dinohigh, no humans allowed!

The principal's gaze remained cold and indifferent. "Well, Ephemera, you've certainly made your point. But don't expect any sympathy from me. Your attempts at gaining understanding or respect are futile. You're just another example of the problems we face, not a solution." His words cut through the air with a chilling detachment.

"Are you done with your tantrums?" he added, his voice dripping with contempt, the slightest curl of his lip betraying his disdain.

Ephemera's anger ignited in an instant. She lunged forward, her claws gripping the collar of his suit with a fierceness that startled him. "YOU WILL FUCKING KNOW WHEN I THROW A REAL TANTRUM!" she screamed, her voice raw with rage. The rawness in her throat scratched at her like the years of silent pain had been waiting to pour out all at once. But as she spoke, the fury crumbled. Her fingers loosened their grip as she collapsed to the ground, her legs buckling beneath her, the full weight of her emotions pulling her down.

Her chest heaved, and she buried her face in her hands. Sobs tore through her body, shaking her.

Principal Orellos remained unmoved, his posture rigid, his face expressionless except for the faint hint of pity. "Look at you," he said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper, but each word landing like a knife. "Just like the day I found you."

Ephemera lifted her tear-streaked face, the last bit of hope flickering in her wide, searching eyes. He had once been her rock, her mentor, someone who had given her a sense of safety in a world that had offered none. His words were supposed to heal. Instead, they wounded deeper than anything her tormentors had ever said. She had never felt more abandoned.

Orellos stepped around her, his footsteps echoing against the tile floor, each step deliberate. "I don't know why I ever thought you'd be different. You've proven nothing but your own inadequacy."

Ephemera's body shook with fresh sobs. She felt herself splintering, breaking apart. This wasn't just any betrayal. This was him. The one person she had thought understood. Her fingers clawed at the cold floor, as if she could hold onto something—anything—solid. But everything was slipping away.

"I trusted you!" she choked, her voice cracking between her sobs. "I—" She couldn't finish, couldn't put into words the devastation in her chest.

Principal Orellos didn't turn back. He stood, his back to her, his hands clasped behind him. "And look where that got you," he said coldly, his voice lacking even the faintest trace of sympathy. "Weak. Just like all the others who think their emotions make them special. You're nothing but a relic, Ephemera. The world has no place for people like you anymore."

His words slashed through her, a reminder of how alone she was, of the cruel reality she faced. She remembered the times when he had been kind—when his voice had been the one thread that had pulled her through the endless torment of being seen as an outcast. She remembered being mocked for being a hybrid, for being different, for existing. He had been the only one who hadn't laughed.

And now he stood over her, a monument to everything she despised.

"How did it come to this?" she whispered, her voice trembling, her hands shaking. "How did you become someone who sees old friends as enemies just because they're different?"

For a moment, she thought she saw something flash in his eyes. Guilt? Regret? But it was gone just as quickly, his face hardening into that same cold mask. "Friends?" he asked, almost mockingly. "You're clinging to a fantasy. I helped you out of pity. That's it."

She felt as though the ground beneath her had shattered completely. "That's not true," she said, shaking her head, her voice a desperate plea. "That's not true… You cared. I know you did."

His gaze remained steady, unyielding. "You're clinging to the past, Ephemera. The sooner you accept that it's a world that no longer serves us, the better."

Ephemera shook her head harder, the tears flowing freely now. "You're wrong!" she cried, her voice louder now, her desperation growing. "It's not the past that's wrong. It's you! You changed! You turned your back on everything you used to stand for!" Her voice wavered, her chest tight with grief. "Why? Why are you doing this?"

Orellos's face showed no sign of empathy. He looked down at her as if she were nothing more than a nuisance. "You don't understand because you're still trying to live in a world that doesn't exist anymore. You keep wanting things to be fair, to be just, but that's not how this works. You think the past holds some kind of answer? It doesn't. You need to adapt or be left behind."

Her tears continued to fall, her body shaking as she struggled to understand. "You were supposed to help me," she whispered, her voice small, almost childlike in its fragility. "You told me things would get better."

"They did—for those who learned," he said, his tone cold. "You didn't. You kept waiting for someone to save you. The truth is, Ephemera, no one will. You're on your own now."

The words were cruel, and they felt final, as though he had closed the door on her for good. Ephemera's mind raced, flashing back to the times when Orellos had spoken with such compassion. His voice, once gentle and filled with understanding, had become cold steel.

And she knew—she knew—something had broken in him too. She remembered the day he had disappeared, three years ago. When he had returned, he had not been the same. The warmth in his eyes had been replaced by something distant, something hard. Whatever had happened to him during that time, it had changed him completely.

"I miss him," she said quietly, her voice barely audible, her head hanging low. "The Orellos I knew. The one who would've fought for me. He's gone, isn't he?"

Orellos didn't respond for a long moment, his eyes narrowing slightly as he regarded her. "That man is dead, Ephemera. You should move on."

Her heart clenched, the pain overwhelming her. She had lost him, completely and utterly. She felt a numbness creep into her limbs, the despair sinking into her bones.

"Maybe it's you who needs to see beyond your own narrow perspective," she whispered, the fight in her voice weaker now, but still there. "Maybe you're the one who's wrong, not the world."

He turned away, dismissing her entirely. "This conversation is over," he said. "If you want to continue this pointless struggle, do it elsewhere."

As he began to walk away, the tears began to blur her vision, and something inside her snapped. "DON'T GO! DON'T LEAVE ME AGAIN!" she screamed, reaching for him, her hand stretching out from where she lay on the floor like a drowning person reaching for a lifeline. Her voice was raw, desperate.

But Orellos didn't stop. His footsteps echoed coldly in the silence, each one growing more distant as the room seemed to close in on her.

From behind, the crowd of teachers—who had been watching in silence—began to murmur, their mocking laughter rising like a twisted chorus. They were enjoying the spectacle, her humiliation, the broken girl crying out in vain.

"Don't leave me again," Ephemera whimpered, her voice breaking, her hand still outstretched as though, somehow, that would be enough to stop him. But the darkness was closing in, her vision tunneling, the weight of her emotions suffocating. She could feel herself slipping, the world fading into nothing.

As the last of the light vanished from her sight, the last thing she saw was Orellos's cold back, walking away, leaving her in the abyss. The darkness engulfed her, and she blacked out, consumed by the unbearable weight of her anguish.