Dragonlord

Ep 129. I Am Not Your Mother. (2)

Ep 129. I Am Not Your Mother. (2)

Raizel reluctantly sat down by her friend’s side, kicking her tongue in annoyance.

But even so, the steel dragon took care not to wake up the two sleeping siblings. She merely complained under her breath, talking to no one in particular.

“Tsk. Why do I have to look after them? It’s not like anyone’s gonna come here…”

The dragonlord had gone a little distance away with Karas, carrying an unconscious body with them. Their entire excuse was ‘to not wake up the sleeping children’ through their conversation, but Raizel was still failing to see why she needed to keep watch over the others.

But complain as she may, the youngling tried her best to keep watch as told – for the first few minutes.

Gradually, the steel dragon lost herself in boredom. Her tired eyes refused to remain open, and her sore body refused to sit upright for very long.

And, soon enough, the number of sleeping children went up from two to three.

Just as intended.

✧   ✧   ✧

Serenis quizzically tilted her head. While Karas had told her of all that’s happened in her absence, there was still one aspect of his story that failed to make sense.

And she was looking at it right now.

“This is…a deity, you say.”

“Was, to be specific. Though she’s currently asleep due to certain…extraneous circumstances.”

“And you’d like me to confirm whether she’s a dragonkin or not?”

“Quite. That is within your capabilities, yes?”

“It is, but…”

Even as Serenis answered, the uncertainty in her gaze remained the same as she beheld the two horns protruding from Aymeia’s head.

‘Those horns…’

The strange, orange-haired deity possessed neither wings nor tail; in fact, there was little besides her horns to suggest her origins.

But even so, the small resemblance she shared was more disturbing than anything else.

Taking a deep breath, Serenis quietly began to speak to the sleeping star deity.

“☐☐☐.”

“…”

”…Arise, child.”

Truthfully, Serenis had no expectations whatsoever; if anything, she hoped that the deity wouldn’t react. She hoped their strange resemblance to her kin a mere coincidence of an otherwise unrelated individual.

The girl before her didn’t feel nor look like her kin. It may even be ridiculous to think that a dragon would have held the position of a deity.

But of course, life doesn’t always go according to one’s expectations.

“…Mnn.”

“?!”

‘It worked?!’

Aymeia immediately awoke from her slumber as both Serenis and Karas watched on. A deep frown crossed the deity’s face as she caressed her aching arms, scanning her new surroundings with a pair of stretched pupils.

“Where am I…huh?”

Finally, the deity’s eyes locked with the dragonlord before her.

“…”

“…”

One of them remained unable to process the situation at hand; Serenis struggled to realize what was going on, unsure of what to even say to the awoken deity.

And the other traced her hazy memories, trying to recognize who the person before her was; when Aymeia ultimately broke her long silence, her spoken phrase carried a hint of hope and longing.

And it was all the more disturbing because of it.

“…Mother?”

✧   ✧   ✧

The first thought that crossed the dragonlord’s mind was how thankful she was that Raizel wasn’t awake to hear this.

The second thought that crossed her mind was how to deny what was just said.

However, contrary to the dragonlord’s contorted expression, the smile on Aymeia’s face continued to brighten with her increasing certainty.

“Mother…it is you, right? You’re…you’re alive…!”

“…”

Unable to answer the girl, Serenis instead turned to Karas once more.

“…Karas. What you’ve said earlier…are you certain?”

“…The Deity of Stars has inherited the will of a certain dragon, and yet retains their will.”

“…”
“Or so I’ve read, anyhow. To this day, she’s worshipped as Asarda’s guardian. It’s said that when Aymeia was devoted to keeping the land, Asarda was once a warm region full of life…unlike its current cold climate.”

Serenis returned her attention to Aymeia with a complicated mix of emotions.

Meanwhile, the voice in Karas’ head was absolutely delighted by his words.

‘Ahahaha! Inherited their will? Where did that come from? Did I not just tell you that she was fused with the second lord’s blood?’

‘…Shut up, Felicir. Serenis is sensitive enough about matters regarding her kin as is – if I were to tell her the truth, your precious Aymeia would disappear without a trace.’

‘Ahh…haha. Fair enough.’

‘And besides, your story’s doubtful to begin with. How can an infusion of blood cause a disturbance in someone’s memories? The two have nothing to do with each other.’

‘Ah, you misunderstand. Vulka’s blood only caused her body to change – which was merely a measure to contain her shard. What I’m understanding is that the change it brought caused her to select favorable memories from her divinity that matched Vulka’s.’

‘…So, to put it short, she’s the victim of your screw-up.’

‘…Yes, but must you put it like that? It’s not like I intended to have my dearest student turn into a maddened half-dragon. What else was I supposed to do, leave the shard be and risk a spatial disaster every year?’

‘None of that changes the fact that you screwed up.’

Following suit, Karas likewise shifted his attention to the star deity. But she was still smiling, her eyes longingly fixed on the dragonlord before her.

Forcibly lifting her aching arms, Aymeia wrapped herself around Serenis.

“Mother…welcome back. I missed you!”

“…”

Biting her lips, Serenis tossed away the girl’s arms around her shoulders, glaring back with a pained expression.

“…I am not your mother.”

“Huh? But…”

“And you are not my child. You are but mistakenly thinking so.”

“…”

When Aymeia lowered her head, Serenis let out a small sigh. For a brief moment, it seemed like the deity was accepting the dragonlord’s words.

But soon after, Aymeia’s tears struck the ground beneath her.

“…I, I’m sorry…is it because I broke our promise?”

“What? No, that’s not-“

“I, I tried my best…to keep the children safe…”

“Child…listen, I…”

“Everything was so…difficult…the Reaper never stopped haunting us. The hatchlings suffered the worst of it…”

“…

“I had to do as he said. I had to cast your heart away…”

Breaking into a quiet sob, Aymeia once again held Serenis with shaking arms.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, I didn’t want to. I had no choice, there was nothing else I could do. Forgive me…”

A long sigh escaped the dragonlord’s lips. She softly placed her hands over Aymeia’s shaking figure, holding her as she would her own children.

This wasn’t her child – that much, she knew.  Aymeia was merely a victim of her role, their identity lost beyond the depths of someone else’s memories.

The ‘someone’ that had missed their mother a lot more than they would ever have admitted.

Finally, Serenis began to speak in low, longing whispers.

“You’ve done no wrong. None of it was your fault, and you’ve nothing to seek forgiveness for.”

“…But…”

“There’s no need to apologize. You’ve…”

…I wanted to tell you.

That day, when I awoke in this body – when I was told of our kin’s survival – I wanted to believe that you’d still be there.

And you were. But you were no longer of this world.

Had you still lived, I wanted to tell you. That…

“…You’ve done more than anything I could ever ask for. I’m very proud of you.”

“…”

Amidst the gentle touch, the hazy voice in Aymeia’s memories grew ever clearer.

Now, she could remember what that voice had called her.

It was these very hands, this very voice. A gentle touch that would keep the heart at ease, a voice that would calm the world around them.

But in stark contrast to her comforting words, the pain in Serenis’ eyes only grew.

What would you have me do? If you were still here…

What would you have done, Vulka?