*Back at the non-descript location*

The Warded Wyvern had successfully made his return to the other Wyverns and the mysterious man, but the fate that awaited him wouldn’t be appealing for anyone. He entered through the huge oak doors panting from attempting to make a hasty return. The Fleeted Wyvern stared at his colleague with worry as he knew what was coming next. The mysterious man didn’t turn, he continued to face his window looking over the cityscape. “So, you’ve returned. I couldn’t even sense you and I think we all know what that means. Not only did you fail to defeat the girl, she also stole your stone. So why did you bother coming back with such failures on your shoulders?” Questioned the mysterious man with his rough British accent.

“She… she has… a message for you…” Warded stuttered. The mysterious man slams his hands against his desk, furious at what he had just heard. He turned to face him with rage burning within his green eyes. “You’re her messenger now!? So not only are you a pathetic excuse for a Wyvern, you’re also a coward who listens to a high school child? How embarrassing that your name was once tied with these two as a Wyvern. You disgust me.”

“Sir I had to tell you what she told me. It’s a declaration of war sir.”

Warded informed everything that Taeyeon had told him during the night of his defeat. The anger in the mysterious man seemed to have dissipated and had now turned into a surprising outburst of laughter. “She said all that? Wow, this girl has guts, just like her father.” Said the mysterious man.

“Does this mean that I am free to go?” Warded questioned the mysterious man’s good mood.

“Are you kidding? You are as dead as they come, my friend. Menace, deal with this embarrassment and, make sure he screams when he leaves.”

“Will do sir.” Menace approached the man and summoned a set of shackles for all his limbs and escorted him to their “interrogation room” which was really Menace’s torture room.

Soon enough it was only Fleeted and the bald man left in the room and it the bald man ce again to face Fleeted this time. “Fleeted, this is your chance to show me you’re not as pathetic as him. Don’t disappoint me, or when you return your next appointment may be with Menace in the interrogation room as well.”

“Of course sir, I won’t fail you.”

“That’s what they all bloody say. Ahh, one more thing before you devise your plan.”

“What is it, sir?”

“Make sure this time you fight her in the light of day, on public streets so everyone sees the conflict.”

“But why sir?”

“Her acts of heroics have left the secret government agents silent. As of now, they aren’t targeting her because they don’t feel like she's a national level threat yet, but if you were to cause destruction in the major city area, they would learn she's not the only one with these gifts. This would cause mass panic throughout the city and secret government organizations would have no choice but to track all of us down, including her. Once they see the true destructive power of magic, they won’t trust anyone with magic, not even Vermilion. This could force her to limit her appearances and in turn, limit her from growing stronger than she already is.” Fleeted nodded at the mysterious man’s reasoning and dashed off prepared to fight Taeyeon in front of everyone.

For Taeyeon, everything was going perfectly. Her grades were just as consistent as usual, she had a perfect girlfriend, and amazing best friend and not only that, she was becoming extremely popular at school. People were calling her “the Hero” and “the Saviour”, but not because they knew she was Vermilion the Huntress, but because of her amazing performances during the basketball games. Their team had become queens rather than the laughing stock of the district. Some schools still refused to believe there was a girl that was this skilled at their level of high school, so many teams complained about rigging and chose to underestimate Taeyeon when they would verse her. Unfortunately for them, they got destroyed by her and even more, unfortunately, anyone who talked to her, would end the game with no points since she would steal the ball every time. Yeah, Taeyeon was a beast.

Because of her rising popularity within the social ladder, countless people were inviting her to parties. She was never a fan of parties as she hated being so cramped up with so many people in one place, but since Tiffany, Yuri and even Sunny to some extent loved going to parties, she had to accompany them. The four was invited to go to a party hosted by Irene, one of the prettiest girls at school. Obviously, the four had no intentions of going to impress the girl cause they all had partners, but they all attended out of respect because the girl was throwing a part to honour Taeyeon's successes.Irene didn't care if the other three showed up, she was only looking forward to one girl in particular. During the party Taeyeon found herself a spot outside on the balcony, away from constant slamming and grinding that was happening inside the house. She watched over the city, trying to see if there were any emergencies she had to help with. Taeyeon’s normal identity wasn’t the only one growing in popularity. Vermilion had saved people from burning buildings, thwarted more bag thefts and even stopped a grand theft auto. People were looking up to Vermilion and she was slowly becoming a beacon of hope for the dangerous city.

Sunny saw her bestfriend leaning over the balcony alone, so she decided to ask if there was something wrong with the girl. “Hey Tae, you good?” Sunny said while catching her breath from the dancing.

“Yeah I’m fine. You know me, not really a party girl.”

“Yeah I know, well if you need anything, like drinks or food I’ll bring them to you okay? Just call me.” Taeyeon gave her an OK sign with her fingers and Sunny rejoined the scrabble of high schoolers. Taeyeon felt a pair of arms snake around her waist and just assumed it was Tiff’s arms. She didn’t turn nor did she speak, she just wanted to feel the warmth this girl was giving her. “Not enjoying my party?” Irene whispered, with inches away from Taeyeon’s ear. When Taeyeon realized what was going on she quickly pushed her hands away, but not before Tiffany caught a glimpse of what was going on. Tiffany approached Irene with a death stare that could pierce through steel. “Hey hands off Irene. She’s mine, you can’t just go around hugging other people’s girlfriends!” Tiff said angrily.

“How can you even call yourself that when you left her here all alone, while you were having fun in the party? If I was her girlfriend I’d never let her out of my sight.” Irene winked over at Taeyeon. Tiffany was about to shout again until Taeyeon stopped her by grabbing her hand. “Fany-yah let’s just go, you don’t need to say anymore.” Taeyeon said. The couple left the house and Tiffany turned towards the direction of her house, but Taeyeon had different plans. “TaeTae where are you going? My house is this way remember?”

“Let’s have a walk.”

“But it’s so late, aren’t you worried about the dangers of the city?”

“With you around I’m not, you’re always there to protect me.” Taeyeon smiled.

They made their way to Central Park and found a bench