Chapter 10
A small dark-haired boy woke from his sleep, an unfamiliar scent drifting outside their cave.
The child's crimson orbs glanced at his father, the Shadow Dragon. But Skiadrum was fast asleep, occasionally giving a light snore.
Deciding that while his foster father was still asleep was a good chance, the boy snuck outside, wandering towards the foreign scent. His search eventually led him to a cliff.
"Where do you think you're going?"
The boy gulped. He didn't need to look behind himself to see Skiadrum's eyes obscured in darkness, leaving two blank irises staring at him. A sight that usually left him with nightmares.
"I...I couldn't sleep," he said.
"You smelled something though."
"It smells like iron...only..."
"You know what it is, Rogue," Skiadrum said. "You saw it yesterday."
Rogue looked at his right arm, bandaged and stained lightly with red. He had injured it just yesterday when he mastered the Shadow Dragon's Slash.
"Blood?"
It took him a minute to remember that they had been forced out of the luxurious Crocus Gardens last night. But it took less than a second to recall the events that took place afterwards.
Escorted to Siren's Tears by Dobengal; the Rune Knights and the Royal Guard appearing; and Glacia's parentage.
Glacia...
Rogue looked down at Frosch, still curled up in his arms. But last night...that was the only time he held someone close to him...that wasn't Frosch.
What's more...a princess.
"You know, they say a mermaid's tears grant eternal life," a voice said next to him.
On the next bed over, Sting had woken up, a small smirk lining his face.
"Yeah, so?" Rogue sat up too, causing Frosch to wake up.
"Kinda fitting that they called this place Siren's Tears," Sting said.
"Get to the point."
Their room phone rang loudly, forcing Frosch to wake up completely, and for Sting to pick it up. "Yes?"
"Consider yourselves lucky that you're coming back to Crocus Gardens."
Sting raised an eyebrow at the monotone voice. "Dobengal?"
"Come out with your luggage. I'm outside."
The phone slammed against its reciever. Sting looked up from it. "We're going back."
As they checked out, they were about to pay when the manager told them that their room had already been payed for.
"I see Glacia kept her end of the bargain."
Rogue glanced at the doors the minute the voice rang out. Dobengal appeared in front of them.
"Fail us again, and then you really will be excommunicated."
Sting and Rogue merely nodded their heads in acknowledgement. They turned around to head back to their original rooms.
As they crossed the familiar hallways, with their original keys in hand, Rogue remembered what Sting was about to say back at Siren's Tears before the call.
"What was it that you were trying to say?"
Sting's smirk returned. "So, what was it like to hold a little mermaid in your arms?"
Footsteps ceased, the blond's smirk grew, Frosch looked between the two Dragon Slayers in confusion... and Rogue?
If he had water right now, then Rogue could have a reason to choke. But he didn't.
Siren's Tears
"She's a WHAT?" Arania yelled.
Millianna rubbed her poor ears, throbbing from the spider woman's volume.
"A princess!" Beth gushed, running a brush through her hair. "We had the Princess of Fiore in our guild and we never realized it!"
"Then again, it's not like Glacia waved a banner saying "I'm the Princess of Fiore!'" Risley added.
"But being a princess is probably the worst position a mage like her could be in!" Arania countered.
"How? It's not like Glacia's going to use magic against the other countries' leaders," Beth said.
"Think about it! What's going to happen when Glacia inherits the throne?"
The chatter of the female mages died considerably. They all knew the answer to that...and none of them liked the products it would bring.
"She could always abdicate," Risley suggested.
8:05 AM
Usually, Vóreia would wake up to see Glacia already awake before her. Then again, Glacia rarely slept.
What surprised the split-tailed Exceed every time was whenever she did.
The door to their hotel room opened, with Millianna entering quietly. "Are you both awake?"
"Shh. " Vóreia pressed a finger to her mouth, pointing at Glacia's sleeping figure.
Millianna tiptoed over, gaping when she saw the small Dragon Slayer actually sleeping.
"She's...sleeping," the cat-themed mage said finally.
"Everyone sleeps. "
"But Glacia never lets anyone see her sleep."
"Ahem?"
"Except for you," Millianna added.
"I wonder what she's dreaming about."
"It's breakfast time, we need to wake her up."
A child barely older than two got back on their feet unsteadily, blood dripping from their arm. They held a dark claw in one hand while the other arm became a rudimentary shield.
Fear coursed through them veins as the child stood before their opponent: a dragon obscured by darkness, snarling at them. No, it looked as though the dragon came from darkness itself. One of the tips of its claws had broken off and was the same claw that the child held.
The child leapt into the air, only to be swatted away by the dragon. The child crashed against the face of the mountain.
The dragon lunged for them, talons gleaming—
"Glacia, wake up! It's breakfast and they're having a buffet down there!"
She woke with a start. Not because of what her split-tailed Exceed screamed—though it did hurt her ears—but from her dream.
"Vóreia?"
"Sorry, Glacia," Vóreia admitted. "But whenever you do sleep, you're almost impossible to wake up."
"I'm actually glad you woke me up." Glacia set her feet on the floor.
"Nightmare?"
"Yup."
"And it was?"
"Same one I always get when I do sleep."
"..."
"..."
"Glacia! Vóreia! Come on, breakfast buffet!"
The minute Glacia stepped foot in the dining hall, she was instantly attacked with questions from her guild mates.
"Is it true?"
"I can't believe you're a princess!"
"No wonder they set up the buffet!"
"Enough, ladies!" Master Avia intervened. "We're all shocked, yes, but I'm sure Glacia was even more shocked than all of us when she found out."
"Your highness!" The manager rushed over, feeling rather accomplished for planning the buffet. "I wasn't exactly sure of your preferences, so I told my chefs to serve every breakfast item in their cookbooks. I hope it's all right with you?"
"Um...yes, it's quite all right," Glacia said. The manager beamed, bowing before walking away.
"...you're too polite," Arania said, ruffling Glacia's snowy head.
"So? It means she knows etiquette," Beth said.
"Ha!" Sting regarded Rogue with the same smirk. "So how did the tiger capture the mermaid? How did the commoner seduce the princess?"
"No need to be poetic, Sting."
"Fro thinks so too," Frosch yawned.
"Are you kidding? If Rufus saw what you did, he could write an entire sonnet as proof!"
"What about writing a sonnet?"
Sting turned around to see Rufus and Orga behind them. "A little inside joke of ours," Sting said, containing his laughter.
Rufus formed a skeptical look on his face before he dismissed it. "The employees aren't very good at keeping secrets. And it just so happens that one of their secrets was such a great gossip among us."
"And that was?"
"The Princess of Fiore," Orga said.
Sting and Rogue glanced at each other before turning their heads back to the Creation and the Lightning mages.
"The king's daughter was discovered just last night. Apparently, she was staying with a mage guild," Rufus said.
The Twin Dragons inwardly smirked. They had already met the princess—and it just so happened that the princess was also Tiamat, and the same child that the duo in front of them had dismissed.
11:56 AM
"...I don't wanna go outside," Glacia mumbled.
"You have to!" Vóreia said, combing her partner's hair. "The Imperial Guard is coming to escort you to Mercurius."
"That's not the reason why," the Dragon Slayer said.
Before the twin-tailed Exceed could say another word, both of them could distinctly hear horses whinnying in the distance.
Glacia sighed, pulling herself out of her chair. "Well, the inevitable just came for me. Shall we greet them?"
Once they came out the front doors, they were met by an Imperial Guard next to a horse drawn carriage.
Glacia stopped dead in her tracks. Of all the things she hated, transportation was third on her list. Her stomach churned just by looking at the vehicle.
A pill placed on a paw appeared in front of her. "Take it," Vóreia said, holding the pill out for her. "It'll last for an hour."
Gratefully, Glacia took the pill and swallowed it, grimacing as the hard and bitter sphere found its way down her throat. It tasted like ginger.
The guard approached her and bowed before her. "Your highness, I am here to escort you to Palace Mercurius."
"U-um, you don't have to use honorifics," Glacia stammered. "After all, I only discovered I was a princess last night."
The guard smiled. "You're very humble. But royal protocol states that I must call you by a title, your highness."
"I see."
"Shall we depart, your highness? Your father, the king, is waiting."
An image of a man sitting on a throne with a crown on his head flashed through her mind, along with the image of a woman forced to stay in a city. To be honest, she was scared of what kind of person the king would be. From Arcadios' description, it seemed like the king had once hated magic. Now? Glacia wasn't so sure.
Nervously, the Exceed and the Dragon Slayer waved to each other as the latter entered the carriage. The door was shut, and the guard sat on the perch at the front.
The horses whinnied, rearing for a moment before they headed off, riding towards the king's castle.
The coach halted, and the door to the carriage opened. A gloved hand was offered to help her out of the vehicle. The minute her feet touched the ground, Glacia took in her surroundings.
There were gardens—beautiful ones, too—even though her sensitive nose was ready to sneeze at any given moment. A fountain with two monarchs upon it, an infant in the arms of the queen.
"When his majesty discovered your conception, he had that constructed," the guard said, seeing her gaze. "After the late queen died...after he believed that you were likely to be dead...his majesty began to regret how he had treated her late majesty during the final months of her pregnancy."
Glacia held her gaze on the fountain, on the marble carving of her. If the king hadn't tried to deny the fact that he had married a mage...what would her life be then?
"Your highness?" The Dragon Slayer turned her head in the direction of the guard. "This way," he said, beckoning her towards the castle.
Taking a deep breath, she followed the guard into Mercurius.
Glacia had seen many castles in her lifetime: Arcticana's castle, the Pergrande Chateau, the palace that had also served as her former guild's headquarters, Imperial Snow. But Mercurius had to be the most complex castle she had ever set foot in. They took many winding corridors, turns, and stairs as the guard led her to the throne room.
"From what the Rune Knights have told us, you used to be part of Imperial Snow, your highness?" the guard asked, deciding that it was too silent.
Crocus Gardens
The mage with the appearance of a ninja—Dobengal—could be seen meditating in the lounge room. Legs crossed, eyes shut; it looked as though he were deep in thought.
"...come out, Rogue. I can sense you," he said without looking back.
The armored boots of the Shadow Dragon Slayer made their way towards the ninja, stopping just a little ways from him.
"...you have a question?"
"Just how do you know Glacia?"
Dobengal's eyes opened, a look on his face that could've been a smirk...if his lower face was visible.
"What sparked this interest?"
"The fact that she was your former comrade and a member of Imperial Snow," Rogue prompted.
A dangerous silence passed between the ninja and the Dragon Slayer. The last two words had finally gotten the former's attention.
"She was an old comrade," Dobengal restated. "From my days as a member of Imperial Snow."
"The guild that destroyed itself from the core," Rogue said.
The ninja's hands balled into fists, flexing and clenching. "Before that...Imperial Snow was a guild known for its high success rate. In fact, it was favored by nobles...and they would trust their lives in our hands."
"I used to escort nobles across the country to their destination," Glacia said. "Once, I escorted the Prince of Pergrande back to his kingdom."
"Admirable," the guard said. "You've spent the majority of your life escorting nobles, and here you are, escorted as a noble."
"Oh, the irony," she mumbled.
The guard smiled. "Think of your past clients. Imagine their reactions when they discover that the young girl who protected them was the Princess of Fiore. Nobles escorted by a noble."
"I've known her since the day she joined Imperial Snow: a small girl who was recruited by the master himself." Dobengal stretched his right arm out before bringing it back in. "Once my former master got a hold of her, he began to train her in various forms of Ice Magic. His words at the time: "To make her into the ultimate Ice Dragon Slayer.'"
They reached a set of double doors. The guard raised a hand, prepared to knock on them. "Are you ready, your highness?"
Glacia swallowed. "To be honest...no."
"Don't worry, your highness. Neither am I." Even so, the doors to the throne room were pushed open.
Compared to Arcticana's throne room, this was only a quarter of it. But Glacia had to admit, the interior design was nice.
The doors swung shut and the guard walked ahead of her, motioning for her to follow.
A guard stationed at the foot of the stairs looked up, nodding at the other guard in acknowledgement. But when he saw Glacia behind him, the second guard's eyes widened as he realized she was the princess they discovered last night. He immediately bent down on one knee before her.
As soon as they reached the top, the guard escorting her stepped to the side, giving her a clear path to the king's throne.
Another set of stairs led to a landing with a throne in the center of it. Meanwhile, a doctor knelt before the king. The doctor stood, bowing as he began to walk away before he saw Glacia. Like the guards last night and earlier, he knelt down before her.
The king sent a servant away with a tray in the latter's hands. He looked past the servant and saw Glacia standing near the bottom of the steps.
Not used to the fact that this man was her father, she bowed to him. "Your majesty."
"Rise." To her surprise, the king's voice was casual, not a hint of formality. It either meant that he acknowledged her as his daughter...or he didn't.
When Glacia looked up, the king had gotten off of his throne and stood before her.
"You look so much like your mother," the king said, looking up at her. "The same face...the same gentleness..."
But she's never seen her mother, he thought sadly.
"No, I haven't," Glacia said, knowing the king's thoughts.
The king—or her father—blinked in surprise. But then he smiled. She was his daughter. His late wife had been a Soul Reader as well. "I suppose I should take blame for that. Had I not tried to deny you...you would've lived a bit more peacefully."
"I observed your battle against Blue Pegasus two days ago. I could barely contain my excitement from the fact that there was another Dragon Slayer in this city," he said.
"For a Lost Magic, it seems to be more common now," Glacia put in.
"So it is." The king descended the stairs, pacing as he reached the landing. "After the destruction caused by Acnologia...I believed that you had died with your mother...and I missed out on so much of your life..."
At least you didn't see how Arcticana treated me as a child, she thought begrudgingly.
"When is your birthday, Glacia?" her father, the king, asked.
"I—" Before she could finish her words, the doors flew open and a noble stormed in.
Glacia knew he was a noble because she spent the majority of her life protecting and escorting them. Also, they had an air of superiority and always carried themselves with their noses up in the air. Of course, the only exceptions she could find to this statement were the Prince of Pergrande...and herself.
This man, however, would've done well if he kept his nose down. Unfortunately, due to her heightened senses, she had to see every booger and nose hair hanging out of his nose. He was somewhere in his forties—and absolutely revolting. Refined clothing screamed expensiveness, yet his sleek, attempted to comb, oily dark hair said otherwise. It looked as though this man knew nothing of personal hygiene. And he smelled like it, too.
"Baron Hubert," the king said, his voice laced in mock surprise. "A surprise to see you here."
The baron gave a mock bow, something that did not pass the guards' eyes. "None more surprising than the sight of your daughter." The noble glanced at Glacia, sneering while the latter glared. "This is your so-called heir? This tiny girl?"
"She is my daughter," the king said sharply. "And your future queen."
"In eleven years."
"Four years. She is ten only in appearance."
"And she's illegit."
"I never divorced," the king snapped.
"Indeed." The smelly baron leered at the king and Glacia. "So this girl is the heir apparent to the throne. But have you even bothered to ask your daughter if she wants the throne?"
The room became dangerously silent. The only sounds that could be heard were the guards' feet shuffling.
"Sabotage will get you nowhere near the throne, Baron Hubert," the king said coldly.
"Mages aren't meant to rule and sit on a throne," the baron jeered, jabbing at the weak point in both of them. "They are inconsiderate, selfish creatures who leave havoc in their wake. Have already forgotten the black mage Zeref? Or even your wife who seduced you into concieving a pathetic—"
"Would it be troublesome for you to silence yourself, Baron Hubert?"
A once insignificant voice wormed its way into the open. The guards pivoted in their spots and stared at the owner in surprise. Even the king and the baron turned around. Glacia had made her way into the fray.
Unless they were blind, anyone could could see a light blue aura radiating from Glacia, though it disappeared with her breaths.
"What did you say to me?" the baron hissed.
"I'm simply asking you to hold your tongue," Glacia said with indifference.
"You? A child ordering me to shut up?" The baron cackled, though the next words were enough to silence him.
"You can mock me all you want. Mock, torment, even threaten." Glacia came down a step so she was at eye level with the baron, glaring into his soul. "But NEVER the people I love."
Her words rang through the throne room. There was no way anyone in that room could've not heard Glacia's words.
"The people you love?" The baron found another opening, and he gladly leapt at it. "Just yesterday, the king was a stranger. Now you suddenly claim him as your father?"
"I would place my convictions in his hands, just as the Prince of Pergrande put his faith in me," Glacia proclaimed.
Silence returned once more as one of the guards smiled. Perhaps this girl has what it takes to be our future ruler, he thought.
Millianna, Risley, and Vóreia walked past the notice board in the town square. Nearly everyone in the city had gathered around it to make sure they weren't dreaming.
Fairy Tail 45P
Sabertooth 44P
Mermaid Heel 40P
Lamia Scale 40P
Their guild was tied for third with Lamia Scale.
"This is rather troublesome," Millianna murmured, seeing the name of said guild. "True, with Glacia and Kagura together, we'd be invincible...but I don't want to see you off the team, Risley."
"You guys will be fine," the chubby woman assured.
"But what if we need your Gravity Change?"
"There's Kagura," Risley reminded. "Don't look down on Kagura."
"Risley's right. Kagura can use Gravity Change, too. But it all comes down to Glacia's decision," Vóreia said.
"What do you mean? Glacia promised that silver-haired guy," Millianna stated.
"She never promised anything," the split-tailed Exceed said.
Hurried feet pounded against the cobblestone path. The Mermaid Heel mages turned on the spot to see Glacia running towards them.
Just as their resident Dragon Slayer reached them...she fell to the ground.
"Glacia!" Vóreia immediately landed beside her partner to check for any problems. "She's...exhausted," she determined.
"It's not that far from Mercurius to the square," Risley said, finding one of the bridges to the palace.
"Why would she faint on a nice day like this?" Millianna wondered. "It's a hundred and...eight...een degrees..." she trailed off.
Simultaneously, the mages of Mermaid Heel facepalmed themselves. "We're such idiots," Risley mumbled.
"How could we have forgotten?" Millianna murmured.
And that was how Millianna ended up carrying Glacia on her back, with Vóreia waving her tessen at the latter and Risley walking beside them.
"You know what this reminds me of, Risley?" Millianna said out of the blue. "This is exactly how we met Glacia and Vóreia."
"Who knew that we'd come this far with them," Risley agreed.
One month ago
SMACK!
Glacia woke up from one of her rare naps drowsily, feeling a stinging sensation on her cheek. In front of her, Vóreia hovered in the air with her tessen.
"Sorry, Glacia," Vóreia mumbled, rubbing her ear.
So that's what hit me, Glacia thought as she stretched. "Where are we?"
"To be blunt...I have no idea. The train is out of order, so we're gonna walk."
"Fine by me." Glacia stood up and stretched her back. "Anything to get off this train."
At first, it started off as a calm walk along the tracks until they reached the station where their train was supposed to be at this time. However, the actual city was three miles away.
Then came noon.
The afternoon sun was suspended in the sky, baking everything under its gaze in sweltering heat. By now, Glacia was sweating profusely, paler than a ghost even though she covered her head with a sunhat.
They were a mile away from the city, and Vóreia began to fan her partner with her tessen. This was her partner, the infamous Ice Dragon Slayer with the epithet Tiamat known across three continents and the entire peninsula, for crying out loud! Back then, in this weather, Glacia would have run across the green fields under the sun with her hair in the wind. Then again, this wasn't the Northern continent.
There. The city was in view now. They just had to keep walking until they reached it and then they could take a well-deserved break.
Just a little closer...ten more steps...3...2...1...
By the time they took their first step into the city, Glacia collapsed on the spot from heat exhaustion.
"Glacia!" Vóreia dropped to her partner's side, waving her fan wildly to provide some ventilation. "Someone help us!"
The cat-themed mage Millianna came back from her training session for the day, currently eating a frozen yogurt.
"Hiya, Risley!" she greeted as the chubby woman came out of the market, carrying a crate of fruit and cold soda bottles.
"Hello, Millianna," Risley said, wiping her sweat off with her hand. "Horrible heat today."
"They say it's gonna reach a hundred-twenty soon."
"This kind of heat belongs in Desierto."
"I think Desierto is way hotter than this," Millianna said, tossing her yogurt cup into a nearby trashcan.
"Someone help us!"
Millianna blinked, turning her head in Risley's direction, but the portly woman was also staring at her. Neither of them had said a word.
"Help!"
It came from the right. Whoever it belonged had a plea of panic in their voice.
When they found where the voice resonated from, they were met with a strange sight.
A white split-tailed cat standing on its hind legs on a park bench, a young girl lying unconscious on it, and the cat was waving a fan at the girl's face.
At once, they knew that the girl was not from around here. The carry-on had so many tags from different train stations beyond Fiore attached to the handle. And if the worn sandals were any indication... Most likely the girl was from somewhere cold, judging by her pale complexion and heat fatigue.
"Um, did someone call us?" Risley tried asking.
The white cat spun around, facing the mages of Mermaid Heel. "Oh, thank goodness! I thought no one was around!"
"Wait...a talking cat?" Millianna and Risley shouted.
"Yes, I do talk," the cat huffed. "Thank you for noticing."
"S-sorry," Millianna apologized. "It's just not everyday we see a talking cat."
"Were you the one calling for help?" Risley asked.
"Yes," the cat said. "My friend needs help."
By now, all four of them were sweating as they made their way to Mermaid Heel.
"You know, it's been a long time since I met another flying talking cat," Millianna blurted out. "But it's also the first time I've ever met a nekomata."
The cat's tails twitched.
The three females and the cat entered the guild Mermaid Heel. Many other female mages greeted them, some taking notice of the cat flying near them and the girl on Millianna's back.
"Who's the kid, Millianna?" Arania called.
"Right now, she needs our help," the cat mage said.
"Thank you for your hospitality," Vóreia said, bowing to Master Avia.
"It's not a bother." Avia glanced at the young snow-haired girl resting on the infirmary bed. "Do you have a place to stay?"
"Um, well...no. We actually ran out of money by the time we came here," the split-tailed Exceed confessed.
"Are you both mages?"
"Yes. And Glacia's really strong, too!"
"I KNOW!" Avia and the cat both flinched at the sound of the collectively loud voices. Millianna barged in. "They should join Mermaid Heel!" she cried.
"..." Glacia was brought out of her fatigue nap and sat up, holding the cold towel to her forehead.
"Are you feeling better, Glacia?" Vóreia asked.
"Now I am. Where are we?"
"Mermaid Heel headquarters," Avia said.
"Mermaid Heel?"
"We were wondering if you wanted to join."
Behind the door, the women of Mermaid Heel were pressed against it, trying to listen for her answer.
"I want to join."
Avia smiled ear to ear. "Millianna, the guild stamp."
The cat-themed mage practically skipped her way over to the door, sliding past the other women before she came back in with the stamp.
"Where do you want yours?" Avia asked.
Vóreia turned around, taking off her overcoat to expose her bare back. "On my back in purple."
The stamp pressed against her back, lifting up to reveal the mark of Mermaid Heel in a shade of purple.
"And yours?"
"On my right e—" Glacia stopped herself, turning around and lifting the short strands of her hair away from her neck. "On my neck in blue, please."
The stamp came down once more, a white light glowing underneath before it was lifted, the crest of Mermaid Heel on the back of her neck in blue.
Present
"Let's stop here," Risley said, sitting down at an outdoor table with a parasol in the park, a few blocks away from Ice Dream.
"Anything you guys want?" Millianna asked as she and Risley headed towards the ice cream shop.
"An ice bag, daiquiri ice, and you know what Glacia likes," Vóreia said.
The female mages smiled knowingly as they headed off.
A few minutes later, they returned with two ice cream cones for themselves, daiquiri ice for Vóreia, and the ice bag and mint chocolate ice cream cup was Glacia's.
"Are you sure we shouldn't take Glacia back to the hotel right now?" Risley asked.
"You know how much Glacia hates staying indoors," Vóreia said. "Even if it's too hot outside. Besides—" Suddenly, the ice cream cup spun around, empty save for a chocolate chip. "She's all better," the Exceed finished.
When Risley and Millianna left them to wander around on their own, Glacia found herself walking along the edge of the lake.
If Arcticana were here...what would she think of me?
"That's it...perfect!" Arcticana cried as Glacia mastered Barrage of the Dancing Dragons. Result: A boulder reduced to pebbles and sand.
The now three year old sat down, panting from exerting so much magical power into one technique.
"Remember, this can only be used in a pair," Arcticana said as she sat by the lake's edge.
"It...really exhausting," Glacia said, drinking water.
"It's just a drawback from becoming more like a dragon," Arcticana said. "Soon, it won't bother you at all."
Glacia flinched at her words. "Mom...I—"
The Ice Dragon ruffled her foster daughter's hair with the knuckle of one of her talons. "Ice Dragons never apologize," she said. "Nor do we cry. We are greater than that."
Mom always did refer to herself as royalty, she thought. But never me.
She said in a pair...then she used that with another dragon? She used to say that name when she thought I was asleep.
Suddenly, Glacia stopped in her tracks, her memories clearer than before.
"Was that his name?" she said to herself. "Skiadrum?"
"Change your position...now swoop in and...just like that," the Shadow Dragon said as his foster son destroyed the boulder with Barrage of the Dancing Dragons.
A four year old Rogue leaned against the tree, trying to regain his breathing.
"Um, father?"
"What is it, Rogue?"
"You said...this was performed by two...did you use this with another dragon?" Rogue asked.
The scene became dangerously silent. Rogue was on the verge of apologizing before his father spoke.
"...I didn't always live alone," Skiadrum said, watching chunks of ice float in the river. "Once...I loved another dragon...and she came to care for me...We grew apart from each other..."
To think that Skiadrum actually had a mate, Rogue thought as he relaxed in his room. He only said that name to me once, though.
"What was it again?" he murmured to himself, making sure he didn't wake Frosch from his nap. "Arc...ana...Arcana? No, there's something missing..."
Outside his room, he could hear Sting yelling at Orga. "You're starting to tick me off!"
His head shot up, the name coming back to him. "Was...that her name? Arcticana?"
"Vóreia, I remember now! That other—" But when she turned around, no one was behind her. In fact, she had wandered into a part of the city she didn't even recognize. Though she could vaguely identify it as a park.
"Not again," Glacia mumbled as she ran back. However, a tall figure blocked the entrance to the park.
"Excuse me—"
"Not even a hello, Glacia?"
Her ears twitched. That voice...she heard it just last night, asking her for a favor.
"Dobengal..."
The ninja pulled down his mask, revealing the crest of Sabertooth on his right cheek.
"Glacia Patin...it's been a while."