Late Afternoon - Late Fall : The Cabinet | Eastern Bahamut
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"Oh my~," Hera spoke with a smile as I finally ca in for a landing. "Look who's finally back~."
She noticed my presence from much farther away, but acted as if she only noticed as Mother looked up at . *Fwooosh* *Fwoooosh-Fwoosh-Thump* "What has you in such a good mood?" I spoke warmly as I shrunk down to about thirty ters, the sa size as Hera and Mother.
"Hoho~, how could I not be in a good mood? Just look at yourself~." Looking over at Mom, her grin widened with a hint of greed. "I told you that he would be fine, Zachari."
But she didn't seem to even notice. "W..What did I miss?" With a mix of awe woven into her voice, she never took her eyes off . "Vasilias?"
Quickly walking over to her, my playful smile turned warm and I lowered my head to place it under her chin before gently laying down. "I'm back, Mom."
The worry instantly drained from her face as relief washed through her eyes. "I.. I thought you died..." But it was quickly drowned in panic. "W-What happened?!" Pulling her head off mine, she looked down my body in a hurry before tapping my horn. "You broke a horn?! Did you get in a fight?! Which bastard dared?!" She spoke through tears as the endless emotions pent up over the last few months were finally released.
-So the connection really did break...- A wave of guilt overtook my mind as I lowered my head to her chest.. but after a mont, a warm smile swept across my face. "I can explain, Mom... I can finally explain..." Looking at the firm, defined soul in her chest, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the endless warmth flowing from it.
It was the familiar warmth of Mother's presence.
A warmth that could thaw anything.. even a soul frozen by the pain of lives long past...
"V..Vasilias?" She paused, pulling up my head to look into my eyes before her panic eased. "You're.. really back?" She firmly gripped my arm as if afraid I would suddenly try and run away.
But there was no place I'd rather be.
With a gentle nod, her tears began flowing like a waterfall, and as I raised my head, she imdiately lowered hers to rub her cheek against mine.
It felt good. I was finally back.
But Mother's grip on my arm only tightened. "You better tell everything this ti..." Pulling her head away to wipe her eye with the claw of her wing, an endless joy seeped into her voice. "I want to hear the full story."
My cheeks felt sore from smiling so much. "Okay... I promise I'll tell you everything, but..." I paused as I looked into her eyes. "I think it should wait until I can wake up Dad."
Her expression tensed for a mont. "Wake him.. up?"
I gently nodded. "If you can just give a month, I'll accelerate his dragon sleep and wake him up."
She seed shocked as she gave a hesitant look, but after a mont, her gaze eased. "Okay... Right... All that matters is you're back." *Pat* Firmly pressing her forehead into mine, her tears seed to stop, and her usual calm but confident deanor began shining once more. "Hmhm~, but I think you should probably hide in the anti."
Hearing her suppressed chuckle, I tilted my head. "Huh? What do you an?" But as I looked up at her, I noticed her head deliberated held back, far away from , with a nervous smile. -What on earth is she...-
*CRACKLE* -Huh?- Hearing the familiar crackle of hydrogen being ignited, I looked to my side, only to have my vision blocked by a thick white blanket. -Why is Mom holding a blanket...-
But that question was answered in an instant. "YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" *WHAAAAAAM* A furious yell t my ears as the blanket suddenly slamd into my nose with the weight of an entire dragon behind it.
It hit so hard it knocked my head back, and to play along, I rolled onto my back, making it seem like she knocked over.
But Mother, even though she seed to be in on it, exploded. "KRYSTALLO! WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!"
"NO! HE MADE YOU CRY AGAIN! Why don't you ever discipline him like you do ?! Last ti I made you worry, you grounded for a whole week!" *Thump-Thump* She angrily stomped the underside of my head as she pouted at Mom.
But she wasn't having any of it. "You were hanging out with that troublemaker! Of course I grounded you!"
"He's just a friend Mom! What's the prob-"
Cutting her off, my wagging tail stopped sweeping over the ground and I lifted her off my face with my aura. "Excuse ? 'He'?"
But instead of shriveling up, her confidence only grew as if thinking I would take her side. "I made a friend recently, but Mom keeps trying to prevent us from hanging out! It's unfair! You get so much freedom!"
She had a fair point. "But I have that freedom because I'm strong."
Turning her angry gaze to she shot a railgun bead at my nose, *CRACK* only for it to liquefy without leaving a scratch. "USELESSLY STRONG! But I'm the best in my class, so why can't I have anything..."
Looking over at Mom, she seed to know what I was going to ask.
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"The young boy she wants to hang out with has parents that were involved in the halfie rebellion-"
"HIS PARENTS, BUT NOT HIM!" Krystallo interupted.
But Mother quickly continued. "We suspect he may still have so ties with an.. unsavory group."
"HOW MANY TIS DO I HAVE TO SAY HE'S AN ORPHAN!"
Looking over at Hera, I found her wearing a shockingly serious expression.
She spoke eerily seriously as well. "It is actually possible. I've had the thunderbirds keeping a close eye on so select individuals recently, and his movents aren't exactly unconvincing."
-For Hera to be that serious...- "What's the group you think he's connected with?" I knew it had to be more serious than Krystallo just making a troubleso relationship.
"It's a cult that popped up about six months ago, when the apostles in Siratha suddenly went silent."
-A cult?- "Who are they worshipping?"
"We aren't sure." She spoke through a sigh. "All we know is that it's not anyone in the Aesir, nor you, Bahamut, or Myles.. although so people worshipping him have popped up."
-A god that isn't any of those?- "Do you have any ideas on who it could be?"
She gently nodded. "Have you heard of the 'God of the Deep'? It's the god of the rfolk."
-What?- "I vaguely know of it... Is that the god you think it is?" Seeing her nod, I tilted my head. "What are they doing for you to treat such an insignificant thing with caution?"
Her gaze instantly stiffened. "Is dragon's worshipping so unknown god out of the blue not.. odd to you?"
-Given the current state of Bahamut...- "Not at all." I spoke bluntly. "But, it may be worth looking into." -If it's a god that's alive, they could turn out to be pretty useful...- Looking up into Hera's eyes, I spoke nonchalantly. "You want to go check things out?"
Her gaze instantly eased as she tilted her head. "Are you going to co with ?" The mont I nodded, her expression lit up like a lightbulb. "Then of course~!"
*Thump* Throwing another tal bead at , Krystallo tried to get my attention. "You better bring with you this ti..." She was already getting upset thinking I would decline like usual.
But this ti... "I planned to bring you with from the beginning. We'll see if your friend can give us a lead." Finally setting her down on my chest, I rolled my head back to relax. "But let's save that for later. I want to relax so for once..." Closing my eyes, I wanted to simply zone out.
But after just a mont, I felt a series of annoyed stomps on my chest. "Are you not going to tell what happened? Where is Ilios? And why do you look so different?"
"Hahaha," Letting out a warm laugh, Hera quickly walked over before laying next to . "Are you really going to pester your brother right after he returns?"
"YES!" *Stomp-Stomp* "He never tells anything!" She sounded quite upset.
But it was as adorable as ever. "Krystallo, if I said I reincarnated myself, would you believe ?"
Mom instantly tensed up knowing I wouldn't lie like that, but Krystallo just angrily looked at . "Tell a more believable lie."
"Hmm.. how about, 'I finally stepped into the realm of godhood'?"
Opening my eyes to peek at her, I imdiately found her glaring at with an unamused look.
But it only made want to laugh. "Haha, don't worry. I'll tell you everything in due ti, I promise."
*Pat-Pat* Finally laying down on my chest, she gave a dejected look before speaking softly. "That's what you always say..."
But I had nothing else to say. -It's just.. not the right ti for you to know...-
To be completely honest, I still wasn't sure how much I was going to tell them. I wanted to tell Mother and Father everything, but at the sa ti, I wondered if ignorance was sothing they would prefer. -If I tell them about my previous lives, will they look at like I was just a god that took the place of their child? Will they think I was acting..?-
At long last, I could finally be confident that I was .. that my identity belonged to no one else.. but at the sa ti, thinking about telling Mother and Father the whole story made my chest burn.
"~You should tell them...~"
Hearing a voice, I slowly opened my eyes to find myself beneath the dark night sky, with Krystallo sleeping soundly on my chest, and Mother deep asleep with her head pressed into my side. "~So you know...~" Looking toward the voice, I imdiately found myself in Hera's gaze.
"~I know the gist of it...~" She spoke with her divinity while keeping her eyes locked on mine. "~You finally got your mories back, didn't you...~"
"~So of them...~" I continued as I looked up to the sky. "~A lot is still blurry...~"
As a slightly warm smile ca to her face, she paused and lifter her head, following my gaze up to the stars. "~So, who is the person I'm talking to now?~"
"~Vasilias Ragnarok.~" I spoke bluntly. "~The mories I got back were of my past lives... Nothing more...~"
Looking back at , her grin softened. "~Then what is there to worry about?~" Laying her head back down, she stared straight into my eyes. "~The affection you just showed her was more than enough evidence that you are her son. Unless you were acting, there's nothing to worry about.~"
Finally looking up at the sky again, I felt the need to sigh. "~I hope you're right...~"
But Hera simply nudged my cheek with her snout. *Tap* "~Just don't let it eat at you, okay? You wouldn't be this anxious if you didn't care for them, and I'm certain Zachari recognizes that.~"
"~I just...~" -I don't want to risk losing out on monts like this...- Feeling Krystallo's gentle heartbeat, the mories of standing over my Mother's body in my past life surfaced, and my chest clenched.
But after a mont of staring into my eyes, Hera's gaze softened and she started standing up. "~Since it seems like you want so ti with your thoughts, I'll leave you to rest...~"
But I imdiately stopped her. "~No...~" I spoke firmly before my tone softened. "~I'd like for you to stay...~"
It made her tone and gaze warm in an instant. "~Okay,~" Gently laying back down, she moved just a pinch closer to before laying her head right next to mine. "~Then I won't go anywhere...~"
"Huff," I let out a breath as if holding back a chuckle before I turned my warm gaze back up to the sky.
For the first evening in what felt like countless millennia, I was able to rest with the warmth of others' affection and company filling my chest.
And before I knew it, with the lody of nature filling the air, and the gentle thump of Krystallo's heart on my chest, I fell into a sleep so deep that it didn't feel real...
It honestly felt like everything that had happened was part of an elaborate dream.. an endless illusion...
But even if that was the case, and it was all an illusion.. all a dream manifested by my mind's deepest desires.. it was a dream I never wanted to wake from.
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Sorry for all the delays recently! I've been busy with classwork recently, but it should be back to normal now :)
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