Unknown Time - Unknown Season : Home
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*Pat-Rub* *Pat-Rub* *Pat-Rub* Laying in Mother's embrace, resting my head on her leg, she gently caressed my back with her snout.
It was so relaxing I could have fallen asleep at any moment, but somehow, I was wide awake… I was restless…
It had been several hours since I woke up at that point. Krystallo had fallen asleep, and Mother had trapped me in her embrace, afraid I would disappear if she let me go.
But things had indeed calmed down.
To ease her mind, Mother spoke extensively about everything I missed, explaining how Krystallo's dragon sleep happened only two months after mine, lasted far longer than normal, and even started speaking out of the blue just a couple of months before I woke up.
Looking down at her, she was probably about two and a half meters tall if she stood up straight, a stark comparison to her previous height of maybe a dozen centimeters. -And to already be able to speak…- "Is it normal for us to grow this much, this fast?"
"Haha~, no, sweetie." Mother let out a warm chuckle as she matched my gaze. "Even if I were to just look at Krystallo, she is well ahead of the curve.. perhaps concerningly so…" She paused as her eyes drifted to Krystallo before turning back to me. "Speaking of you…"
Seeing the judgemental look in her eyes, I instantly tensed.
But her warm tone continued without a drop of skepticism. "How long have you been able to understand my words?"
It was as if she told me to just be honest, as if my answer wouldn't matter. -Considering Krystallo can already speak.. maybe it won't be too odd…- Having also not thought about hiding my ability to understand her before my dragon sleep, odds were I would've gotten caught even if I lied. -So,- "I think I've always been able to." I spoke honestly.
"Haha~, is that so~?" She spoke with a motherly joy, instantly easing my worries. "You really are an oddball." Playfully nuzzling my head with her snout, her smile widened with pride.
*Nuzzle* "Mmmmh… Is that something really that out of the ordinary? What about my other sibling?"
Seeing the smile instantly disappear from her face as she froze, I felt my heart stop.
"Ah…" That was when it started to click. -Where.. are they..?- Slowly looking around, it didn't take long to find that it was just Mother, Krystallo, and I in the huge room.
"He.. never hatched, unfortunately…" Lifting her wing and leaning to the side, she showed me a large white and gold pedestal that sat on the wall behind her, displaying a melon-sized silver scale-covered egg, nearly identical to the one I hatched from.
It was a memorial for my brother, reading: 'In loving memory of Fengari Ragnarok | The Child Truly Cursed by Fate'
With female dragons only being able to have a single clutch in their lives, usually only numbering three to five.. it was beyond devastating. "But don't worry, Vasilias… You and Krystallo are already more than I could have asked for…"
Hearing the pain in her voice as she relaxed and pulled me back into her embrace, I felt my chest tighten.
"There is no need to dwell on it…" Trying to swallow her sadness, she pressed her cheek into mine with a forced smile. "All we can do is pray to Bahamut that his soul is guided to a new home.. and pray that he lives a life he deserves."
-'A new home'.. huh…- My gaze eased as the phrase endlessly repeated in my mind before I suddenly raised my head to pray. -If I was reincarnated, perhaps he will too… I can only hope the being hearing this prayer can help guide him to a better life, just as I myself was…-
"Hmhm~" As Mother let out another muffled chuckle, she lifted her snout in the air just like I did. "I pray to thee, Lord Bahamut, that my lost child can find his way to a life he is able to live to the fullest and that my remaining children may stay healthy and grow strong in his place."
As she lowered her gaze, her refreshed smile found its way to me, this time not forced.
It caused a foreign, but endlessly bright joy to instantly surface in my mind.
The joy of a child.
A joy I embraced without hesitation. -I'm finally.. home…- My tail gently curled as I laid my head on Mother's leg with a widening, comforting smile. -Perhaps.. this is the life fate wanted me to live…-
At that moment, I was so comfortable that I could fall asleep at any moment. As my eyes slowly shut, I could feel myself drifting into the endlessly comfortable embrace of sleep.
However, before I could fall into that wonderful lull, I felt the gentle touches of something climbing up my side, finding its way onto my back before comfortably laying down.
But it only laid still for a moment. *tap-tap-tap-tap* Feeling the gentle thump of Krystallo's tail quickly grow faster, I lethargically opened my eyes and looked back at her.
But she just laid there, curiously staring into my eyes while her tail happily thumped my side. "Mom," She paused as she looked into my eyes before turning up toward Mother. "Why is bwovver a different cowor than me?"
I immediately tensed up. Even I didn't know how to answer that question besides 'I touched some alien artifact'.
Mother, however, responded without a hint of hesitation. "You will know in due time, sweetie." Joyfully nuzzling her, she spoke with pride. "Soon enough, your brother will be the strongest dragon in the world!"
It was a clever way to dodge the question, but instead of feeling a burden from her words, it lit a flame in my chest. "I don't know about the strongest, but I'll definitely be strong enough to protect you!" Giving Krystallo a childish smile laced with unfounded confidence, I felt a blaze spread through my chest. A determination to protect my family unlike anything I had ever felt.
"Hehe," Krystallo seemed to feel it too… Kind of… "Then I will be stwonger than bwovver!" Her eyes instantly locked on me as a competitive flame lit within them.
But it was so cute that I couldn't even take it as a challenge. -Even if I have to go against the world, I'll protect that smile…- A childish mix of arrogance and pride quickly seeped into the back of my mind, but even though I knew it only stemmed from naivety, I accepted it.
This life was one I was going to embrace. -I'm a dragon now… So, I need to learn how to be one.- And while I had yet to understand the weight of that thought, I felt oddly content with it, as if it was correcting a mistake.
But I didn't question it.
*Thump* Laying my head back down on Mother's leg, I felt indescribably at ease. My mind went silent, and my body relaxed.
There was one thought that still lingered though…
"Mom, how long until I can go outside?" I wanted to see the world, and what it looked like, wondering if the sky would be blue and the trees would be green as the images implanted in my mind showed.
But Mother only tensed um. "Uhm…" Hesitating, I could see the endless thoughts zipping by behind her eyes, trying to figure out how to dodge the question before eventually caving. "Haah…" With a long sigh, her expression turned wary and cautious. "I can take you two outside now, but you must promise me you won't wander. You must stay between me and the entrance to the nest." She spoke with a very serious tone.
But it went in one ear and out the other as my expression lit up like a firecracker. -Wait, I can actually go outside?!-
But, upon noticing my enthusiasm, she immediately drowned Krystallo and I with rules before eventually bringing us down the hallway toward the nest's door.
Krystallo seemed somewhat nervous though. -Is she worried because of all the rules?- She seemed abnormally tense and stayed well behind me.
Even as we came to a stop to let Mother nudge open the absolutely colossal, meter-thick marble doors, she stayed at the back.
But instead of poking fun at her, my eyes were glued on the streak of light coming through the crack in the door, quickly adjusting before showing me a sight that was indescribably…
Normal.
Beyond the doors, there was a large grass clearing, devoid of weeds, leading up to a forest of chocolate-colored trees easily fifty or sixty meters tall, creating a thick, ominous darkness beneath the canopy.
But besides the absolutely insane scale of the forest.. everything was normal.
The grass and trees were green, the sky was blue, and the clouds were white. It honestly looked like a place that could have existed on Earth.
But at the same time, its beauty was completely incomparable to anything I had ever seen.
All thanks to my eyes.
Even from hundreds of meters away, I could see everything, whether I wanted to count the veins of a leaf or the spots on the back of an insect.
It was a level of detail only a magnifying glass could rival, yet it was presented to me all at once, with nothing but my eyes.
"Woah…" The words slipped from my mouth so easily that I didn't even realize it. -How beautiful…-
But Krystallo didn't share the same sentiment. As we made our way to the edge of the shade, I looked over to see her looking out into the clearing with an awkward and bothered look. "I'd weather lay on the pile of Movver's tweasure…"
Pausing as she walked out into the sun, Mother's scales glistened. "If you want to go back in, you can, I'll keep the nest cold for you, but your brother looks like he wants to check things out." Glancing at me, she forced a smile through a bit of nervousness.
-'Keep the nest cold'? Is that why it feels so much warmer out here?- Looking back, there was already been a layer of frost coating the doors. -What the…- It was absolutely freezing inside, yet I didn't even notice.
Krystallo certainly did though…
"Hmph, fine then!" *Pat* Sitting down right behind me with a pout, she pridefully looked up into my eyes with a fiery confidence. "I shall stay here to pwotect Bwovver." But after not even a second passed, she scooted herself back to be just behind the doors, into the cold.
-It's definitely warm out here, but is it that uncomfortable for her?- Although I certainly preferred the cold, the warmth outside wasn't bad. -It'll take a little getting used to though…-
Or at least that was what I thought.
Finally making my way out into the sun, warmth instantly wrapped around me like a heavy quilt.
And just like climbing into a warm bed in the middle of winter, an indescribable comfort washed over me. "Oh…"
*Thump* Plopping myself down in the grass, my expression warped with bliss.
But contrarily, Krystallo's warped with panic as she simply saw me collapse. "BWOVVER!" Immediately leaving the cold embrace of the nest, she darted toward me. "DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON ME!!!!"
-Huh?- Quickly snapping out of the blissful trance I had fallen into, I looked back at her just in time for her to slam into my face.
*Thump*