NA: Views on the first chapter greatly disappointed me but I must persevere, this story does have potential and people are overlooking it because it is crossed with something they do not know, and people fear what they do not know.
So I implore you all to see that this is a story worth taking a look at, if many of you liked my other stories then you will like this as well.
Chapter 2: I can't bring myself to hate you
Rohn knelt down beside his new partner, a Blood Dragon once owned by a Mokai general. "There's vegetation here, and a dry riverbed, when there's vegetation, there's water nearby." The Burner then got up with a painful grunt as he clutched his wound as he now exchanged his Asylian armor with that of a Mokai so that he could blend in.
The Blood Dragon simply grunted in agreement as Rohn got back on the saddle whilst clutching his wound that had been drying up.
"Come on girl, we got water to find."
~oOo~
Serafall sat in the living room with her parents and sister as her face no longer bore the child-like smile she had always wore when with other people.
"Serafall." Lady Sitri looked at her eldest daughter sadly, "It wasn't your fault Rohn died, you only just gave birth during that time."
"It was my fault, mother!" the demon lord replied with grief in her voice, "I wasn't strong enough to protect my own baby boy!"
"Oh Serafall…"
"Onee-sama…" Sona looked at her sister with regret, "I should have known- I shouldn't have pressed the issue further."
"There is nothing to forgive, Sona… I know how curious you can be."
"But that curiosity nearly tore us apart." The younger sister said with sadness in her voice.
"Um… excuse me, my lord and ladies?" a guard walked in with nervousness in his voice, "Grayfia-sama had stopped by and had asked to me to tell you that he requests the audience of Serafall-sama and Sona-sama."
Serafall sighed, "We will be there."
"Serafall." Her father looked at her with worry evident in his voice.
"I will be fine."
~oOo~
The Blood Dragon let out a roar as she spewed blue and white fire, incinerating the many giant Swarmers nearby. "Come on Rohn, you're losing your touch." The Burner wheezed as he spoke to himself, "I think you picked the wrong master, Mokai."
The dragon though disagreed as she let out another roar and kept on firing on the swarmers.
"I have a feeling that water is closer than we think, let's keep going!"
~oOo~
"You called for us, my lord?" Sona spoke up as they walked into the room of the home of the Gremory clan, and also the home of the current Lord of the Underworld. The Sitri heiress was also surprised to see her childhood friend Rias present along with her peerage.
"Yes I have." The red haired man nodded, flanked by his wife Grayfia and son Millicas. "But first things first, how are you Serafall."
"I am well, my lord." She answered in a calm manner, surprising Rias and her peerage as she wasn't acting in her usual childlike tone, but then again she was in official business as she could only act out like a child during her free time.
"It has been eighteen since that fateful night, hasn't it?"
Serafall clenched her fists and nodded, "Yes… yes it has."
'Eighteen years since that fateful night?' Rias thought to herself as she looked at Serafall before looking Sona who simply looked down in sadness.
"I am sorry for bringing up that painful memory Serafall, but I have received word of an incident that happened at your home that was thankfully resolved, and I have also something for you that will help you in taking away that pain."
Serafall frowned, "What can possibly take away something that I have to be constantly reminded every day of my life?"
That tone in itself once again surprised Rias and her peerage, they had never seen her angry before and to anger someone like her was difficult to begin with.
"This." Sirzechs then pointed to a blue colored gemstone, "I haven't stopped investigating since that night eighteen years ago and I have recently uncovered this relic this week, all it needs a drop of your blood. Please Serafall, just do as I ask and all will be clear once you give it a drop of your blood."
Serafall looked at her younger sister who simply gestured her to do as he asks, the older woman then sighed and bit her thumb, smearing the gemstone with her blood that begun to glow. "What is this?"
Sirzechs smiled widely at this, "This, Serafall… is a childstone, created for the purpose of monitoring the life force of an offspring by using the blood of a parent, once the gemstone stops glowing, that is when we know that the child has died."
Serafall's eyes widen at those words, "Y-You mean."
"Yes." Sirzechs nodded and smiled, "Your son is alive."
"EEEEEEEEEH!?" Rias and her peerage gasped, "Serafall-sama has a son!?"
Serafall fell to her knees with Sona right by her as tears started to flow down her beautiful face with her hands on her mouth, "My baby boy…. Rohn… Rohn's alive! Did you hear that So-tan? My baby boy's alive!"
"Hai!" Sona smiled and hugged her sister, "He's alive."
"Thank goodness." Sirzechs whispered to himself as he brought his son Millicas and his wife Grayfia closer, "Thank goodness."
Rias stood there with her jaw dropped while Serafall cried out in happiness with Sona hugging her, HUGGING HER! Sona never hugs her sister! By the Maou, Serafall had a son no one knew about!
"Where is my son, Sirzechs? Where is Rohn?"
"He's not in this world."
"What do you mean!?"
"Let me finish, Serafall." The man said, "What I meant to say is he's in a different world, or a realm, whichever you want to call it, and there is only one realm I could possibly know he was sent to after doing research on the magic used on him, he's in the realm where the dragons came from."
Everyone's eyes widened in horror at his words, the birthplace of the dragons, the Realm of Ashes, a legendary place filled with danger at every corner.
"Is there a way to get there?" Sona asked.
"What!?" Rias gasped, "Are you crazy? Didn't he just tell you that's where the dragons came from!?"
"I will do anything to get my son back!" Serafall snarled at her, "So shut your mouth, Gremory!"
Rias immediately snapped her mouth shut at the sudden tone Serafall used on her.
"I would advise that you do not use that tone on my sister, Leviathan." The demon warned her with a gentle tone, "But I do understand that you are simply worried about your son, as all mothers would be. And to answer Sona's question, yes there is… if you wish to go there right away I can set up a portal for you to enter and return through as the realms of both the Underworld and Heaven are somewhat connected, though you would understand why these gates are heavily guarded as all three factions after all fear the dragons for their power."
"I understand the risk, Maou-sama." Serafall immediately said, "I am still willing to go if it means getting Rohn back."
"I will go as well." Sona said in support of her sister, "I will have my Queen Tsubaki with me."
"Don't leave us out of this, there was a reason onii-sama brought us here." Rias said, "I will have Xenovia and Issei come with me, I can't risk bringing everyone with me as I need someone to hold the fort."
"Rias…" Sona looked at her friend with surprise to which she got a smile in return.
"Can't have you have all the fun Sona, besides maybe I can get my precious Issei stronger."
"Buchou." The brunette looked at his King before having his face pulled into her buxom chest, causing him to grin lecherously, "B-Buchou."
"How soon can we get the portal up?"
"It should be simple as the portal in the ancient temple on the otherside should still work." The Lord of the Underworld said as he stifled a chuckle at the situation Rias put her Pawn in, at least he was happy that Rias found someone she loved very much. "I will have it ready within the hour, during that time you should all prepare for what is to come, the Realm of Ashes is not a place you should underestimate."
~oOo~
Clad in a green outfit , Serafall held a sword she all knew too well and looked at it sadly.
"Whose sword was that, onee-sama?" Sona asked her as she walked into the room.
The Leviathan smiled sadly, "It belonged to my late fiancé, unfortunately he died during the civil war. It's not something I want to remember."
"I understand."
"Thank you." she smiled at her and strapped the sword onto the pack, "You all set?"
"Hai, my Queen and Pawn are ready as well." the Sitri heiress said, "Rias has informed me that she is ready as well."
Serafall nodded as she slung the bag over her shoulders, "Good, now let's go get my son back."
~oOo~
"I do hope you are successful in your quest, Serafall." Sirzechs said as he gave them a smile, "It would be nice for Millicas to have someone to look up to as an older brother."
"Eh?" Issei tilted his head, "What about me?"
"You're a pervert." Serafall put it bluntly, much to the Red Dragon Emperor's dismay.
"Now then." Sirzechs announced as he raised his hands and summoned a magical circle that surrounded the group, "I will be opening the portal now, good luck to you all."
~oOo~
"I think we found our water." Rohn said and sighed in relief as he and his dragon flew into an oasis with water flowing out of an ancient temple. As they approached the middle of the oasis the dragon haulted and growled with Rohn groaning, "Great… a Spiderwasp."
Out in the open a giant insect with large legs and claws was hovering over the water.
"It looks like there's a woman down there!"
"HELP ME!"
"Hang on!" Rohn replied as he used his weapon to tap the dragon's side, signalling her to press on forward and face the giant insect. "We never get insects like these back in Asylia. It must have flown here from the Dark Lands."
The Spiderwasp was about to strike on the woman until its attention was taken by the sudden feeling of fire on its back. The giant insect then screeched at the sight of a dragon coming straight for it.
The Blood Dragon kept firing hot blue and white fire while dodging the acid that was spat out of the Spiderwasp's mouth. Getting close to try and do more damage, the giant insect swung its razor sharp claws, attempting to keep the dragon away.
Rohn and his dragon ducked and rolled, dodging the massive claws that could tear them to pieces while the latter kept breathing her searing hot fire.
"Now's your chance Asylian!" the old woman said as she saw the Spiderwasp turn around to shield itself from the fire.
Rohn saw this and commanded his dragon to get up close and tear the shell off. Unbeknownst to him they were being watched.
~oOo~
A bright flash engulfed the area in the oasis' temple, revealing three black haired young women along with a red haired woman flanked by a brown haired young man and a blue haired young woman. "Did it work?" the one with the longest black hair asked them.
"It did." Serafall nodded, "We're in the temple."
*ROAR*
"That roar came from outside." Rias told them, causing all of them to rush up to the exit to see a dragon battling a titan of an insect, "By the Maou, that's insect's huge!"
Xenovia then pointed to the black and red dragon atop the insect's shell, "A real life dragon, not like the one Asia has."
"Someone's actually riding that dragon!" Issei gasped as he pointed to a figure sitting on a saddle strapped to the dragon, "People ride dragons in this world!"
Serafall and Sona gulped, the minute they enter this world they got to see their first dragon, Serafall may have been a few centuries old but even she had never seen a real life-sized dragon, they were mostly sprite dragons as the larger ones had all been sealed into sacred gears.
"We have to go down there, I think I see an old lady in need of help."
~oOo~
"That's it Asylian!" the old woman said, "Take it down!"
Rohn jumped off and used his stryker to latch onto the exposed flesh after he tore off the giant's shell. Using the weight of his own body, he fell went down, tearing the flesh of the insect as it wailed in pain. Once that was done his dragon came to get him while he watched the insect crash into the ground and bleed to death.
He landed close to the woman who now was with a group of people he had never seen before, but his need for water was great and immediately rushed to the riverbed while still clutching his wound. He dunked his entire head into the water and sighed in relief at how fresh it was.
~oOo~
"Bless you, Asylian." The old woman said as she approached the dragon rider and the dragon as they kept on drinking.
"I never had to kill for a drink of water before." The rider said as Serafall and Sona took a good look at the rider, he had black hair and blue eyes, eyes like Serafall's.
The demon lord widened her eyes when she saw the young man's face, "He looks like father." She whispered to her sister as she started shaking.
"Onee-sama…" Sona held onto her sister to try and prevent her from losing her footing.
"You are more fortunate than many." The old woman said before looking at the dragon with the Burner, "I know that dragon, her name is Nassa, she belonged to General Attak-Kai. What is your name, Asylian?"
"I doubt I can be called Asylia anymore." The Burner said, "But to your question, it's Rohn, my name is Rohn."
His words widened the eyes of Serafall and the others, and before they even knew, Serafall rushed up to him with tears now freely flowing from her eyes, "Rohn, my baby!"
"Huh? GAAAH!" the rider known as Rohn gasped in pain as he was tackled by this beautiful woman, while his prevented him from falling into the ground, he could not help but feel a familiar feeling as he felt her touch, as if he knew this feeling… but from where?
"Oh dear, young lady you must give him space, he is wounded."
"WHAT!?" Serafall gasped as she saw the blood coming out of her son's side, "Who did this to you!?"
"Onee-sama, calm down!" Sona grabbed her sister but found it hard as the older woman struggled.
"NO!" she protested, "I'm not losing my son! Not again!"
Rohn stood there with shock, this extremely beautiful woman who looked younger than she appeared to be proclaimed that she was his mother. The way she acted was as if he was stolen from her. He never knew his parents, he was found as a babe in an orphanage just outside of Asylia. There he grew up as no one wanted to raise him until he was found by Captain Talan of the Sky Guards and taught him how all he knew about dragons and riding.
Could this woman be his mother? She knew his name after all.
"Serafall-sama, please you need to calm down."
Rohn saw that the woman was hyperventilating as she dropped to a miserable state. He noticed her eyes, how much they were like his, he knelt down causing her to twitch in fear. He could tell that she was afraid, afraid of what he might think of her, afraid that he might hate her for not being there.
He had every right to hate her, but he knew he would be no better, for he had committed an even greater sin by killing all those innocent people in Mokai, for killing that mother and her child as they were reduced to ashes by the bombs he dropped on them.
He pulled himself closer to her as he held his now reopened wound from killing the Spidewasp. "I have every right to hate you for not being there." He grunted in pain as he started bleeding again, "But I can't bring myself to hate you, for I am no better, not after the great atrocity I had committed a few days ago."
Serafall then saw the grief stricken look on her son, "W-What are you talking about?"
"The attack on the city." The old woman told them, "So much happened that day, men, women, and children were massacred."
"All in the name of God." Rohn gritted his teeth, "I was told to destroy an armory, my own captain instructed me to start dropping firebombs on the are but after I took a closer look I realized it wasn't an armory, it was a temple filled with people fleeing for their lives!" he angrily punched the ground as tears trickled down his face, "I burnt them alive, I even saw the ashen remains of a mother hold her baby…"
"How horrible." Rias whispered in horror.
"I can't hate you." Rohn said, "I can't-"
"ROHN!" Serafall screamed as she watched him fall the ground with blood escaping from the side of his torso.
"I'm alright."
The old woman rushed to him and was horrified at the sight when she inspected it, "His wound is not only infected, but it reopened after killing the Spiderwasp, we must tend to it or he will die."
"NO!" Serafall cried, "He can't die! I just got him back!"
"We need to heal him." Rias said before gritting her teeth, "I should have brought Asia with me."
Sona reached for her pack and produced a vial, "This will help, but he needs medical attention and we can't heal him out here, it's too dangerous and there could be more of those Spiderwasps as you call them."
"My people have a camp nearby." The old woman told them, "We can tend to his wounds there while you use the salve to stop the bleeding. We are only a few hours away from the camp if we walk."
"We can fly." Sona said as she spread her bat-like wings but was surprised to see that the old woman was unfazed by what she saw. "You're not surprised or scared."
"I have seen many stranger things, child." The old woman said, "What is your name?"
"Sona, Sona Sitri, I'm Rohn's aunt despite being born on the same day. What's yours?"
"My name is Ren, I lead what is left of my people, but enough talk we must get him to my people."
"Lead the way." Serafall said as her motherly instincts kicked in. She helped her son who was in pain into his dragon saddle as he took the reins while clutching his wound.
The dragon growled in agreement as she flapped her wings and flew up into the air with the others following suit with their own ways of flight. Serafall flew close by and made sure that her son was alright. "Rohn…"
"I will be fine." He huskily says, "We can talk later… I am sure you have a lot of questions."
NA: And there we have it. Hope you all enjoyed this.
See you all next time!
