NOVEL NEXT The Adventure Continues!
Inside the clasroom, multiple beds filled with different Fey and Avantina await me. She's sitting in the middle of the circular room, reading a book. Noticing me come inside. she looks up and asks me, "Oh, hello Sammy, would you like to go night night?"
"No, I have a bet with 'Grave Shadow' that I can stay awake in here despite your singing."
"Oh, is that so? You didn't bet anything big did you?"
"No, I bet that I'd tell him his name was cool and he bet me a CeleBall, whatever that is."
"Oh, well that is an ok bet. Come sit down here Sammy, I'll sing for you."
"Well, don't strain yourself. I'll be awake throughout all of it," I say after sitting down.
She seems to be getting into position, putting her book away and clearing her throat.
♫"Li-ttle child, all alone in this big world, no one here to hear your word. You stare down in the abyss, longing for that endless bliss. Despite no one here to hear your word you lament this dark damp world."♫
So far so good, a little tired but it's not… yawn Oh no, I think it's working.
♫"Love me, hug me, before the abyss comes to me and abducts me, to crush me, rips my soul apart to end me, resent me, for my pitiful existence is so sad."♫
Man, this bed feels comfy. WAIT. Where am I? Am I… In a cabin? Wait, I know this place… It's from my recurring dream. FUCK, I must have gone to sleep. I need to wake up!
Trying to stand up, I feel very exhausted and tired as Avantina's song continues playing from the radio next to the fireplace.
♫"But then from above, a voice came so sweet. 'I heard your song my dear, it brought me to a tear, you will no longer be alone. This is my husband dear, together we came here, to hear your sad cry for help. From now I am your mom and we will be working on, a way to help.'"♫
I need to get up and turn that damn radio off!
Trying to stand up I feel vertigo, making me fall back on my butt. Fuck, she's good… But I'm better, I just need to get up and turn it off. I try again to stand up, this time expecting the vertigo and fighting against it. I just… Need to… Get closer–
♫"Could this day have truly come? I finally found a mom? And a dad that came with her. I'm such a lucky girl, I'll no longer be alone. Stretching out my arms reach for my new mom. But then I felt a pull, the darkness gave a growl and the abyss spoke to me. 'You don't deserve a home, no one will ever love you, you're ugly your personality is boring. You're horrid come and die with me."♫
I… Feel like passing out.
I feel myself lose consciousness as I start falling over.
I'm not going to lose to a damn kid though!
Filled with rage and determination, I take another charge towards the radio, my arm fully engulfing in black goo that spreads all over my face, blinding me to everything besides the radio and muffling its sound.
♫"I felt it drag me down, felt like I would drown but something inside of me, longed for a family, longed to be happy, so I just let out a scream. I swam towards the light, my mother held me tight and together we tried to escape."♫
Feeling myself slip away again, I reach my arm out towards the radio, shooting out the black goo like oily tentacles and engulfing it within it. Suddenly, static comes from it and… Screams, also… Crying?
Opening my eyes, I take a big breath as if I just woke up from a nightmare but I can't see. Something's stuck on my face and the screaming and crying didn't stop either. I also can't move my right arm, it's like it's locked in place. Taking my left arm, I claw away at my face to at least be able to see. It takes me a bit but I manage to rip off something sticky over my left eye and reveal what's really happening. It wasn't just the radio I was engulfing; it was Avantina's face. The oily tentacles weren't a dream either. I'm choking her right now, while the kids are lying in their beds crying and screaming but not waking up. I try pulling away my right arm once more but it's not budging.
Come on. Let go! I need to let go! Imagine opening your hand. I can do this!
As if I slowly stop cramping, I manage to slightly open my hand, loosening the grip of the tentacles as well. It seems to have worked well enough for Avantina to open her eyes and dash out of my grasp. She seems to be looking around in panic before calming down again and taking out a vial of something and throwing it at me. Almost instinctively, my goo arm catches the vial and breaks it in its grasp, leading to yellow powder to come out and mix into the goo causing it to destabilize and drop to the ground off my actual arm.
Avantina then pulls out another vial and a wooden whistle, she blows into the whistle and then throws the vial at my feet causing the contents to disperse. The dust is making me cough and gag. I feel really dizzy and confused, my eyes watering from the dust and coughing. I can barely make out shapes around me moving. The dust feels extremely irritating, like pepper mixed with sawdust, every breath is as if I'm close to suffocating but I still manage to get enough air to not pass out. It feels like an eternity of me being blinded and coughing before I feel a cold shower coming over me like a waterfall, I'm being drenched in water coming from above me, which despite swallowing some of it helps alleviate the irritation in my eyes and throat allowing me to take a deep breath once more.
Looking around, there are now four workers surrounding me, holding blankets, sweets and toys in their hands. Even Avantina seems to have mostly recovered and gives me a warm smile.
"What–What's going on?" I ask.
"You had a little accident but it's aaaalright now," Avantina says calmly while slowly moving closer.
"But I hurt you! You could have died! Aren't you mad at me!?"
"Did you do it on purpose?"
"No."
"Then why should I be mad? Though, I do have to say, you have a very strong bloodline ability. I'm going to have to tell your mom to make sure you get enough training to avoid accidents like this in the future."
Shivering and my teeth chattering I yell, "But–But I hurt you!"
"A little but it was nothing we weren't trained to handle, so just calm down Sammy. We don't want you to have another accident, do we?"
"No…"
Avantina then calmly moves towards me and embraces me with a hug. I don't resist it. I can still see some of the remnants of my goop hand on her. Better to just follow the flow of things…
"Uhm, Avantina?" I ask
"Yes, dear?"
"What was that powder you threw at me?"
"That was powdered weed of anguish. We all carry it around with us in case someone has a little accident. It temporarily blocks someone's bloodline ability."
"I see… Thank-"
Avantina quickly puts her hand over my mouth.
"I also appreciate meeting you! Now let's go meet your mom."
"Wait!" The voice of Dork Shadow says, who seemed to have been peeking in from the door. "Didn't you forget something?"
"What?"
"You fell asleep" He says with a smile.
I face palm. "Fine!"
"Avantina… Sigh, I'm required to tell you by a pact… Even if it is not my opinion! That I'm a little baby and that Grave Shadow, is super cool." I feel as if a stone fell off my heart as colors come out of my chest and dissipate in the air.
"Aaaw isn't that nice. You already made a friend. Now let us bring you back to your mommy."
"Wait! Before you go," Dork Shadow yells, "Your bloodline ability was pretty cool, sooooooo… CATCH!"
He throws a little ball at me and I manage to catch midair.
"What is that?" I ask.
"A CeleBall. You said you never had one. I don't really need it, so you can have it."
"Huh, I'm glad I met ya, 'Grave Shadow'."
"Same! See ya!"
"Alright, Sammy. Are you ready?" Avantina says, holding me tightly.
"Yep... At least I think so?"
"Great Sylph, the invisible lady of the air, I beseech thee. Weave a cocoon around this child that will push away both toxin and liquid so that she may lie in your embrace. WIND ORB!"
As she finishes her chant, wind engulfs me. I feel like I'm inside a tornado. The perfect eye of the storm. Avantina then starts slowly descending through the water surface we're standing on. I can only barely see through the wind wall but I can still make out that we're now entirely submerged, yet not even a drop of water is getting on me. This is really coo–WOAAAAAH.
Avantina is a LOT faster underwater. It feels like just a few moments before I break through the surface of the water once more and the wind around me dies down. I'm now standing back in the restaurant lounge where Hildi dropped me off originally.
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Then, from behind me, Hildis voice calls to me, "Hey Sammy, perfect timing. I was about to call you. The dragon has arrived. Did you have fun?"
"Ehm… I'm not really sure, a lot of stuff happened but I don't think I'd call it fun."
"Oh?" Hildi says, raising an eyebrow.
"Your daughter had a little accident today during sleepy time, accidentally hurting some people."
"Oh my, did she freeze them?"
"Freeze them? No, she seemed to have grown an arm made of a black liquid and partially engulfed her face with it after going night night."
"Huh, would you say it was made of mud?"
"It's a possibility but I'm not certain, it destabilized into a puddle then hardened and evaporated after contact with weed of anguish."
"Hmm, I see… I appreciate meeting you, have a nice day."
"I shall, it was nice meeting the both of you. Oh and before I forget, Sammy made a friend today! Here is the information on his family's starlight contact," Avantina says and hands her a glowing sea shell.
"Oooh, that's fortunate. Perhaps we found her first playdate."
"They are probably looking forward to it. I shall take my leave now, goodbye."
She waves and smiles at me and then slowly submerges beneath the water surface again.
"Seems like you've been on quite an adventure there, Sammy. Making a friend and giving us a clue on your other parents. Perhaps you're the child of a mud and ice elemental."
"Huh… Mudpowers? Sounds kinda lame and useful at the same time."
"It would make sense as well, since people tend to at least keep within their own tribe."
"Hey uhm...Hildi?"
"Yes?"
"Could I...Could I hug you? I-I'm still feeling a little weird."
"Of course you can," Hildi says then gives me a hug.
Hugging her tightly, I can't help but cry a little while Hildi consoles me.
Calming down again, before she can ask what happened, I say,
"Mudpowers, huh? So, should I, like, lay down in a puddle to connect with my inner power or something?"
Wiping my tears away, she says, "I don't think it works that way Sammy but you can ask all of that soon. We're gonna meet my friends soon after all"
"What are they like? You haven't said much about them yet."
"Eeeeeeh… You'll see when you meet them."
"I see, by the way I was given this ball here. What does it do?"
Getting excited, Hildi answers, "Oooh, that's a CeleBall. They're really popular right now. It should have a little button on the bottom of it. If you press it, a famous figure will show up."
"Ooooh, so it's like a gacha ball."
"Gacha ball?"
"Never mind, let's see. So if I press here, it will…"
Putting my finger on the button, there is a buzzing sound as the ball starts to pulsate like a heart. With every contraction it becomes more orange and leaf-like until it looks like autumn leaves forming a flower bud. Then it stops pulsating and slowly opens up like a blossoming flower, revealing an incredibly handsome man with deer antlers and brownish red hair, adorned with a crown made of nuts and leaves, sitting on a pumpkin throne, legs crossed and with a slightly smug but regal smile. He's wearing a pelt garb that seems to be made of both fox and squirrel fur and a type of runic text is written under him. He kind of reminds me of a K-pop idol.
He definitely looks very cool. Like a person that knows they're better than others but it's not even bragging it's just true.
"Hildi, who is that?"
"Oooh, that's the King of the Autumn Court. Definitely a rare pull!"
"Oh, that's cool. Definitely gonna keep that."
"Yeah, we can put it on a shelf back home," Hildi says, further walking toward the area we first came from.
I wonder how that dragon will look. I'm really excited! Are we going more western style dragons with the wings or more flying serpents of the east? Or maybe something completely different. Like a chicken that breathes fire, no water! A chicken that breathes water and meows like a cat. Yeah, that must be it haha. I honestly wouldn't even be that surprised anymore.
"Alright Sammy, we're about to meet him now. Don't be afraid. He won't do anything to you, even if he is big and scary. Also try to show him respect. Dragons are extremely proud people and have an inherent knowledge of who is above and beneath them in status. As such, a dragon will only bow his head to people that rank higher than them and the lower he puts his head the higher ranking you are. And if they deem you beneath them, they will refuse to carry you no matter how much money you pay them. Luckily though, I'm a pureblood from a long and semi-influential family so, as long as you don't offend him, we should be all right"
"So how do I not offend him?"
"Just don't call him any names, laugh at him, treat him as less of a person than you or as a mount and you should be good!"
"Okay…"
Hildi is the first to walk through the red curtains of the waiting area. I quickly follow, being somewhat glad I'm no longer walking on magic water. That's when my eyes finally behold a fucking dragon!!! HE'S HUGE!!!! Probably a double decker sized bus in height and double that in length. He has blue scales, black flowing hair and an eastern serpentine dragon body. His eyebrows look like clouds and accentuate his aggressive looking yellow eyes with scales surrounding it that look like black and red eyeshadow. All in all, he looks both incredibly vicious and incredibly wise.
"You dare stand before me, customer. Art, thou worthy of mine aid?" The dragon says in a booming and gravelly voice.
"It would be arrogant to assume so, great dragon. I shall be under your judgment whether my daughter and I are worthy."
"As mineself does not see thine daughter with you I shall assume she shall be assessed separately from thineself…"
"Wait what… SIGH Damn it, Sammy. Get your ass over here!"
Do Dragons like this with bad training habits just slither on the ground because their belly muscles are too weak? Or would that be more training than just some belly muscle training? Questions over questions!!! What should I ask… What am I allowed to ask? I guess I'll just don't ask just in case it's rude? OH! But what if it's rude NOT to ask!? I'll just do it!
As I make up my mind I look up towards Hildi, looking at me rather angrily, while the dragon has a glowing symbol on his head, similar to an eye that shines towards her and engulfs her in a beam of light.
"Hmm, I see… Mine self deems you worthy to ride on mine back"
He then goes down to about two-thirds the distance he was before to the ground as one of the Ogrin workers yell, "Medium stairs" and push a pretty damn tall staircase towards the dragon that is a little higher than the dragon's back.
"Next, present thine daughter to me."
Hildi, with the look of an angry parent, stomps over to me, drags me by my arm and mumbles to herself, "Let's hope being a half blood is enough…"
"You dare stand before me, customer? Art,--"
"Yep, so are you like a water or lightning spewing dragon?"
"Haaah? Such insolence, talking to mineself as if thou thee were mine equal."
"Are we not? Aren't you just another person like everyone else here?"
The dragon then postures himself in an intimidating stance, going as high as he can without touching the ceiling of the cave.
"Do I look like I am an equal to you?"
"Well… I mean, I'm not sure if answering this would be more rude than refusing to answer it. I don't really know the etiquette."
"SPEAK WHAT THEE HAVE TO SAY!" The dragon growls.
"Well, I mean you're like a service worker. So, if anything, as customers you're currently beneath us. Though that doesn't change your value as a person."
"SUCH INSOLENCE! WHO DOES THOUGH THINK THEE IS?"
"Your customer? Hey man, I just wanna go meet Hildi's friends. No need to be so butt hurt..."
Crunching his teeth and holding back what looks like murderous intent he says, "Very well… CUSTOMER. Stand before me so I may assert if thine arrogance is forgivable or not."
I step closer, taking a short look at Hildis' face who seems to be face palming, then looking upwards into the dragon's face as his light eye forms on his head again.
It kinda feels like I'm back on stage at the school theater. The light is barely bright enough to be irritating but not enough to be blinding. Just like back on stage however I can't really see past it much.
It doesn't take long for the light to fade though and as I look back up at the face of the dragon, he seems… expressionless? It takes a few seconds of what I assume is an internal monologue before he suddenly opens his eyes as wide as he can and moves his head toward me at maximum speed. Trying to avoid his attack, I try jumping backwards and put my arms in front of my face before hearing a loud bashing sound that echoes throughout the cave as his head hits the ground.
"MINE LOWLY SELF APOLOGIZES FOR HIS INSOLENCE YOUNG LADY!" The dragon yells at the top of his lungs.
There is a lot of chatter around with different people whispering things like: "Did he just apologize?" Or, "Did he actually lower his head to the ground?"
"WHAT IS IT YOU ACQUIRE OF ME TO AMMENSE MY CRIME YOUNG LADY?! I SHALL DISEMBOWEL MYSELF IF YOUR LADYSHIP SO DESIRES."
"Woah woah, calm down! No need to disembowel yourself, man! I just want to get to meet Hildi's friends!"
"THEN FEEL FREE TO TRAVEL ON MINE LOWLY HEAD WITH YOUR HONORABLE MOTHER! IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU REQUIRE FROM ME MY LADY!?"
"Well for starters stop shouting! You're hurting my ears!"
"Yes. Of course, my lady. This one so apologizes for having committed an act of violence on your hearing."
"You don't need to whisper either, just talk normally."
"I shall, my ladyship."
"So… Why are you acting so differently now?"
"This lowly one has felt the immense difference in our status and wishes to grovel before you awaiting his punishment."
"I'm not gonna punish you, just… For starters what shall I call you?"
The dragon crawls closer towards me positioning its giant mouth near my ear.
"My true name is Ryonosuke, of Tanaka's brood. In the mouths of those unworthy I'm referred to as Dennis. Though your lordship may call me whatever she wishes."
"I'll refer to you as Dennis in public then. Your true name is pretty important right? Wouldn't want to tell others that."
"I thank you for your consideration, my Ladyship."
"No worries just like… Go prepare for us to mount you. I gotta talk to Hildi for a sec."
"Of course, my lady!"
Walking over to Hildi, I attempt to be composed before nervously asking, "Wtf is going on Hildi?"
"I don't really know myself… Wait… I think I might know now…" She sighs and relaxes again.
"What, tell me!"
"Remember how Beeatrice gave you a royal title?"
"Yeah? OOOoooh, you think--"
"Yep."
"I guess that kinda makes sense."
"Still though, Sammy. That must be a relatively low ranking dragon to have that sort of reaction. Which to be fair, makes sense, seeing what kind of job he has… What did he whisper to you before?"
"His true name."
"Wow. I guess you have your first servant now. Congrats, Sammy," she says both in a joyous and slightly sarcastic way, as if she is both proud and bothered by these developments.
"Look, just tell him to do his job for now if he asks and we'll figure something out later, ok?"
"Sure… EHEM. Dennis… We'd like to ride you now"
"Yes, of course master! Great Sylph the invisible lady of the air. This lowly one beseeches thine aide. Make mine master walk on clouds so that she shan't be dirtied by the earth no more!"
I can feel cotton-like fluffiness under my feet as a cloud spawns beneath me, carrying me and Hildi on top of Dennis' head. There seems to be a little throne and some seats on top of it for us to sit down in. I guess since I have the opportunity, I'll choose the throne! I sit myself down, put my feet on the ottoman in front of it and as if second nature yell "Now bring us to our destination Dennis!"