"What is going on here?!" A voice screamed early in the morning, waking up both Bolas and Kokusho. Bolas recognized the voice of his friend Sarkhan Vol. Before he could say anything though, Kokusho's beautiful eyes fluttered open.
"Oh, good morning," she said beautifully. "You must be one of Nicol's friends. I am Kokusho, the Evening Star."
"Kokusho?! Evening Star!?" Sarkhan gasped with rage. "Bolas! Who is this female?!"
Bolas groaned. He did not really want to have this conversation, but he knew he had to try his best. "Kokusho is my new girlfriend. Please try to be nice to her, okay, Sarkhan?"
"Nice?! To this fiend!?" Sarkhan roared. "NEVER!"
"Wow, that is rude," Kokusho glared at him. "What is your problem?"
"Bolas, you know this cannot be!" Sarkhan continued to freak out.
"No offense, old pal, but it's my life, not yours," Bolas said solemnly. "You are just going to have to get used to this."
"Nooo!" Sarkhan screamed. "You shall regret this, temtress! Bolas, know that all I do from here on, I do for the good of you!" And before Bolas could even try to reason with the madman, he had planeswalked away.
"Umm... What's the deal with that guy?" Kokusho asked, slightly annoyed.
"Well, you see, we used to be best of friends, but then he asked me out..." Bolas said, blushing at the embarrassing memory. "I am really only interested in dragons, so I turned him down. It's been really awkward ever since because he went mad as a result and started talking to some ghost dragon named Ugin that I think is just his imaginary friend or something. But I feel bad for him and I need as many planeswalkers as possible in the Infinite Consortium, so I gave him a job and made him my personal assistant. That is why he was here so early in the morning."
"Okay, that makes sense," Kokusho nodded thoughtfully, "but what did he mean about us regretting this?"
"I don't know," Bolas shrugged. "Let's just ignore him for now. I'm sure he'll calm down in a bit." And so they had tea and cereal for breakfast. They chatted pleasantly while they ate.
"So do you have any more crazy friends?" Kokusho asked nervously. "Just so I have some warning next time..."
"No... Just Sarkhan," Bolas said, neglecting to mention that Sarkhan was really his only friend. "How about you, Koku dear?"
"Most of my friends died in the Kami War," Kokusho said, avoiding eye contact as she thought of the painful memories. "There's still Yosei and Ryusei though... And there are a few non-dragons I chill with sometimes, like Myojin and Kiku and Toshi."
"Tell me more about them," Bolas said, choosing his words carefully. "I'd love to hear more about your life, my love."
"Well, Ryu's my best friend forever," Kokusho explained. "He's nice, but he's not as attractive as you, so don't worry about that. Yosei got torn in half, so he just kinda slows everything down. My friend Myojin of Night's Reach got really badly hurt by some jerk who stole her favorite mask. She's in a coma now as a result. Kiku used to be this epic warrior mage with magical powers, but then she got cursed during the Kami War and vanished in the swamp. I still see her sometimes and we have lunch together, but she went crazy a while ago, so it's just kinda weird now. And Toshi moved away to another plane at the end of the war. I haven't seen him since because neither of us can planeswalk, but before she went into her coma, Myojin told me he had had a son named Tetsuo... I haven't told Kiku yet cause she used to like him, but she's crazy and cursed so who knows if she'll even care. So yeah... Other than Ryu, my friends are pretty messed up. I'm hoping that someday Myojin and Kiku will snap out of it and we'll find some way to visit Toshi because I'd really like to see his baby boy..." Kokusho suddenly gasped. "Nicol! I've got it! You could planeswalk me to visit Toshi! Oh, would you do that for me, Nicol, my love?"
Bolas did not know what to say. He did not want to visit Toshiro Umezawa or his evil son and he did not want to think about the fact that he had put dearest Koku's friend into a coma. But he wanted to make her happy more than anything... He stared into her twinkling silver eyes as he tried to think of what to say. But fortunately for him, he did not have to think of anything because right then was when stuff got crazy.
"NICOL BOLAS!" An angry female dragon planeswalked into the middle of Bolas's kitchen.
"Oh... Hi Palladia..." Bolas groaned inwardly. Why must all the psychos he had ever met drop by today of all days?
"Oh my gosh!" Palladia shrieked when she noticed Kokusho. "Is this her? Is this that trashy common dragon you've been seeing?"
"Excuse me?!" Kokusho got all defensive. "I am the Evening Star, thank you very much!"
"Palladia, don't be so nasty," Bolas said, getting angry at his sister already. "You don't care about me at all. You said so yourself after our brothers died. Why do you care who I'm seeing?"
"I care, you fool, because you are one of the last Elder Dragons and I do not want our species to be tainted by some stupid night star or whatever that loser is," Palladia snapped.
"Well, I'm sure you and Vaevictis can figure something out," Bolas said snarkily. "In the meantime, I have my beloved Kokusho. Oh, and you can tell Sarkhan to mind his own business. I don't go tattling to his sister, after all."
"I see you haven't changed a bit, Nicol," Palladia snarled. "Still a selfish little brat with more power than you deserve. Tell me, brother, where did you even find a dragon like that?"
"I'm from Kamigawa," Kokusho said proudly.
"Oh... my..." Palladia couldn't hold her giggles back. "Oh Nicol... Does she know? A Kamigawan with you! Oh wow... I'm just going to let this train wreck crash on its own... I'll send your crazy fanboy back later, okay, Bolas? See you!" And with that, she plainswalked away.
"Nicol..." Kokusho curled up beside his strong, muscular body. "Why do everyone you know hate me so?"
"Koku..." Bolas said lovingly, wrapping a mighty wing around her lithe, beautiful form. "Unfortunately, everyone I know is a psychopath. You are the one point of sanity in my crazy life. And you are also the only perfect being I have met in years of planeswalking. I love you, Koku.
"Oh Bolas! I love you too!" Kokusho cried, snuggling into his loving embrace.
Bolas knew that the insanity was only just beginning. What would Kokusho think when she found out the truth about him and Kamigawa? What would Sarkhan Vol do now that Palladia had not caused the drama he had hoped for? For that matter, what would the snooty Elder Dragon do now, since she had never been known to just let things be? Kokusho was also worried about stuff. Was it really okay to be with Bolas when she caused so much trouble for him? What would she do if everyone he knew really did hate her as his friend and sister had? And what if her friends didn't like him? As they snuggled together, the two dragons felt fear about their future, but they also felt something they had never felt before. Bolas and Kokusho silently realized that they were seriously in love and would always be in love. And no matter what happened with their respective social circles, they knew that they could never bear to be apart.
