from his tail, his wings, his legs, his chest.

"ARGHHH! STOP—! PLEASE I BEG YOU—!"

Blood spattered the stone floor. Flesh tore. Nerves screamed. And Vorathar thrashed and wept and begged like a child.

"PLEASE! MERCY! MY LADY, I BEG YOU! I’LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN! I SWEAR ON MY ANCESTORS! AH—AHHH—PLEASE!"

The Maiden of Fate watched, but her eyes did not waver.

Charlotte and Astrid looked away. Not out of pity, neither of them felt an ounce of pity for the creature who had tried to attack Mika, but because it was genuinely difficult to watch.

Anya, by contrast, watched with undisguised satisfaction, her smile serene and terrible.

Maria held Nuri tight, her expression carefully blank. Nuri squirmed and complained and demanded to be let go.

"This is so unfair! You did this last time too! Let me see!"

Korra watched her husband being skinned alive, and felt...

Nothing.

No. That wasn’t quite true. She felt something. A grim satisfaction. A sense of justice.

This was the man who had, moments ago, been ready to incinerate the man she loved. Whatever happened to him now, he had earned.

But more than anything, she felt awe.

She had always known the Battle Angels were powerful. But witnessing it firsthand was something else entirely.

Her husband, the Dragon King, couldn’t even move. He was pinned to the floor like an insect while the Maiden of Fate, without visible effort, systematically dismantled him.

And she hadn’t even shown her full form. This was just her gaze.

Mika, meanwhile, had sidled over to Korra and began explaining, casual as a tour guide:

"She’s using her ability to manipulate fate right now. She’s rewriting the destiny of your husband’s scales—changing their fate to ’removed.’ That’s why they’re coming out on their own."

Korra’s head snapped around. "She can do that? What kind of bizarre fate power is that?!"

Mika shrugged. "Fate is strange. She can achieve so many impossible things..."

He trailed off, then sighed. "And yet she can’t manage certain simple things at all. It’s a bizarre blessing, honestly. Goes all over the place."

He then nudged her and out of nowhere added,

"What if I told you I’m actually much more powerful than her?"

Korra froze.

He looked at her, dead in the eyes, and said.

"Would you believe me if I said I could snap my fingers and make her submit to me in a matter of seconds?"

She wanted to laugh. She wanted to call him insane—the Maiden of Fate was widely considered the most powerful Battle Angel, which by extension made her the most powerful existence in the world. No one could command her. No one.

But when Korra looked into Mika’s eyes, those dark, dark eyes, swirling like an abyss with no bottom the words died in her throat.

She couldn’t say "no."

She couldn’t say anything at all.

And somewhere in the back of her mind, a cold, terrified voice whispered: he’s telling the truth.

—

By the time the Maiden of Fate was done, the Dragon King looked like something that belonged on a butcher’s hook.

A naked, flayed pink-red creature, every inch of his once-majestic body stripped bare, blood pooling beneath him in a spreading lake.

He lay twitching, whispering "mercy, mercy, mercy" in a voice that had once rattled nations.

"Alright, that’s enough." Mika sighed. "He’ll actually die if you keep going, and as much as this idiot pisses me off, I don’t want Nuri growing up without a father."

Nuri, still blind to reality, asked cheerfully. "What’s happening? Did my father do something silly again? Without a father—what does that even mean?"

Mika ignored her and floated up toward the Maiden of Fate, who pointedly refused to look at him.

"Funny, you know?" Mika said, his voice light and teasing. "Last time, you told me you were going to sabotage my plans and bring everything to ruin. And now here you are, helping me."

He grinned. "Why can’t you just be honest with your feelings and admit how much you love me?"

"Shut up, you brat." Her voice crackled with irritation. "What I said earlier is absolutely going to happen. I’m going to throw a spanner in whatever scheme you’re running, mark my words!"

Then she looked at the flayed Dragon King with undisguised disdain.

"But this is completely different. He tried to touch you." Her voice softened with love. "My child. My baby boy. My son....The love of my life."

"To think that he would dare lay a finger on you—I will never, ever accept that!"

Mika could hear the sincerity beneath her sharp edges.

"I’ve already let you suffer so many times in the past, while I could do nothing to stop it." Her translucent eyes dimmed with old grief. "But that will never happen again. I will never let anything hurt you again."

Mika’s heart clenched. Without thinking, he reached through the portal and wrapped his arms around her or as much of her as he could reach.

"You do love me!" He exclaimed, his voice warm. "You love me so much!"

"Of course I love you, you impossible child!" The Maiden of Fate sputtered. "More than you can ever imagine!"

Mika pulled back, eyes filled with exaggerated shock. "Wait, you actually admitted it?"

Her glare could have melted steel.

"Don’t push your luck. Understanding that I love you does not mean I’ll allow you to drag my sisters into whatever scheme you’re building. I’ll tear it all down, understand?"

Mika just chuckled, watching her with open fondness. She was adorable when she was furious.

And because she was so adorable, he couldn’t help it.

He reached through portal, grabbed her face, and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

The Maiden of Fate froze. "Wait—don’t—you —! Brat! You little—! How DARE you—!"

Mika pulled back, grinning. "What, did you think I was going to take your lips?"

Her glare intensified.

"That’s for later." He said it lightly, but there was dark promise in his voice. "When the time comes, I’ll take your lips, your body, and everything else. But for now, a kiss on the forehead is enough to show my appreciation."

The most powerful existence in the world went red.

"Hmph!" She turned away. "I never wanted a kiss from you in the first place, you little devil."

But her heart was racing, and she knew he knew it. It had been so long since her son had kissed her and it made even her break out into a goofy smile.