In the original timeline, Constantine woke up on the dissection table at Cassel Academy. The main trigger for his awakening was his brother, Old Tang, showing up.
But now…
His "brother" didn't come.
Instead, it was his "sister," Xia Mi.
At this moment, Xia Mi raised her left hand, slicing open her wrist with her fingertip. She held the wound above the brass canister. As her dark red Dragon King blood dripped onto the canister's surface, a faint pop-pop sound echoed. Unknown alchemical runes began to shimmer on the canister, only to melt away and vanish at a visible speed.
The process lasted about a few dozen seconds.
Finally.
With a burst of dark green mist, the sturdy brass canister shattered. A low, indescribable roar exploded through the air, sending a shiver through everyone nearby.
"…That should do it."
Xia Mi stopped the flow of her blood, letting her muscles heal the wound as she fixed her gaze ahead. "Wake up… Constantine!"
From the fragments of the broken canister and the swirling mist, the figure of a pale, naked boy—looking no older than ten—slowly emerged. His eyes opened as if stirring from a long dream, his pitch-black gaze scanning his surroundings.
If you only looked at his face, he was actually kind of cute. Maybe a tiny bit like Kimimaro from the Naruto world next door.
But those eyes… they didn't seem to focus on anything. They had this blank, almost goofy look, radiating a pure kind of cluelessness.
"Welcome back, Constantine," Xia Mi said.
"…"
Constantine didn't respond. He just glanced around, still wearing that dazed expression.
"…Huh?"
Xia Mi raised an eyebrow, waving her right hand in front of his face. The motion caught his attention, but his expression didn't change. That reaction made Xia Mi's heart sink a little. She glanced over at Uchiha Hikari. "Big Sis Hikari, is he…?"
"Hm, probably in a similar state to you and Fenrir," Hikari said, already activating her Mangekyō Sharingan. She cast a quick "Tsukuyomi Imprint" on Constantine and used "Yasaka Magatama" to peek into his memories.
Just as she suspected.
Constantine was another unlucky soul. For the past two thousand years, he'd been stuck in the same cycle of "death," "awakening," and "death again" as Xia Mi and her brother. It had taken a heavy toll on his power and memories. This time, he'd been woken up prematurely, before his incubation was complete. His memories were a fragmented mess, and he barely grasped even the most basic concepts.
Still…
He remembered his brother. Not long after waking, he started muttering about him.
"Brother… I need to find my brother…"
"Find him, my foot! Sit down and behave! You really want your brother to eat you or something?" Xia Mi snapped, slipping into her big-sister mode.
Though she hadn't expected Constantine to be in this state, after a quick observation, she got the gist. Channeling the same stern vibe she used with Fenrir, she grabbed some random clothes to cover Constantine's body and sat him down, starting to grill him about what he still knew.
At this point, Constantine could talk. But aside from "brother," everything he said was a jumbled mess, with no logic or structure to it.
Communicating with him was, frankly, a pain.
"…Wait, you're telling me you even forgot what a 'Dragon King' is?"
"And I bet you don't even know who I am, do you?"
Xia Mi pointed at her nose, frowning at Constantine.
As the two little dragon folk tried to have a conversation, Esdeath furrowed her brow slightly, glancing at Uchiha Hikari from behind. She sent a message through their private chat channel.
[Ice Queen]: This is the Dragon King you were talking about? That aura when he broke free was pretty impressive, but this goofy vibe… why does he remind me of the Little Emperor?
[Nameless]: ?
Hikari paused for a second.
She'd met the Little Emperor from the Akame ga Kill world. He was definitely a bit naive—okay, maybe very naive—otherwise, he wouldn't have been manipulated by Minister Honest for so long. But comparing him to Constantine, who could barely string a sentence together? That was a stretch.
Looking at Constantine now, it seemed like even basic life skills—like eating or getting dressed—might be a challenge for him.
As for his combat skills and battle smarts…
Well, considering he got taken down by the entire student body of Cassel Academy and was the first Dragon King to bite the dust, it's safe to say those weren't his strong suits either.
So…
[Nameless]: Eh, maybe I'll have Xia Mi spar with you later for some practice. As for this guy? Let's not pick on someone who's… intellectually challenged.]
"…Big Sis Hikari, I'm done with my questions," Xia Mi said, finally reaching a conclusion. She stood up and looked at Hikari. "This guy's common sense is only slightly better than Fenrir's. Forget about me—he doesn't even remember much about Norton or anything related to dragons. He's not gonna give us any useful leads. But he can understand what people say, and he seems to have a tiny bit of an impression of me."
"Is that so…" Hikari replied noncommittally.
Xia Mi, meanwhile, grabbed Constantine and started introducing him. "This is Big Sis Hikari. She's way above us in seniority. Come on, say hi."
"…Big Sis Hikari," Constantine mumbled obediently, bowing his head like a good kid.
…
After that, Hikari exchanged a few words with Constantine and took the chance to draw a few vials of his blood.
Yeah… it felt a bit like tricking a clueless kid. But given dragons' superhuman recovery and blood regeneration, a little blood loss like that would probably heal in under an hour, so no big deal.
Even without lab tests, you could tell Constantine's blood was different from Xia Mi's just by looking at it. It was noticeably warmer—hot to the touch even through the glass vials. Up close, it seemed to boil constantly, like it might explode any second.
Just to be safe, Hikari pinged Bulma in the group chat and uploaded the blood samples, asking her to pass them to Dr. Brief for analysis. They'd need to check if the vials were sturdy enough to hold this stuff.
[Bulma]: Got it. I'll talk to Dad about it ASAP.]