Music for today:
Aaron Hibell - i feel lost [Epic Version]
https://youtu.be/QgBeg5D-JeA
Chapter 489: Change
Early Afternoon - Mid Summer : Year 39 : Posideon, Draconic Continent
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- Zachari ~
Unlike a pair of leaves dancing in their descent, Vasilias and I ripped through the sky like falcons bolting toward prey. *WooOOOOSH*
The air snapped—the clouds curled—and throughout my new body, adrenaline soaked deep. *fwip-WOOOSH* "AHAHAAA!!" Unable to contain my excitement as I narrowly spun around a flock of birds, I squealed like a little girl lifting off for the first time.
With every twist—every flutter—I could feel Delphi cradle my body, and with every movement, I simply felt... -Free...-
So free it made my heart pound. "I FEEL SO ALIVE!" Peeling back to carve a spiral around the outside of a cloud, I flapped my wings, and as if I wasn't already way past the sound barrier, threw myself into the mist like a weightless rocket. *WOOOOOSH* "HAHAHAA~!"
It felt like shackles had been cut off my ankles—like weights had been taken off my wingtips.
But while I felt lighter than a feather, as I ripped through the bottom of that cloud in a steep dive, I found that wasn't quite the case.
*WOOSH* Seeing the ground that once appeared oh-so distant, begin approaching a little too fast, I spread my wings in a hurry to try and pull up.
But perhaps because I wasn't yet used to my new body, my wings didn't extend perfectly symmetrically, and.. well... *fwip*
-H..Huh..?- The next thing I knew, my wings were jerked around, my body spun, and I found myself hurtling toward the ground back-first...
...Without the altitude to recover. -Uh oh.-
And so, unlike the feather I felt like, I fell like an anvil, trying to grip the air below me with my air to cushion the landing before— *Pomf*
Like landing on an immensely massive cushion, my free-falling body sprawled out, and I slowed down to a gentle stop just short of the ground, where the unfathomable force let me go. *thump*
I didn't know who or what it was, but as I opened my eyes with a flutter of confused blinks, found Vasilias looming over me with a refreshingly childish smile. "Seems like your body will take a bit longer than you thought to get used to, huh?"
"Haha," I couldn't help but let out a laugh between my heavy breaths. "I can't imagine what makes you say that. That was elegant for my first time."
"Haha, you're right. As elegant as a baby chick falling from its nest!"
"Hah," Laying my head back and closing my eyes, I stayed on the ground a moment longer to try and catch my breath—drawing in the countless scents that all seemed more vibrant than they ever had before—before a noise reached my ears...
The noise of a dragon flying...
A dragon I could recognize off the wingbeat alone. "UwaaAAH~! Vasilias!" Trying to reel in my wings to roll over, I struggled for a moment. "Osto is coming! Help me up!"
"Pft-" He instantly scoffed, barely keeping himself from bursting into laughter before giving me a firm nudge that got me to my feet.
-I can't let this chance go to waste!-
It hadn't been long since we had seen each other by that point—at least in memory.
But with a surge of youthfulness I hadn't felt in decades, a fire was lit in my eyes.
*Flutter* Shaking the dirt off my back as I spread my wings, I vividly recalled the moment he returned after reaching the elder stage and took advantage of his growth spurt to overpower me in a play fight we hadn't had since I laid a clutch.
Back then, he was more youthful and energetic than ever, but after years and years of stress having worn me down, I just couldn't keep up.
However, now, with my new body—with my mind free of what had been burdening it—my fire was back, and more ferocious than ever.
*Fwip-WOOOSH* Zipping off the ground with a wingbeat that leveled a section of forest behind me, I blew through the edge of the canopy like a streak of light before spotting a big silver dragon rushing in my direction with a look of worry and panic.
...A look that quickly devolved into shock and confusion as I centered my paw on the top of his head. "Guess who's baaaack!!!"
"H-Huh—?" The stress weighing down his gaze instantly left him like I had kicked it out of him as his head zipped toward the ground. *WOO-HAAMM*
Slamming into the forest floor, he tumbled through trees like a massive boulder, rolling and spinning dozens of times before catching himself and looking up to find me lining up another hit with a smile fundamentally different from any I had shown in years.
But even still, his eyes seemed to gleam with a sparkle of recognition.
"HAHA~!" Even in an entirely new body, the fire in my eyes paired with the barbaric, almost drunken aerial combat posture I had made my signature almost a century ago, made his mind spin with memory. "You better brace yourself, Osto!"
Though, it took a moment for his mind to truly catch up. *fwip-WHAAAMM*
Driving his head into the ground, I simply buried him. "I think it's time I take back that crown you took a few years ago!"
Having smacked it out of him, as he pulled his head out of the ground, gently shaking off the dirt, the fear, stress, and worry that was eating at him just a moment prior was no longer anywhere to be seen.
Instead, a smile more juvenile than any I could remember spread across his face. "You really rang me with that one." Finally opening his eyes again, he took a moment to let them drift over me—his tone almost turning seductive as his stance lowered and tail curled like a whip, "I was so scared I had lost you that I was on the verge of tears a moment ago. I'm glad you knocked some sense back into me."
"Hah, you think death would want me?" My posture lowered to mirror.
"You're right I should've known," Spreading his wings, he gave me a taunting look, "You're too much of a hassle for death to want y—" *WHA—* Cutting his arrogance short, I drove my paw into the side of his head with a wingbeat. *—AAM—CR-R-R-RACKLEE*
But this time, he didn't tumble.
*Crrrunch* Grinding to a halt with his claws dug deep into the dirt, he gave me a smirk through the cloud of wooden shrapnel. "I was wondering where your feist disappeared to~!" But while quite an effective smoke screen, he wasn't one to hide behind it.
*WOOSH* Darting at me, reaching for my neck, I ducked and bolted to the side, spinning to a halt before standing tall and flaring my wings exactly as he did.
It was the motion that declared the official start to our second duel since I had laid my clutch.. but oddly enough, I felt as if I had never rusted to begin with.
"You best be careful, love~." Speaking with a tease, I sent my gaze straight into his soul.
And like an innocent boy before a vixen, he stiffened. His dragon sleep may have rejuvenated him.. it may have shaken off years of damage from stress and mental strain, and made him bigger and stronger than ever...
But he wasn't ready for what I had become.
After all, while we were both in the same draconic stage, and stood at nearly the same height, I had become a dragon fundamentally unique from any other.
And even I didn't know my new limits.
*WO-WOOSH*
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- Vasilias ~
Mom and Dad's play fight went on for hours, but the longer things dragged, the more things became clear.
"You really do have a tendency to make whatever you touch a monster, huh." Hera scoffed somewhat playfully.
Sat a ways up the mountainside, we were watching the fight from afar with a few barrels of Piotita like spectators with popcorn. "I'm not even sure what happened with her."
"What do you mean? Like with her physical changes?"
"Well that too, but," Watching her zip through the sky like a current of electricity while Father darted for the ground, a tilt found its way to my head. "I was talking about her energy. It's really like she's a different person." Her personality wasn't like the warm, gentle one I knew in the past or saw in the void after her reawakening.
But Hera just found my puzzle funny. "It's not abnormal for dragons to be hyper-energetic after waking from a dragon sleep, you know."
-Huh?- Tossing another barrel in my mouth, I gave her a curious glance.
"Hah, you may have not really had much experience with it, but beings that live as long as dragons accumulate imbalances in their bodies from the stress or strain they experience over the years. It's why older ancients are typically more stoic than younger ones. It's not them growing up, or becoming inherently unamused by the world, its the result of stress eating at them for hundreds, or thousands of years."
-Interesting...- "And dragons sleeps reset it?"
"Usually not entirely, like it seems to have for her, but generally, yes." Gently tapping her tail for a reason unbeknownst to me, she paused. "Though I can't say that's the only thing making her more fiery than normal."
"Hm?" Looking over, feeling something was slightly off, I looked her up and down for a moment before stiffening. "Ah..."
Hera wasn't referring to some other biological anomaly I was unfamiliar with...
Rather, it was quite the opposite.
*tap* Brushing her tail against mine, her tone shifted. "You stunted her body's overproduction of MSC1, didn't you?" She was referring to the chemical whose overproduction stunted the growth of new eggs in dragons.
"Y..yeah, I did."
*tap* *tap* "Well that's the other part of it." Her tail curled again as she tapped mine with a thump. "Wondering why its abundance was also present in males, I went to the lab to read up on it some more, and found that chemical did a lot more than just stunt female egg production... You're already familiar with hormones, correct?"
I was quick to nod, but felt my body slowly tensing as if out of instinct.
"Well, the protein messes with those hormones and well, without its overproduction..." She paused again as her posture shifted slightly, "I'm sure you can put the rest together."
Like a statue, I froze.
But she only took the chance to wind her tail around mine. "As soon as you get an idea how to make that adjustment without totally recreating their body from scratch.. you need to tell me." Letting the silence hang for a moment as her tail slithered around mine like a snake, she gave me a look I'd never forget...
And whispered...
"I'm jealous..."
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