"Azul over here!"
A dirty boy poked his head out of the mud with a gleaming smile. His red eyes were dull with a tiny body and extremely short ruffles of light blue hair.
"I'm coming!" The boy cheered back running out of the mud.
Everything was peaceful.
He got to be as dirty as he wanted to be as long as he did his chores and obeyed. It was the perfect deal!
He took a quick bath and got right to learning his writings.
"Wow! Can I do that too?"
"Yes!!" Azul immediately responded with a cheer.
His father raised his eyebrow and looked at the barely started paper. "A bit soon to celebrate, don't you think?" He laughed while rubbing his boy's head.
Azul tilted his head away; his father had always been super strong. "My hair!!"
"Leave him alone!! Let him write!" A voice yelled from another room. "Alright alright just messing with him!" The father quickly defended while walking to the other room.
The boy was now alone.
"You wanna give it a try too?" Azul asked in the empty room. "Yes, please." A voice rang inside his head.
Azul watched as his other hand suddenly start moving on its own to grab the pencil.
"Just redraw the letters over there!" Azul explained while using his controllable hand to point.
His other hand was shaking and struggling to hold the pen, often writing over the lines.
"I suck at this!" The voice in Azul's head complained but the boy shook his head and grabbed another paper and pen.
"Me too!" Azul beamed to himself while beginning to copy the same symbols on a blank sheet.
Both of his hands were writing at the same time, his head kept fully still.
He was quietly scribbling with one hand while the other seemed to do the same. When his father finally came back in he saw Azul messily write with both hands and came to stop him.
"What's the matter? Don't rush it! Take your time! You'll have plenty of time to play after."
"I'm not rushing myself!" Azul protested but his other hand never stopped its movements.
His father suddenly snatched the moving pen away leaving Azul confused.
"Why?" He asked with his doe eyes.
"Azul, one thing at a time. Focus on one hand."
But I was…
Azul suddenly felt tears well up, suddenly slamming the table with one hand. "I WANT TWO PENS!!" He started screaming as his father attempted to calm him down.
He tried to reach out and pick up the little boy but he suddenly extended his little hand to scratch at his eye so he quickly stepped away. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" Azul screeched in an unnatural voice.
His mother quickly ran in pushing his husband aside to pick up the fussing and crying boy.
"Are you okay Azul? Are you hurt? Why are you crying?" His mother asked with a soft spoken voice, his pale hair disheveled slightly.
"He wanted to write with two pens at once.. I didn't think it was good." The other man explained but Azul would only cry as a response not attacking nor scratching at his mother, instead one arm was hugging himself while the other was flailing around looking for another pen.
"Let him have two pens for now.." His mother responded weakly, something was on his heart.
Hearing those words the child's tantrum suddenly seemed to calm down.
"You shouldn't give in to his tantrums-"
The larger man attempted to protest but his mother quickly snatched the two pens and held them both out to Azul.
"We need to talk in the other room.." His wife whispered before putting down his child and dragging his even bigger child away to another room.
"I'm sorry." A voice rang inside Azul's head slowly returning full control to Azul but Azul felt another wave of tears build up.
"I wanna write, I wanna write! Let's write!" He fussed to himself not wanting the control of his other arm back. "They got mad at me.." The voice seemed listless.
"But I'm not mad at you, mama is always mad at papa but he still kisses him after." Azul explained holding one pen to his controlless arm.
Hesitantly it grabbed the pen and the boy's tears seemed to lessen. Together they readjusted their sheets propping themselves back on the floor to continue their learning.
His father stood behind the door quietly swallowing hard before walking off fully.
"Azul?" His mother called sweetly with a tray of snacks.
Azul was quick to get up and run towards the source of food but his expression seemed a bit dull.
"Thank you mama." He said with little bounces around his mother trying to grab the tray but his mother wouldn't let him have it until they were seated on a table.
The boy didn't dig in immediately, halting the moment he was seated.
There was a long moment of silence and lack of movements. "Azul?" His mother got concerned, reaching out to caress his baby's cheek.
Azul only reacted with a quick look before he began to pick and taste the things one by one very slowly.
"It's all your favourite!" He exclaimed with a loving smile but Azul occasionally seemed to show a displeased expression.
"Is it not to your liking?" Worried, the man was about to take away the tray to prepare another but Azul suddenly seemed to smile with a big beam!
"I LOVE IT! THANK YOU MAMA!!!" Without any notice he suddenly started taking big gulps of everything, contrary to his earlier behaviour he seemed much more bright.
"Having no taste buds must be super weird!" Azul spoke without notice. "Yeah! Thank you!" A happy voice cheered in his head.
"Azul?"
A voice called into Azul's messy room. His father took a peek inside, Azul was fighting and rolling against himself with both hands fighting each other when suddenly he tripped over himself. "THAT'S NO FAIR! I SAID YOU AREN'T ALLOWED TO USE MY LEGS!" Azul laughed while kicking only one leg around while the other seemed to kick himself gently.
The boy had lived a good life despite the concern of his parents. Talking to himself, playing with himself, showing no interest in anyone else.
One day Azul's father rushed through a burning home barging through the rooms.
"AZUL!!!!" He roared out at the top of his lungs his steps were heavy, thumping loudly with each step with burn marks across his body and attire.
He finally found Azul covered in flames smiling and laughing to himself unaware of what he had caused.
There was fire leaking out of his body, but not at the rate of a child.
Everything seemed to burn anything but him. His father did not hesitate for a second to grab his little boy and jump out the window, stopping and rolling while ensuring a secure grip on his child.
"Azul..! Are you okay!" His father breathed heavily watching Azul look up at him with doe eyes.
"What's the matter papa?"
The father looked at his burning home before smiling at his son. "Nothing, I'm very proud of your flames, you decorated our home beautifully."
Azul was cheering and waving to hug his father and the man could only oblige with a calmed expression.
His mother was out in the market while his father tended their little garden, the cottage burst up in flames without a warning.
When days passed they quickly relocated to a smaller home just in case Azul's abilities burst out once more.
Ever since that day they noticed a change in Azul's voice. Sometimes he would speak like he usually did. Sometimes he'd speak seemingly with two voices. They seemed to echo in on each other.
And in the most worrying scenario Azul spoke only using the other voice. It was layered with shadows but he didn't seem to act much different.
His mother finally snapped and sat his boy down for a talk.
"That day they were certain about Azul's anomalies." The dragon hummed looking up at the stars Kemal had been staring at.
"So he confessed without hesitation?" The boy asked. "So why tell him to suppress that side then?" His fingers flicked skilfully through his deck.
"It got aggressive, that's why."
"don't call it an it." Kemal hissed.
"He… Got aggressive."
Azul seemed out of control, the schools kept reporting his aggression. Always leaving children bruised.
Azul himself never saw a problem with what he did to the other kids. His parents on the other hand…
"AZUL, GO TO YOUR ROOM."
"IT WASN'T MY FAULT!!" A slightly more grown Azul screamed at the top of his lungs with another voice layered on it.
"LOOK YOUR FATHER IN THE EYES AND TELL ME WHY YOU'D USE THE STRONG POWERS YOU EARNED TO BULLY!?" His father roared while glaring at his child.
He couldn't bring himself to raise his hands, that would've meant he's no better than him.
Or maybe a father just didn't wanna hurt his child.
"HE DESERVED IT! YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!" Azul's voice began shaking, the unknown voice seeming to take over his normal one.
"YOU'RE NOT-." His usual voice vanished fully, taken over by the fiery voice of multiple shadows. "LISTENING!!!"
Fires burst out his body, his breath heavy attempting to hold himself back.
"DO NOT SPARK YOUR FLAMES AT YOUR FATHER!!" The man's flames burst out as well the both of them glaring at each other.
"ENOUGH!!!" A voice screamed echoing through the entire room sending both man and boy tumbling unconscious.
The mother quickly caught her son and man resting them both against the sofa.
The room was filled with heat making him sweat even without moving.
That day it was finally decided for Azul to stop his magic.
"Their son just couldn't handle such responsibility. That's what they told me." The dragon sighed.
"Did anyone listen to Azul?" Kemal asked slowly, turning slightly to look at the other man.
"They did, but because he spoke in his weird voice no one listened, and once they heard Azul's voice they told him that the 'second voice' is lying to him."
"So they didn't.." He rolled his eyes. "Then, how did Azul suppress that other voice? What happened?"
"I couldn't tell you." The dragon hummed. "They said he'd occasionally burst into flames without warning so they took it to the next level, they put a magic supressing gem on him until he finally stopped bursting into flames. Then Azul seemed to be 'his old self'."
Kemal clutched his fists together in frustration before throwing himself back on his back, placing his deck beside him.
"Are his parents searching for him?" He questioned nonchalantly.
"I hope not, but they love their child."
"Must be the wrong type of love.."
"How can you love someone the wrong way?" The dragon's interest piqued.
"I'm too lazy to explain!" The man stretched his body before finally relaxing.