Chapter 37: Chapter 29: Nightmare Past Fourteen
Vast green lands, snowy hills and an old stone road stretched out before me.
I rode on a carriage of elegant design while staring out towards the bright blue sky before me.
It warped before me, as if the blue was being sucked from the sky, leaving nothing but darkness and an orange ring around it.
I panicked, jumping off the driver's seat and quickly opening the carriage door.
Arisu walked out, put her arms to her waste and muttered;
'So this is what it all amounts to in the end? Life really is without meaning, unless we find it-'
She turned to face me, streams of blood flowing from her closed eyes, she smiled.
'I should of done more, sorry'
Suddenly the dark veil ripped apart as a green and blue planet appeared above.
The ground started rumbling, louder and louder.
Arisu welcomes her fate.
I turned to my right, inside the carriage I saw a small Oni, begging on her knees and crying in silence.
To my left the forest burned and creators rose up from the ashes, burning everything they touched.
I was powerless to do anything as the worlds collided as everything I cared for disappeared.
...
Opening my eyes, I was sideways in my bed.
Dreams are no strange occurrence to me, although they happened to often be light in nature and quickly forgotten after waking up.
This was different, almost too real and lingered in my mind.
All I could do was take a deep breath.
It unsettled me far more than I wished to admit; thinking about the end of the world.
I had recently moved rooms after Heroes Giving. Although it's on the smaller size, it had all I would ever need outside of a bathroom.
Bookshelves, two separate desks for practical work or study, a large cupboard spanning a full wall with enough room for equipment and a queen sized bed to boot.
Enda didn't want to call this a present, as she had other plans, but that attack left her with far too many questions she needed answers to, nevertheless, I was happy to have a room to myself with walls not constructed of hanging tapestry and carpet.
I thought like I finally had privacy, but in doing so, felt a bit lonely and disconnected at night.
Looking to my bedside table, I saw my windup clock had just passed the roman numeral fourteen, midnight, and I forgot to grab a glass of water before bed.
To say everything in this room was quiet would be an understatement, as the room itself was enchanted to block sounds entering and exiting unless the door is open, only adding to how uneasy I felt.
I decided to go to the toilet and grab some water, hoping to clear my mind in the process.
My room is at the back of a short hallway on the right, opposite a storeroom on the fifth level. This whole area was previously dedicated to Enda's personal collection and records, although she refused to elaborate further on that meaning.
Arisa and Rider mentioned before that she forgot everyone who didn't die by her hands, with the only exception being those whose souls did not originate from this word. I suspected that she had storerooms dedicated to the memories she lost, if she wrote them down.
The few times I woke up at night, I would always see her sitting by the fire in a comfortable chair with her legs crossed, hot tea on a small table next to her, writing in a book.
Another time I came across her beheading herself, just to make sure she didn't fall asleep. I could see why she considered it a curse, even going so far just to avoid closing her eyes, because in that darkness she saw the thousands of people she had killed over her long life.
As I opened my door, I could see the familiar glow of the fireplace coming from the living room to my left, and three separate voices.
"So the trail has gone cold then? Guess I need to step in, eh?"
"How's Ru taking it? I hate to say it, but we need help"
"It's out of the question, not with his price"
Enda, alongside another General and a man I didn't know, all sat in different lounge chairs discussing their next move.
This was the first time I had seen others visit at night, although it wouldn't surprise me if this was a regular occurrence.
"'My price'? I didn't take you for a hypocrite"
"Huh, what's she doing?"
"I adopted two kids, he thinks I'm forcing them to follow in my footsteps"
I figured she was training me so I wasn't in danger when using my relic, however, I still couldn't help but feel like she wanted me to take on the 'self proclaimed goddess' in the future, regardless of what she said.
"You're training them, you're teaching them, are you not?"
"Skaalbran, it's painfully obvious you're mixing up being a parent with-"
"It's alright. Arisu does what she wants, all I did was help her land on her feet. One day I expect Touji to speak up, then I will support whatever he chooses. What you want is not the same"
"Uh, hey, what's going on?"
It felt wrong to eavesdrop on a conversation like this, and I had a gut feeling I could help.
Of the two strangers, I recognised one as the woman Enda disguised herself as a few weeks ago. She was dressed in a slightly armored bomber coat and jeans, with gloves and goggles on the coffee table in front of her.
"I... Didn't realize you would be almost as tall as her"
"What do you mean?"
"During the attack I used you as a disguise. You are the poster girl of the Flying Knights after all"
"Hey! I told you not to do that! *sigh* Please tell me you told them the truth"
"I did, and I took a spear to the heart for it. As for your height..."
"Touji was it? Can you keep a secret"
"Yeah, but I feel like everyone's been trusting me too much..."
Maybe I was becoming paranoid, but since avoiding focusing on anyone to avoid using my blessing, people began to open up to me easily. None of it felt real, like I earned that trust, and that worried me.
"Well, most can guess at a glance because of my hair"
"Is blue hair that uncommon?"
"Wait, you don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Depending on the sheen, this color hair-"
"Wait *cough* Touji, do you... know about 'The Dragons and the Drakes'?"
"Pft! Hahahaha! Out of all the things, I never expected to see you embarrassed! You two are meant to be the 'parents' after all! Hahaha!"
This was the first time I had seen her embarrassed, ever.
Skaalbran wore a similar outfit to the woman with blue hair, however, he had baggy black pants and no metal armor grafted to his jacket. With broad shoulders and a relatively bulky, but athletic build.
He had piercing blue eyes and brown hair with a short, well trimmed beard. He looked relatively the same age as the woman, around thirty and both seemed very relaxed. I noticed he balanced a large metal stein on his belly, sipping from each as they talked.
Looking to the girl on my left, both were drinking. Only Enda drank tea, I figured I'd ask why she didn't later, although I expected a boring answer.
"I've know since I was twelve, Rider told me enough"
"Looks like she's got you beat Enda, better give him up to her *chuckle*"
At this point in time, I did consider Rider more of an unrelated aunt.
He wasn't drunk, but flipped from serious to silly after I spoke up, although I got the feeling he would be a fun drunk. I got to see all walks of life when working in the guild halls kitchen when I was younger.
"I- Lack experience in this sort of thing, forgive me"
"It's alright, I'll have to do the same thing soon with my anklebiters. Anyway, Touji, do you know what a hybrid is?"
"Like a High-drake?"
"Yeah, what do you think happens when a human and a high-drake have a kid?"
"Isn't it based on who the mother is?"
"Yes. Nine times out of ten, that is the case for compatible races. I'll spare you the details, but any race with strong dragon blood has females that lay eggs. On the flip side, a male high-drake shouldn't be able to have a child with a human... So here I am"
"Wait, so you're like, a new race or something? That's cool"
"Cool? I guess that's one way of putting it, but not entirely accurate. I'm more human than high-drake. To both, I'm a monstrosity for being one fourth dragon, at least back then I was"
"Ha! Not anymore. She's the best damn dragon tamer I've ever seen. Listen kid, without her, this city wouldn't have-"
"That's enough, you two. Touji, did something happen? Do you want to talk in private?"
"No, I-, uh, I just woke up and need to get a drink, go to the bathroom sort of thing"
"Alright. Just know I'm here if you need me, always"
"Okay..."
"Oh, by the way, try not to disturb... Them. They're talking about... *sigh* I don't know what you said to her"
"It's fine, I get it, I wasn't going to her anyway"
"No, as in, they're on the roof so don't-"
"I'm not some pervert you know!"
I highly doubt what they were up to was anything lewd, but the thought couldn't escape my head quickly enough when I responded.
If anything, I could only guess they were stargazing and talking about their future.
It always felt like things came and went in bursts of speed, and all I could do was watch from the side-lines.
Like I should do more, push myself a bit, but it was hard.
"Heh, can never be too sure with a kid around your age. When I was sixteen, I spent my time chasing the hottest girls I could hehehe"
"And where did that get you, huh?"
"Well, I've had my fair share of-"
"Please. Both of you. At least sign the papers before you drink too much"
"Why do you need pianos anyway? I better get a bonus for this"
"Uh, I'm going to go... Nice to meet you uhhh"
"Ellia Soarhart"
"Skaalbran Wallin"
They raised their steins to me as I left before drinking some more. This whole night had been way too strange.
I headed to the bathroom, grabbed a drink then walked back to bed.
The nightmare still lingered in my mind.
When I tried to meditate earlier today to get a sense of 'life force', it was to no avail. Of course it didn't help when a shameless Oni thought it would be funny to show off her mastery of basic magic whilst trying her hardest to break my concentration when I never had it in the first place.
Then I remembered something thanks to her.
I might not be able to get the sensing down straight away, but I thought of something else, another technique that I had pulled off before without realizing it until later.
"Maybe I can channel it into a punch again..."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Aardartem
Aardartem To be honest, I'm worried that I would go overboard with dialog so try to balance it at times. It's hard to know if I ever get it right. I'm learning as I go, but it's hard to do it without feedback.
Ellia Soarhart, is in part inspired by Amelia Earhart, while Skaalbran Wallin is inspired by 'Skal' and Beowulf. I can't wait to write more about both of them.
As to 'The Dragons and The Drakes', I mean, that's more on the nose.
P.S. Sorry about the delay on this one as well, I've been too busy with too many things and I'm not proud of the delay alongside not spending time on rewrites.
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