The young, teenaged girl sat in her room. She browsed through her photo album, looking at all her pictures from last year’s Comic Con. There was an estimate twenty photos at the very least. As she flipped to the last page, the final picture really caught her eye. With her right index finger, she carefully removed the picture from the album, bringing it closer to her as she continued to look at it, almost entranced by it.

It was a picture of a small dragon. This dragon was dressed up like a young boy. It wore a red hat that barely covered its head, the little dragon’s horns holding its hat in place. Its shirt looked like it would rip apart any moment from the creature’s body mass. No pants were present on the small dragon. The dragon’s older brother was present in the picture as he helped his little brother stand on two legs, like a human. The little dragon flashed a toothy, draconic smile. An innocent yet impish smile by comparison. It was the kind of smile that could make you think he had something on his mind.

The girl smiled to herself. “This was my favorite picture from Comic Con. I think I’ll put it at the front of my album.” She said smiling as she removed a photo of another cosplayer and switched it with the one of the baby dragon and his brother.

“There!” She said, satisfied.

She looked at her calender. In just one day, Comic Con would start again. She could hardly wait. The girl was always a fan of things like comics and anime and, well pretty much whatever people labeled as “geeky” or “nerdy.” She counted down the days until the Con started. With each passing day, she would place a big “X” over the past day to remind her of how many days were left.

Just then, the girl heard loud noises coming from outside her bedroom, the noises only getting louder each second. She walked over to the door and opened it, noticing her little brother running up to her, crying loudly. He ran up to his sister and wrapped his arms around her waist as he cried uncontrollably.

“Nathan, what’s wrong?” The girl asked, worried about her brother.

“Jessie! Mommy hit me again!” Nathan said, his eyes nearly drowned in his tears.

Jessica bent down, getting at her baby brother’s level.

“Nate, can you show me where mom hit you?” She asked.

Nate sniffed. He pointed to his forehead. Jessica put her right hand on Nathan’s forehead and brushed his bangs up. She inspected his forehead, noticing a large bump near his left eye.

“Aww, Nate….” Jessica said, sympathetically as she brought her brother closer to her. She hugged her little brother tightly, assuring him that she would protect him.
As of July  of last year, Jessica didn’t know why but for some reason, she felt like she was an only child her whole life. Despite Nathan being eight. Even though she always had this weird feeling, Jessica still took her responsibilities as a big sister seriously. At only 14, she felt like she had to protect her little brother. Not because she wanted to. Because she had to. She and Nathan were constantly abused by their parents. And since they had no relatives in the area, they had no choice but to continue to live with their parents. Jessie’s biggest hope was that when she was old enough, she could get her and Nathan away from their parents and she could take care of him on her own. She knew it could be called an impossible dream yet she still wanted to try.

“Jessie!” The siblings’ dad yelled as he barged into their room.

“H-hi d-dad…” Jessie said in fear as she shook from the sound of his angry voice.

“Jessie, did you go somewhere without telling me?!” He shouted in a threatening voice.

“N-no sir…” She said meekly.

“Then why did I find two tickets to that Comic Book thing downstairs? Were you and Nathan gonna sneak out without us knowing?!” He screamed.

“We did tell you! You and mom were too drunk to even listen.” She said. At that moment, Jessie had realized what she said. And at that moment, she knew…she just made her father royally mad.

Jessica watched as a vein popped out of the top of her father’s head. She knew what “the vein” meant to her and her brother: whenever their father was truly mad, a thick vein would appear on his forehead, close to his right eyebrow.

Their father took three steps towards her.

“Excuse me? What did you call me?!” He asked angrily.

“Were you callin’ me drunk, ya little *censored*?!”  He shouted, extending his left arm out and seizing a hold of Jessica’s hair. He continued to squeeze her hair, causing Jessica to drop to her knees. She out her hands on her father’s trying to get him off.

She groaned in pain. Every few seconds

“Leave Jessie alone!” Nathan shouted, pounding on his dad’s leg as he cried. Their father raised his arm and smacked Nathan with the back of his hand.

He ceased his hold on her hair. Nathan ran over to his sister, making sure she was alright. Neither sibling said anything as they watched their horrible excuse of a father leave their room, slamming the door on the way out.
Jessica did not move from where her father had left her. She began to quietly cry so that her parents would not hear her. Nathan ran over to his sister, crying as well. Jessica wrapped her arms around Nathan and hugged him tight, trying to assure him that she would keep him safe. Safe from their abusive parents.

Jessica never understood why her parents hated the two of them so much. All she wanted was for her and her brother to have a good life. She wanted to feel the love and warmth of her parents. Or more like the parents she wished she had. Sadly, she knew that she couldn’t change them. All she could do was try to keep Nathan safe.

Nathan sat down on the floor, right next to his sister.

“Jessie, why do mommy and daddy hate us?” He asked, sniffling and sobbing.

Jessica brought her hands to her eyes, rubbing away the tears. “I don’t know, Nathan. I really don’t…”

Nathan began to cry louder. “I hate this place! I wanna live somewhere else!” He screamed as he continued to cry. He buried his head in his legs and cried into them. Jessica put her right arm around her brother’s shoulder. She slowly moved him closer to her. He lay his head on her right leg as she stroked his hair, trying to calm him down.

“Nathan…” She said softly.

“Hmm?”

“I’ll always protect you. I hate seeing you hurt.” She said, her throat feeling like it had a lump in it. She started to choke up. A new set of tears made their way down her face, landing in her precious baby brother’s hair.

His big sister’s declaration to protect him made Nathan more relaxed. As Jessica continued to stroke his hair, he began to feel more relaxed, more calm. He felt like she was more of a mother  to him than their actual mom. Nathan began to grow tired, his eyes becoming more heavy after each blink. Soon after, the little boy was asleep.

Jessica noticed Nathan snoring. She looked down and watched as he slept peacefully. She never noticed it until then, but she really noticed how cute her brother really was. She had always  said he was cute but she never realized just how cute he was. She smiled to herself, her brother’s innocence and naïve childishness warmed her heart. To her, Nathan wasn’t just her little brother. He was a gift from God.  Jessica began to feel drowsy. She slowly nodded off into a dream world. A more peaceful world. Soon after, she herself began to drift off into sleep.

The next day, Jessica and Nathan walked around Comic Con. Nathan had never been to a convention before. Last year was the first time for Jessica so she knew the place better than he did. She kept a firm hold on his hand as they walked through the Exhibit Hall, noticing all the different items put out on display. The smaller booths had artists’ works, many of which were comics that neither Jessica nor Nathan would have known about. The larger parts of the Exhibit Hall were reserved for certain companies such as Capcom or Viz Media.

Jessica reached into her right pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill.

“Well, Nathan, is there anything you want to get?” Jessica asked.

Nathan looked around, trying to find anything that could spark his interest. There was nothing there that Nathan could truly appreciate. It was all comics he had never heard of or even seen for that matter. And stuff that aspiring animators may have an interest in.

Nathan nodded no.

“Alright, let’s keep looking.”

And so the siblings walked around for a short period before coming across a booth that sparked both their interests. The booth sold fleece hats, some of which were from well known anime. Others were of animals or odd creatures.

“Big sister! I want a hat!” Nathan. exclaimed, pointing directly to the booth.

Noticing the anticipation in Nathan’s voice, Jessica decided she had no choice but to go check it out. She led Nathan to the booth. The two siblings looked at the different items that were on display.  Nathan checked out the cat ears. He put them on, not realizing they were meant for girls.

“Nathan, take those off!” Jessica said, embarrassed, her face blushing.

She looked around , noticing no one really paying attention. She figured she overreacted.

The man in charge of the stand chuckled lightly and walked up to Jessica and Nathan.

“I see he likes the ears.” The man said. “But I don’t think they go with him.”

“What?” Jessica thought, finding this guy to be a total weirdo.

The man walked back to the hats he had lay neatly on a table behind the counter. Jessica watched as the man grabbed two hats. He walked back to them, bringing with him the hats.

“Here you are.” The man said, handing both Jessica and Nathan two hats, They were both dragon hats!
Jessica inspected her hat, as did Nathan. Nathan’s was a dark red, the hat’s horns being of an even darker blue. The horns were flimsy and looked like small strips that had been sewed onto the top of the hat. The pattern of Jessica’s hat was identical to Nathan’s. The only difference was that this hat was a violet color with black horns.

“It’s cute.” Jessica said. Just then, deja vu hit her. As if she had been witness to something similar.

“Wonder what that was…” She thought to herself, not understanding what it meant.

“Oh, I’m sorry. How much?” She asked.

“Eight dollar each.” The man said.

“Nate, do you want that hat?” Jessica asked.

Jessica looked at her brother, the hat already placed on his head. He smiled to himself, enjoying the hat.

“Yeah! I’d love it!” Nathan smiled.

She smiled at her brother, once again noticing how precious and adorable his innocence truly was. She handed the man the twenty, he went to get four singles and gave her the change. Jessica put her hat on too and the two siblings headed off to other parts of the Con.

The man sighed to himself. “I didn’t even get a chance to explain how the hats work…”

Jessica couldn’t explain it. But for some reason, wearing this hat made her comfortable. It made her happy. She didn’t know why this was, simply that it did. Nathan himself felt the same way.

For the rest of their first day at Comic Con, the siblings did not take their hats off. The feeling of comfort and ease was with them all through their first day.

That night, Jessica sat at her desk. She held her hat in her hands as she stared at it briefly. Nathan walked over to Jessica, taking off his hat and sitting it on the desk.

“Hmm?”

“Is it ok if I leave my hat right here?” Nathan asked his sister innocently.

“It’s fine. But let’s put our hats in here.” Said Jessica, opening up a drawer from her desk and putting their hats inside.

“There!” She said, shutting the drawer.  “Just in case mom and dad find out.” She said to her brother, winking at him.

The next three days at Comic Con were probably the best moments of the sibling’s lives. They were away from their abusive parents, and it was just the two of them. But for them, they only needed each other.

After the last day of Comic Con, Jessica and Nathan looked over everything they got. Unfortunately, it wasn’t much. Aside from their hats, all Nathan had was a few action figures, and Jessica four comics, each at one dollar.

The siblings looked at each other for that brief moment.

“Well, we had fun at least, right?” Jessica asked, smiling.

“Yeah! I loved it! That was cool!” Nathan said with awe in his voice.

At that moment, the joyous peace between the brother and sister was shattered as their parents barged into their room.

“Jessica, what is all this?!” Their mom said, furious.

“It’s…uh…”

“You told me you were going to a friend’s house! You lied to me!” She exclaimed, her voice and anger rising.

“Mom, I --!”

Their mom looked at their hats. She walked over to the hats and picked them up.

“What are these?!” She scoffed.

“Please, leave those alone!” Jessica pleaded.

“Why?! They’re just stupid hats. Seriously, they really are stupid!” She said cruelly.

“Please, leave them alone!” Jessica continued to plead, her eyes starting to tear up.

Her mother threw the hats on the ground. Jessica ran over to the hats and held them in her arms as she cried.

“You’re no daughter of mine. My children would never be as pathetic as you two.”

Their mother slammed the door as Nathan ran over to his sister.
“Jessie?” Nathan asked.

Jessica held the hats close to her chest as she continued to cry.

“I wish mom and dad were nicer to us! I wished they loved us!” She said to herself as she continued to cry.

At that moment, she handed Nathan his hat. She put her hat on, as did Nathan, following with what his big sister was doing. They eagerly waited for that comforting feeling. However, it never came. Their feelings of pain and sadness remained with them.

At that moment, a sharp pain jolted through their bodies. The pain spread throughout their bodies. Both Jessica and Nathan could have sworn they felt their insides stretching, rearranging. Their lungs gained more mass and their hearts grew in size, becoming the hearts of dragons.

Jessica’s fingers began to ache as her fingernails extended out, growing bigger. They soon enveloped themselves around her fingers, becoming claws. She watched as her new claws went from a pinkish color to being black. Her fingers grew to exactly the same length as her index fingers. She watched as her hands changed and lost the human part of them, transforming into a dragon’s paws.

Nathan looked on in fear at what was happening to his only sister. He tried to take his hat off,  only to find that his hat had disappeared. In its place were two long and thick horns. His hair had gone missing, leaving a dark red spot in his head, which soon hardened into scales. The scales slowly made their way down his head. Two long and thick horns burrowed into Nathan's head, attaching themselves to him. The small strips of fabric that had been sewn on the hat were now thick, powerful horns growing from little Nathan's head. Likewise for Jessica, the top of her head was purple, the purple making its way down her body. Her horns were black, the exact opposite of Jason's, which were a shiny white. Jessica's were black, a single streak of shine making itself known at the top of her horns.

Jessica felt a sharp pain in her butt. She felt down there, noticing a bump that was about as big as her fist. The bump soon forced its way out of her jeans, ripping the top apart, revealing a long, slender purple tail. Black scales made up the bottom half of her tail while the purple scales were apparent on the top. A ridge of black spikes grew from her head, making their way down her back, and ending at the tip of her tail. Several hairs grew out of her tail’s tip, the strips being of a light red.

“Big sister!” Nathan exclaimed in worry as he ran to her, tripping over his own feet. He looked behind himself, noticing that his feet had grown bigger, became digitgrade, and were beginning to grow claws. In fact, both his hands and feet were changing. His hands grew red scales and changed to look like his sister’s new paws.

Both siblings’ shirts ripped open, revealing their new scutes. Nathan’s were a deep blue while Jessica’s were black. Two thin arms grew from their backs, becoming leathery wings. Both Nathan and Jessica flexed their wings, intrigued by their presence. They could not believe how easy it was to control them.

Like his sister, a sharp pain made itself known on Nathan’s back. It shot out of the back of his pants, becoming a red dragon tail. His tail was exactly identical to that of his sister’s. Except that blue strips of hair grew from his tail instead of red so as not to blend in with his tail.

“AAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!” Nathan screamed in intense pain as his face pushed out and became a dragon’s snout. His new snout had two slits for nostrils, He felt like he would barf. And as he did so, his teeth flew out with his barf. Sharp fangs replaced his teeth as they burst through his gums and took the place of his old teeth.



“Nathan!” Jessica exclaimed. She watched as Nathan’s transformation continued. As her scales slowly covered her body, she noticed the young child-dragon mix, watching in pain as she finished becoming a dragon just like him. Her face pushed out and became a long snout. Her teeth fell out and sharp fangs replaced them. Jessica watched as both her chest and her brother's began to expand, ripping the fronts of their shirts, revealing that the scutes had taken over their whole frontside. Two red stripes, almost in the shape of fangs, started at the sides of her neck and ran down her neck, meeting with her chest.
At the same time, the siblings' legs cracked and they fell to the floor. Their bones reformed, their posture changed, leaving them with a quadruped stance. Their legs and, well pretty much their entire bodies looked like those of a dragons'. All that was left was their eyes. While Nathan's began to sting and become slits, Jessica's eyes got bigger. Her eyes began to blacken, leaving the same shines that were apparent on her horns in her eyes as well. Finally, Jessica shrank until she was no bigger than a dalmation. Nathan's body size remained the same.

When the transformations had ended, both Jessica and Nathan looked over their bodies. They were no longer themselves. They were beasts! They were animals! They began to panic, their minds frantic with worry. What would their parents do? They hated them as humans, but as monsters, it might be worse! They would probably be sent to the animal shelter or even worse...put down.

The siblings heard two sets of footsteps making their way up to their room. They knew it was over. They watched as the doorknob turned and their parents entered.

“Jessica, Nathan, are you two alright?” Their mom asked.

The two siblings looked at each other in confusion. What had happened to their parents? Their whole lives, they never showed them any kindness, now all of a sudden, they were actually showing concern for them. For the first time ever, they were really being parents. Their parents.

‘Yeah…what happened?” Asked Jessica, her voice was still similar to her old voice, only deeper.

“We heard you two little draggies screaming up here. We thought the two of you were fighting.” They said.

“Mommy, daddy, are you really OK?” Nathan asked, his voice the same as his sister’s.

“We’re fine. We were just worried about you two.” They said as they both picked up one of their children and held them in their arms.

Both Jessica and Nathan were surprised. They really seemed to be caring people now. But why? How did they change that quickly? Jessica remembered the wish she made while she held onto the hats. Could that have done it? Could that have been the cause?

Their mother kissed Jessica on the forehead, their father likewise kissing Nathan on his head too. They put their children down and walked out of the room.

“Good night, Jessica. Good night, Nathan.” They said, shutting the door gently.

Both siblings were confused.. Yet they were happy. They finally had parents who loved them. Parents who cared for them. At that moment, all their fears and sadness seemed to have melted away.

Jessica looked at her baby brother. Nathan looked back. They knew they had finally gotten the wish they wanted. Jessica smiled, realizing her wishes had come true. She had gotten a little brother and on top of that, her parents finally loved them.

Nathan hopped into bed and drifted into a peaceful sleep. Jessica walked to her bed. She began to remember moments of a teenage girl’s life and how this girl and her brother were constantly abused by their parents. She wondered why she would be thinking of that. She wondered why she had those memories. She was a dragon. She was born a dragon, had lived her whole life as a dragon, so what were these memories?

She decided it didn’t matter and hopped into bed. The last bits of her human life flashed through her mind before disappearing for good. All that was left now for her and her brother was a new future. A peaceful future. A future of two dragon siblings.