Unknown Time - Unknown Season : Unknown Location
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*Swoosh* *Tap-Tap* Although I couldn't see what I was doing, I could distinctly visualize the long tail curled up in front of me, swishing around the liquid and moving however I wished it to. -It's really.. a tail…-
My mind was in disbelief, but somehow, it felt strangely familiar.
*Swoosh* Extending the limbs coming out of my back, I traced the rounded inner wall of the egg-shaped space before pulling them back and pressing them against my body, feeling the distinct shape of wings as I did.
It was most definitely something I had never experienced, and my mind knew that.. but I couldn't shake the sense of familiarity and relief that clouded my inner being, stemming from somewhere I couldn't pinpoint. -Could it be from all that information that was slammed into my brain?-
Idly thinking about it, a slough of information suddenly surfaced in my mind, and my mind raced to digest it. -R..Right… My name is Vasilias Ragnarok, and I'm a dragon.-
The thought flowed so easily that it was honestly startling. It was as if it were something more obvious than common sense. -What the hell?- The sensation wasn't stemming from my mind either.
-Ugh…- But after wracking my brain for a while, I eventually decided not to think about it and turned my attention back to breaking out of whatever I was trapped in. -But how?- *Tap* Pressing my paws into the wall with all my strength, I tried to get it to break, but there wasn't even a crackle.
-That isn't going to work…- Taking a moment to think, I pulled my paws off the wall, but as I did, I had a realization. -Wait.. if I really am a dragon, shouldn't I have claws?-
Gently pressing my paws into the wall again, I curled my fingers inward before thrusting them forward as hard as I could. *Crrrackle* This time, it broke with ease, instantly filling the liquid around me with a white glow, and letting my eyes see the blurry arm I had extended.
But as if it was the trigger, the moment the light met my eyes, my stomach contracted, and my mind was clouded by hunger.
*Crrrrunch* The next thing I knew, I was standing in a puddle of slimy liquid pooled in what looked like a porcelain bowl as wide as my shoulders, no longer feeling the immense hunger I just had.
But it was not, in fact, a bowl.
Subconsciously moving my tongue around my spiked teeth, I noticed several small pieces of it as well as a slimy coating around the inside of my mouth.
The so-called container I was in was indeed an egg, and I had eaten nearly all of it. -Eugh…-
Not sure how to feel about it, I stepped out of what remained and extended my arm to flip up the last piece of the shell laying on a bed of white feathers only to be distracted by the thick, white, scaled forearm that extended from me.
That was when reality finally started setting in.
I really wasn't a human any longer. The logical side of my mind couldn't deny it anymore.
*Puff* Calmly sitting down, I took a moment to get a proper look at myself.
My scales were smooth and appeared to be soft to the touch, young and immature, but were a pure, bright white akin to the dragon I saw in my memory. -Is this really.. my body?-
Glancing backward, my gaze settled on my wide, spanning wings and long, snake-like tail sprouting from my slender body. *Flap-Flip* Gently flapping my wings and flicking my tail, an oddly childish joy came to mind.
I felt giddy, like a little kid. "Hehehe…" -I'm really a dragon…- A wave of confidence slowly washed over me as an indescribably euphoric sensation filled my chest.
*Flip-Flip-Flip* The tip of my tail gently wagged back and forth as I closed my eyes and held my head up with pride. -I'm quite beautiful!-
When I eventually reopened my eyes, however, I was quickly distracted by a circular ceiling easily hundreds of times my height, lined with beautiful golden detailing and intricate carvings, and felt an incredible sense of awe fill my chest. -Woah…-
The room I was in was absolutely gigantic, with the luxurious gold trim, detailing, and unbelievably intricate carvings covering the various pillars supporting the freakishly high ceiling screaming that money wasn't even an afterthought. -How much money would it take to make a place like this…-
But that was when I looked down.
I was sitting on a colossal pile of gold, gems, and treasures at the center of the room, next to two other eggs covered in dragon scales sitting on small bundles of feathers.
-Are those.. my siblings?- Walking over to them as thoughts tore through my mind like a freight train, I closely inspected them, gently tapping on one with my dull, nub-like claws to see that the scales on the shell were infinitely stronger than those on my body. *Dink-Dink* -These scales feel like metal, but they sound like rock… How interesting…-
But after inspecting them for a moment, my ever-growing curiosity gave me the sudden desire to go back to looking around the room, to find other new things I had never seen before.
*Click-Clink* As I happily trotted back toward where my egg was, I looked down the edge of the coin mound, inspecting the exposed treasure chests, beautiful multicolored artifacts, and even totems depicting a huge scarred dragon, with a childish joy filling my mind.
No matter where I looked, there was something new, something I had never seen before.
But as I was just about to pass the remains of my egg, I noticed a certain object sticking just out of the mound that looked like it was moving.. yet wasn't. -Huh?-
It was a black cube with a purple, pulsating glow that gave the cube the illusion that it was transparent. Looking into the side of it felt like I was looking into a mirror, but it wasn't that simple. -Is that supposed to be.. A tesseract?-
It had a very surreal beauty to it, to the point it simply mesmerized me. However, the longer I stared at it, the stronger a desire grew in me, spreading from my mind to my body, before suddenly, as if I was possessed, my legs began moving on their own.
*Cllllink* Sliding down the mound of treasures, I quickly came up to the artifact, staring deep into the mesmerizing purple energy within it.
The rational side of my mind would have screamed at me not to touch it.
But the rational side of me was completely absent at that moment.
*Tap* Gently touching it, an inexplicably clear voice appeared as if it was speaking through my thoughts. "Conditions Met: Activating Procedure ◇̧̕≠̧҉∬̷§̷̸͏§̧͜͢†̶̷͢‡̴͞∝̶̢̕""
The next thing I knew, the pulsating glow exuding from the cube exploded like a flashbang before my surroundings went completely dark. -What in the...-
Cutting off my thoughts, the mechanical voice continued. "Severe damage and instability detected."
It was a language I had never heard before, but I somehow understood it clearly. -Instability?-
"Damaged Soul of higher dimensional entity resides in incompatible 3rd Dimensional Body: Results: Invalid"
-What? A soul of higher dimensional bei..- I didn't even have time for a conscious thought to flow before the mechanical voice continued.
"Error: Invalid
Error: Invalid
Error: Impossible
Commencing Repairs."
-Huh? What do you mean commencing repa..-
An extreme, searing pain instantly coursed through my body causing my mind to go blank, shredding all my conscious thoughts to dust before leaving only the sensation of pain.
I couldn't even keep track of time…
After what eventually felt like an eternity, the mechanical voice spoke again. "Repairs and Modifications Complete. Experiment successful."
"AAHH!" As I violently gasped for breath, my eyes shot open. -I'm.. I'm back..?- I was back in the same white room I was before, with my paw buried in a pile of fine black powder where the cube once was.
But before I could move, or take a moment to sort my thoughts, my body went limp, and I collapsed.
*Thump-Cl-Clink*
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Early Evening - Mid Winter : The Eastern Cliffs
- Zachari Ragnarok ~
*Wooosh-Crash* Perched atop a towering cliff, overlooking the ocean as the blinding orange sun began to set, I let out a deep sigh. "Haahh…" -I wonder if any of them have hatched yet…-
"It's about time one of them hatch isn't it?" Piercing the melodious sound of the crashing waves was the soothing voice of Osto Ragnarok, my husband.
"Yeah, I was just thinking about that." Glancing over at him, I watched as his white scales glimmered in the sunset as if they were the waves in the ocean. "They should hatch within the next few days." Turning back to the ocean, a warm smile spread across my face. -To think I'm about to be a mother...-
But as I danced with my own thoughts, excited to finally meet our children, I noticed the air around us shift. -Hm?-
Looking over at Osto again, I saw him looking at the ground with a slightly saddened look. "It's truly a shame I won't be able to see them hatch.."
My eyes instantly went wide. "What? Where are you going?!"
"I was called to Bahamut. They're calling a meeting to discuss the preparations for the festival in 24 years.. the youth event… Supposedly there are some major changes they want to make." A warm smile came to his face as his eyes filled with sadness. "I also need to help your mother with.. what we discussed the other day."
"Oh.. right..." My expression darkened in an instant. -He did mention that…- "Can you not wait.. just a few days?"
I gave him a pleading look, but he simply shook his head. "I delayed my last summons a week, and in put your mother in a hole… I can't do that to her again…"
"But.. our children are hatching…"
He seemed to grimace slightly as he clenched his jaw. "I.. I know…" He paused as he tried to calm his troubled mind before looking back up over the water. "I hate it too, but," he gently motioned my head over before trying to hide the pain in his heart with a confident smile. "I have to make sure Bahamut is ready for them when the time comes, okay?"
Trying to lighten up the mood as well, I tried to smile and leaned my head into his side. "Right.. while you're gone, I'll be sure to raise them to be the strongest in the world!"
"Hahaha, that's my wife. Hopefully, I'll come back soon, but like last time, I just don't know." Straightening his posture he looked out over the water with a mix of confidence and uncertainty.
Knowing he was about to leave, I leaned my body into him. "You'll be safe.. right?"
"Of course! I may not be a freak of nature like your family, but I'm no weakling."
"Haha," I quickly gave him a smug look as I wrapped my tail around his. "Don't be jealous when you come back and find that our children are stronger than you."
"Hoho~ Confident are you?!" He quickly nuzzled his snout into me for a moment, before stopping, pressing his forehead into mine, and speaking softly. "You need to be safe too… Okay?"
I gently nodded before pulling away just enough to look him in the eyes. "Of course. Who do you think you're talking too."
"Haha, I guess you're right." Enjoying the moment after everything fell silent, we both closed our eyes before finally, Osto pulled away.
It was finally time for him to leave.
And as if knowing it would only get harder to leave the longer he waited, he quickly walked up to the edge of the cliff, caressing my cheek one last time with his tail before spreading his massive wings. "If something pops up, I'll send a letter… You know where to retrieve them…"
Gently nodding, I gave him one last soft look. "Be safe, honey…"
*WOOSH* Firmly flapping his wings, he hastily took to the air, gliding out over the ocean with ease until his figure grew smaller.. and smaller.. before eventually passing over the distant horizon.
As the sun continued to set, I remained seated, enjoying the view and the cool, misty ocean breeze to try to alleviate the aching heart in my chest.
But it wasn't until well after the sun set that I finally got up and started flying home.
*Wooosh* The forest around our home had a thick canopy, but as I flew over, returning to the den, I could sometimes spot creatures through small openings.
Sometimes they were nothing but rodents, but others they were as large as field bison.
Seeing monsters like that did nothing but give me anxiety. -This place.. might be a bit dangerous for the kids…- But regardless, it was the place where my family raised its descendants for millennia.
Difficult environments raised strong children after all.
Or at least that's what I thought the reasoning was. -Ah, right.. I should get something for them to eat… I'll just freeze it until they wake up…-
Quickly scanning the forest below once more, I eventually spotted a small clearing with a young field bison, only a few meters long, idly eating grass before diving down and snatching it off the ground.
"EEE!" It screamed as my teeth sank into it, but it only lasted a moment before its body froze solid and its head exploded, spreading fragments of ice over the forest below that flicked in the moonlight.
For a dragon like me, it was less than a snack. -But it should appease the kids for at least a few days…-
Quickly getting back en route, I flew all the way back to the den, in the side of a small mountain not far from the edge of the forest, and landed before its two massive white and gold doors locked by a huge slab of stone.
It easily weighed as much as a dozen adult field bison, a weight impossible for most creatures to budge, but with a firm nudge of my wing, it was undone. *Crrunch-WHAM*
As I finally opened the door and walked inside, I set down the frozen bison before letting my thoughts wander. -Maybe while he's gone I'll try to investigate that artifact he brought home…-
But as I closed the door and looked down the long hall leading into the den, I noticed that one of the eggs on 'golden cradle' was missing, with only the bed of feathers and a tiny piece of egg shell remaining.
-Oh, it looks like one hatched.. but.. where are they?- Slowly creeping into the room, careful with every step, I looked around for anything abnormal, before noticing a weird black spot out of the corner of my eye. -Huh?-
It was a baby dragon, no longer than a human's forearm. He was lying on the ground at the bottom of the golden cradle with his limbs sprawled out as if to take up as much room as possible.
It was truly quite an adorable sight, but…
-It's not white?- Rather than being white, like his mother and father, the small dragon had void-like black scales, with an otherworldly purple and blue glow flowing beneath them.
There wasn't a single trace of either me or Osto in the child. Even his horns were a dark purple that neared black.
-But…- When I leaned closer, I could distinctly feel the connection between us. -It's Vasilias.. but.. what happened to him..-
A mix of confusion and anger started filling me as I inspected him. I thought someone might've tampered with his hatching process but looking around the room revealed that nothing else had changed except the dark artifact I planned to investigate while Osto was gone.
-The artifact turned into sand.. is that what tampered with my sweet baby?!- I glared at the small pile of sand as if I wanted to incinerate it, but quickly calmed myself down, purely grateful that Vasilias seemed to have hatched successfully and looked healthy, even if he looked odd.
Gently picking him up with some mana, I moved him back onto his bed of feathers before finally curling around the golden cradle myself, warmly smiling as I watched his body inflate and shrink from his breathing.
It was an odd sensation, but as I watched him, my stress and worry simply began melting away. My mind was calm, and my heart, which was aching just a moment prior, was warm and soothed.
Before long, an otherworldly drowsiness took over my body, and my eyes, mesmerized by the pulsating glow beneath his scales, drifted closed.
Before I could even realize it.. I had fallen asleep.
But even as I did, there was one thing I desired more than anything.
'Tomorrow'