I will strive beyond this cursed bloodline!

The room was dark, there was an undercurrent of tension in the atmosphere, the only sound that could be heard was the sound made from occasional bubbles rising in the inside of the giant vats on the middle of the room.

There was a row of dozens of chemical vats in the room, most of these were empty…Except for two at the center, on those two there were a pair of girls. On the left was a pink-haired girl, she was dressed in a white hospital gown and while her eyes were closed, she seemed calm and placid, as if she was having the best dream of her life.

To her right was a red-haired girl, similarly, she was also dressed in a white hospital gown, her chest was more pronounced than the other girl giving her a more alluring aspect, and like the other girl, she seemed calm and sleeping peacefully.

“...Mistress? We are ready for the next procedure. Do you wish to do it?” A small voice spoke in this room. It was a small girl dressed in a maid outfit, her body seemed disproportioned, way too small for her.

For the fraction of a second to the eyes of Elizabeth, she could see an older woman dressed in a lab coat with a scowl on her face, but the image faded away easily enough.

“Proceed.” But Elizabeth dismissed that, she turned her attention to the two vats in front of her. “...I want every ounce of mana purged.”

She loathed it, she loathed the fact of what had happened to Rossie and Rena. She loathed the fact that it was her own mana the one that had hurt her, and she loathed the fact that she had hurt them both. She…wanted to rip her heart out, she had tried to do that when she landed on this place a couple of days ago.

It was only the relentless might of her shadow dragons that had stopped her from doing so, that and the fact that if she did that... the place could collapse on their heads. She didn’t want that.

She would first make sure that Rossie and Rena were okay, then would do her best so that this didn’t happen again…After that?

She wasn’t sure. Could she even do something about this?

Could she…DISCARD HER DIVINE RIGHT? HER RIGHTFUL PLACE ATOP THE PUNY HUMA-

*stab*

“Mistress, please stop stabbing yourself here. You are contaminating the site.” Beatrice no longer tried to stop her anymore, but this was the only way Elizabeth had at the moment to deal with this.

“...I will take it under consideration,” Elizabeth answered while she removed the shadow spear that had lodged itself in her chest. It was quite an interesting conundrum the one Elizabeth was at the moment.

She…wasn’t quite sure how they had arrived here. What place was here? It was…[The Fallen City of Aquila], the crown gem of the Saintsworths…And what became her [Soulscape].

She had visited this place plenty of times of course, and was aware that some of her minions could materialize a physical form here, Aura was one such example. Nyx of course was among those…And while Elizabeth could visit and travel around the place…This was a new phenomenon all together.

She had come here with her physical body…More importantly, she had come straight to this chamber with both Rossie and Rena, as soon as she came here crying their minions had acted as if they had expected this to happen. They cleaned the blood from both girls, treated their wounds…Undressed and put on their hospital gowns and when that was done they placed them upon the vats.

The goddamned vats.

They were technology way ahead of anything that Elizabeth had seen, as soon as the vats closed mechanical arms sprouted and linked themselves to the girls, they connected them to a nutrient feed, administered IV medicine and one even put a mask on them so they could breathe.

“Mana purged, starting saturation….” And the thing seemed to be ready to deal with the mana poisoning…

Because that was the crux of the matter, she had poisoned the two girls she loved more than anything in the world. Elizabeth had gone too cocky, she had thought that her mana was something good, something great even. An unending stream of mana? That could only be good right?

IT WAS HER RIGHT AFTER ALL, IT WAS WHO SHE WAS. HOW COULD IT BE BAD? IT WAS THE STUP-

*CRASH*

“...I know I said no stabbing Mistress, but throwing yourself against a wall does not solve the issue.” Beatrice admonished her once more, the girl was GROWING TOO COCKY- *Slap*

“Don’t do that Beato, not now. I don’t want to have a conversation with Rossie about what happened to you when she wakes up.” Elizabeth said while nursing her face, she had slapped herself as soon as she felt the influence creep upon her mind.

Because that was another whole matter at hand, she was…getting out of control. Her Inheritance was too strong, she was letting herself be dominated by her impulses. What had [The World] said?

She had the body and soul of a [Dragon], and her mind? Her Mind was that of a [Human]. She hadn’t worried too much about that, she had [Skills] to deal with that, didn’t she?

Clenching her hand she felt the energy wanting to burst out, even at this moment her body was brimming with [Mana]. Her [Heart] beat every second, and each second that it did more [Mana] coursed through her body.

“Saturation ended…results nominal…Mistress, we are done with today’s treatment. Do you want-” Beatrice spoke once more.

“Yes, I will eat here,” Elizabeth answered before the little maid finished speaking.

“You ought to go outside, Mother and Lady Rena will not mind you leaving you know? They will worry sick when they find out you didn’t left.” Beatrice said in a small voice, the little girl looked at her…sad? Yes, she was sad. Of course, she would be, her Mother was unconscious and the one that hurt her was as if nothing.

Elizabeth could stab herself, crush herself, hell…she wasn’t even sure if decapitation would do something to her in this place. Somehow here she was….almost like a [God].

“Rossie didn’t left my side, and Rena wouldn’t either. So I will wait here.” Elizabeth said while sitting in front of the two vats. Waiting.

Rossie waited almost half a year, right? Rena waited for someone to rescue her for almost fifteen years. Elizabeth could wait at least a couple weeks before trying something extreme….Or at least till she wasn’t watched 24/7 by her own Minions to make sure she didn’t try to rip out her [Heart]...again.

Tch…the stupid things didn’t trust her. Stupid Shadow Dragon Order, stupid Shadow Dragon Council….Stupid, stupid, stupid….

—----------------------------------------------------------------

“Mistress? You need some fresh air, you are starting to look pale.” Elizabeth woke up from her SLUMBER, no. From her cat nap, yes.

She woke up from her nap in the corner of the room, she had tried to sleep in one of the empty vats but that only gave her nightmares and she almost broke the thing when trying to escape, so she settled for sleeping under one of the desks. It was quite comfortable.

Like a DRAGON CAVE….No, humans don’t sleep in caves, it was closer to a tent, like the one her Papa liked to use when they went camping in the mountains.

“Mistress?” Perhaps she could go to one of those mountains? She remembered a few caves that could be a good place to set up a HOARD. Yes, she would need some “ELIZABETH!”

*Slap*

“WHAT THAT WAS THAT FOR?!?!?” Elizabeth screamed back as she stood and walked back looking at the face of a little girl with tears in her eyes, Beatrice was crying, why? “Did something happen to Rossie? Rena? What happened while I slept?!?”

Elizabeth exclaimed while turning her attention towards the two vats, she summoned the holoprojectors with a flick of her hand, before all of this happened she perhaps would have used her shadows or her senses to feel the situation. But after what happened? Elizabeth wasn’t entirely sure if she should depend so much on that part of her skill set.

“Everything seems okay? What was the slap for then?” Elizabeth said turning to the little girl.

“Leave…” The little girl whispered, if Elizabeth didn’t have her current level of body she probably wouldn’t have heard that, “LEAVE!”

The second one was closer to a scream, so of course she heard it. “...You can’t just….This is MY DOMAIN.” Elizabeth roared the last part, she half expected a rebuttal, but instead, she only saw the little girl cry a little more.

“A week ago I would have needed to remind you to not stab yourself, a couple of days ago I would have needed to clean your blood from a wall after you threw yourself at it…But nowadays? You don’t even notice it anymore do you, Mistress?” Beatrice said amidst tears.

“Notice? What? What is happening?” Elizabeth asked confused.

“Mistress…No, Elizabeth. You have been focusing too much on your [Heart], on your [Mana], and in what it means…You are what you want to be, you wanted to remain [Human] so your form was that of a [Human], but if you focus on your [Dragon] side…” Beatrice said as she took a handkerchief and cleaned her nose with it. “Tell me Elizabeth, do you wish to remain Human because it's convenient? Because you want to enjoy your time? Or because that is what you are?”

What kind of question was that? Elizabeth was…She was…

What was she?

“What am I to you?” Elizabeth decided to take the easy way out by asking that.

“You are Elizabeth Strabright, the Mistress of Shadows. Our Empress. Our Ruler…My progenitor.” Was the answer she was given.

“Progenitor? Not Mother?” Elizabeth asked back, unsure why she was irked by THE BRAT’S DISRESPECT FOR HER.

“I was born from a fragment of Rossaline Singh’s soul and gestated using Elizabeth Starbright’s Mana. Tell me, are you either of those? Or are you a [Dragon]? Do you answer to a [Human Name] or a [Dragon Name]?” Beatrice asked her back.

That was easy enough, she was of course….

…………..

“Oh…dang it.” Elizabeth couldn’t answer, the mere idea of saying her name was that of a [Human] MADE HER WHOLE BODY RECOIL IN DISGUST. “...Well, this is a conundrum isn’t it?”

“Perhaps a day in the city would help you settle down? Having anything and everything at your beck and call must be doing wonders to your Ego, Mistress.” The cheeky brat said, Elizabeth thought to SQUISH THE LITTLE THING. But refrained from doing so because she knew that Rossie would be sad from that.

And making sure wasn’t sad was important, she wasn’t sure why. But it was important.

“Fine, but you WILL REPORT as soon as something happens,” Elizabeth COMMANDED. She could feel her [Mana] tying the IMPUDENT BRAT, so she turned to the mirror and looked at herself. She was still a looker no matter who said what, even with a week of bed hair she was gorgeous.

“Perhaps a bath is in order? And some clothes….and some modifications…Humans usually don’t have horns nor wings…or claws and Tail for that matter.” Beatrice nagged behind her. What was the problem with having horns? Or a Tail for that matter, an extra hand was handy!

And her wings were warm, they worked as an extra blanket!

“Mistress….” Beatrice frowned at her. The CHEEKY BRAT was getting out of control.

“You are lucky Rossie would be sad if something happened to you, fine. Let me just…” Elizabeth said trying to summon the [Skill] but somehow her mana seemed to break the thing, she was…generating more mana than usual, was something wrong with her [Heart]?

Was that why she had wanted to rip it out? She wasn’t sure, the [Mana] around here didn’t seem that weird, if anything it was weird the fact that Rossie or Rena wouldn’t wake up, they had been [BAPTIZED] by her [Mana] several times over already.

Granted the stupid vats seemed to be purging and then infusing them with her [Mana] slowly again, and she was half of a mind to break them and infuse them personally to get this over with, either they died or they would be reborn better-

*stab*

“Huh?” Elizabeth looked down to her chest, there was a claw sunk in her chest, her own claw. As soon as she turned to look down she saw all the shadows around her spring up turning into spears that sank into her body, nailing her down to that spot.

“MISTRESS!!” She heard Beatrice scream behind those spears of shadows, but Elizabeth didn’t look there too much, she noticed how one tendril of shadows had sprung from the floor and pulled the little girl away.

"Heed my call those that dwell within the threshold of Shadows and Dragons…” A voice started speaking within Elizabeth’s mind, she felt as if she should know this voice…”This is a call hidden deep within our blood, within our [HERITAGE]...

” The voice spoke without minding her confused mind.

Elizabeth tried to pry open these shadows, but they refused her command. The mana within seemed to thrum with [Thunder],” Our might is brighter than the light that birthed the universe…” The voice knew his words, of course, her might was indeed brighter than anything. “And yet…Our power is a curse, for everything we touch will decay away, either by choice or by our hubris...” Elizabeth….didn’t like that, she liked her things healthy. She liked HER ROSSIE IN ONE PIECE. “So always remember, that while this is the thunder that bridges the light of Science with Knowledge….You need to temper your [Heart], for if you let it grow out of control…You will only fall and turn into a C̶̛̜̺̔́͐͛͗̍͌͗̏̕A̵̧̡̮͚̮̫͈̳̠͓͔̬͙̜͂̋͑Ḷ̷̨̧̼̩̦̰͕̞̠̌̅̔͘ͅǍ̵̤̝͓͔̐͒̆͑̔͘̕̚͝M̶̛̼̘̝̤͍̺̱̾͂̒̒̐̒̂̈́̀̅̽̇́̑͘I̶̡̧͖̘̠̤͕͍͔͙̠͈͓̹͐̏͝ͅT̸̞̯̭̲̹̻̖̯̑͌̀Y̶̨̹̖̔̈́̅̃̽̾́̑̚͝”

And after saying those words Elizabeth felt the claw on her [Heart] close, she heard the sound of her [Heart] being squished, being destroyed…Panic roused within her mind as she quickly pulled out her hand from her chest and…

No wait…what?

“WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?!?!?” Elizabeth screamed as she saw the things that pretended to be [Shadows] dissipate in thin air, the energy on those things was closer to [Thunder] than to [Shadows]. “Beatrice? What happened? Did I just spend….”

“A week being a Lazy B#tch who complained, did nothing. Looked down on everyone and everything, also you were someone who wanted to sleep all day long without actually doing anything and who thought everyone and everything was beneath her?” Beatrice answered candidly at her.

Cheeky girl…

“....Was I that bad?” Elizabeth asked while making some memory about what she had done the past week…What did she do?

Sleep? Check

Eat? Check

Bath? Not check.

Brush her hair? Not check.

Brush her teeth? Not check.

General hygiene? Not check.

…………….Yup, she had done nothing of worth. She did live the good life.

“Glad to have you back Mistress. Please don’t do it again.” Beatrice spoke with a smile on her face. What?

“What happened?” Elizabeth asked once more. “Why was I like that? I…didn’t care? No, I just…it wasn’t important? Not either, it was more like…”

“Like lesser beings should be glad to be in your presence. And be happy to serve.” Beatrice said.

“Yeah, that! Like it should be natural…” Elizabeth confirmed, it was…such a weird feeling.

“You were overwhelmed by your [Draconic] side, you felt someone attempt to penetrate into your [Domain] and while we managed to rebuff the attempt, your [Pride] was hurt. Because someone did something that you hadn’t thought to do, nor could. So you tapped within your [Bloodline] and that resulted in a rise of your [Draconic] side.” Beatrice answered as she turned to look at Rossie and Rena.

…At the manifestation of the worst fears that Elizabeth could ever have.

“And I hurt them…Then instead of grieving I indulged in myself…And when I thought about why I was stuck here…I…I….” Elizabeth couldn’t even say it aloud, what her [Draconic] half wanted to do. To risk the lives of her lovers on a whim…And if they didn’t survive….To not shed a tear? Was that what it meant to be a [Dragon]?

“You didn’t do anything that needs regretting, you managed to return to normal when the calamity was at hand. So in the end...you managed to surpass this.” Beatrice said smiling at her.

Only…she didn’t. Granted she returned but…*ba-dump*...Her [Heart] still was within her, whatever helped her…Whatever was hidden within her bloodline, within what she had inherited…She couldn’t trust it to have her interest at hand.

She returned true, but…could she risk it again? Could she risk the life of Rossie in a gamble that she would remember how important she was? Could she gamble the crumbling Soul of Rena?

No.

“I will go and search for help, someone ought to know how to help us,” Elizabeth said turning to the door.

“That will not point you outside, we are within [Aquila] you need to leave the same way you came Mistress.” Beatrice pointed out.

“Right…[Shadow step]!” Elizabeth said focusing on the spot she wanted to return. Not the same place she had made the ruckus, but a nice alley nearby.

“Mistress?” Only for Beatrice to look at her weirdly as Elizabeth was engulfed in shadows but…the [Skill] failed to activate.

“....How did I come here?” Elizabeth asked as she tried to use the skill again, but for some reason…She felt interference, she knew that she could teleport to almost anywhere within this city…And even some places around the wasteland that surrounded it.

Hell, she could even teleport to the [Core] of this plane. But…For some reason, she felt interference when trying to return to Germania.

“...You just…Used the skill?” Beatrice said wondering what Elizabeth was speaking about.

“...But how?” Elizabeth asked back, trying to make memory of the event she didn’t remember molding the mana nor even invoking the skill…She just…was there and then she was here?

What?

[Skills] don’t work like that! One needs to infuse [Idea] to summon the effect! One does not just speak and make reality bend over!

That was the type of thing deities or above did! Like her grandmother! Or…Oh…

Or a [Dragon]....Dang it.

---

Elizabeth half dragon form