Storm woke up in a space of pure darkness.
Unable to even see the ground he was walking on.
"Hello!!? Aurora?!! Orian?!! Anyone!!?" Yelled Storm.
His panic rose when no one answered.
He remembered his family's situation before passing out. As well as his own.
None of the wounds he had on his body before was showing now. And he had a terrifying suspicion why that was.
A deep rumble sounded from the darkness and the whole space quaked as something large woke up.
A massive red eye, twice the size of his whole body opened in front of him. Slowly the creature was revealed as in uncurled itself.
It was a dragon with prismatic scales that seemed to be constantly shifting colors.
One second it was as red as blood, then a deep blue similar to his own, then green as oak needles.
Constantly shifting between the different shades of scale color dragons are often born with, as if the dragon couldn't decide which color to stick to.
Storm couldn't help but whimper in fear when the full scale of the dragon was revealed.
The dragon in front of him could swallow him like a grape if she wanted without even noticing.
A single fang was the same height as his entire body. No matter how far he strained his neck, he couldn't see her full height.
Her wingspan went on for miles and a single hard flap from those wings could conjure enough wind to crush him flat.
She lowered her head until she could fix a single eye on him. There was a great deal of anger and savagery inside her gaze. She was a predator, cold, calculating, and utterly without mercy.
But as her gaze fell on Storm, it softened and almost seemed to gain a mother's compassion and pride.
"So... We meet again, Raijin..." stated the dragon.
Her voice although deep and gutteral, was still clearly feminine, and contained no malicious intent.
She sounded more like a proud mother addressing her child than the titanic monster she resembled.
Storm cocked his head to the side.
"How do you know me, ancient one? And what do you mean we met before?!" Exclaimed Storm.
His voice was tiny and timid compared to hers.
She sighed as she recalled something.
"Forgive me. I forgot that those who enter here, leave with their memories stripped. But this isn't the first time that you have stood before me." Exclaimed the Dragon.
Storm looked around the dark landscape.
"What is this place?" Asked Storm.
"This is the border between your world and what I believe your kind have named 'Elysium'?
Storm's heart sank.
"Am I... dead...?" He asked.
"You are on the very edge of death... Not fully crossed over... But not fully alive anymore either..." Explained the Dragon.
Storm shook his head in panic.
"No,no,no!!! I can't be dead!! I'm not ready yet!!
You must send me back!!" Cried Storm.
The massive dragon chuckled in front of him.
"Must I, little one?! Only one of us is a god, And yet you would make demands of me?! You truly are one of my brood." Said the dragon in amusement.
Storm swallowed and prayed that he didn't overstep and insult the giant dragon.
"Please!! I beg of you!! I'll give you anything you want!!" Begged Storm.
"And what do you think you can give someone that already has everything?" Stated the dragon.
Storm couldn't think up a proper reply.
"Spare me your groveling, child! I fully intended to send you back once we are done here!" Stated the dragon.
Storm sighed in relief.
"Why am I here then?" Asked Storm.
"Like I said, we already met and you are already on the path of doing something for me. However, it seems despite everything I already gave you. You will still need more to complete my task, and so I have a gift for you!
I believed you could to this alone.
But I see now that you need allies that can match your own power." Explained the Dragon
8 different colored orbs appeared beside her head, each with a different rune engraved on it's face.
They suddenly flew at Storm at high speed before sinking into his chest.
"These are meant for your champions. Each one is a seed that contains a fraction of my own power.
It will start small, but it will eventually grow until it can shatter worlds. These are meant for 8 dragons that will be your generals.
As well as the progenitors of their own variants of dragons" Explained the Dragon.
"How will I know who they are?" Exclaimed Storm.
"Calm yourself. The seeds will know and will seek out each champion on their own.
All you need to do is carry it into your world within your soul. I have already marked each one." Explained the Dragon.
She frowned as she suddenly noticed something she hadn't before.
Fast as a snake, the tip of her tail reached out and wrapped around him while also lifting Storm in the air.
"I sense Enenra's taint in you!!! He has marked you!!!" Exclaimed the Dragon in irritation.
She reached out and shoved a claw right through his body.
He bellowed in pain as he felt her rip something out of him violently before dropping him back on the ground. When he looked up, he saw his shadow clone frantically kicking in her grip to free himself.
"FOUL ABOMINATION!!! I WILL ERASE YOU FROM EXISTENCE!!!" Bellowed the dragon.
"W-wait!!!!" Exclaimed Storm weakly.
She hesitated but didn't release his clone.
"Raijin!! You are aware what this thing is!!? What it wants to do to you?!" Asked the dragon.
"He saved my son's life!!! As well as my own several times already. I owe him a debt!!" Exclaimed Storm.
"It wasn't helping you!! It was helping itself!!" Explained the Dragon.
His clone spat to the ground.
"Don't beg on my behalf. I'm perfectly capable of facing my own adversaries!!" Exclaimed the Doppelganger.
"For once in your life can you just Shut up!! I'm trying to save your life!!" Exclaimed Storm.
"I don't need your help!! I don't need any..." Exclaimed the doppelganger.
Whatever else he was going to say was cut off as she tightened her grip on his chest.
"Don't test my patience 'little shadow' " Threatened the Dragon.
She extended her thoughts into the doppelganger's mind in order to divine it's motives.
First thing she noticed was that this shadow was different to others she had encountered.
For one thing, it's personality was practically identical to Storm. It was at this moment that she realized something.
He was as Storm was before he was reunited with Aurora. Angry, depressed, selfish and self-loathing. But despite this she sensed something else. Storm's bond to his family was unbreakable.
That same bond was duplicated in this doppelganger. It was a twisted, possessive mockery of Storm's pure love, but it was a bond none the less.
This explained the reason why this being loathed Storm so much. He was in possession of the thing he desired more than anything else.
This also made her task much harder.
Even if she did separate the two, the doppelganger would never stop until he could claim what he felt belonged to him.
"If I can't separate them! Then maybe I can combine them?! This way they could both get what they want." Thought the dragon.
She slammed the two souls together before they had any chance to object to her actions, until they merged into a single ball of energy.
Then she slowly began to mold them into a new shape. Once she was done, she stripped them of their memories of their meeting with her and instead planted a false one.
One that showed the Doppelganger attempting to save Storm from death, which resulted in their new merged form. Once she was done, she hurled the soul back towards their home.
"Their bond is fragile right now, but hopefully it will grow in time. They will have need of each other." Thought the Dragon as she watched the soul return to their world.