Chapter 3: Dragon-sized Drama
"So, he finally decided to show his face after 21 long years." Spade muttered to himself as he was sitting on a balcony at his two-story luxury home within the suburbs of Shang Tu on the next morning after Poseidon's reveal. "Humph! I knew he couldn't stay quiet forever. He wants to fess up to Lilac, but he keeps pulling back. I find that laughable." And he proved that by chuckling for a whole fifteen seconds. "Probably doesn't want to put her within the crosshairs of Zeke. He may have retired from the Red Scarves, too… but he's still got some bloody feud boiling with Sash. Heh, heh! He'll probably eat her alive. Watch yourselves, Dragonbloods. Make peace all you want. One of you will still die at the hands of Master Zeke."
Meanwhile, at the Dragon Valley House…
"Attention, citizens of Avalice!" The Magister announced on the radio that was in the middle of the breakfast table in the kitchen. Lilac, Carol, Milla, Corazon, and Torque were all surrounding it as they were casually eating a share portion of blueberry oatmeal. "As you may have heard yesterday, Sash Lilac has been astonished to learn that she still has a family in the form of Poseidon Lilac, who is her older brother. At first, she was ireful at the male dragonblood for this late development, but she has now shown remorse and wishes to make amends with him. Poseidon, if you are hearing this, you are hereby ordered by Mayor Zao, Lilac, and myself to take a mandatory DNA test within a month from today, if you want to make armistice with your baby sister. She has understood your reason for abandoning her and is willing to hear more from you if you comply with this request. Dire consequences shall be bestowed upon you, if you refuse. There should be NO excuse for your negation. We all know you want to hug your sister again. Don't let anything hold you back from doing so. You have been warned. Citizens, make certain that they meet in person, no matter what the situation surrounds you all. That is a mandatory order. Neera Li will make sure of that. That is all."
"Huh! Your rage subsided after hearing Poseidon's confession. Was it… terrible?" Torque dared to ask the four ladies surrounding him at the table. Lilac nodded slowly as she took her time eating.
"Long story short, Poseidon and our parents surrendered me to the Red Scarves when I was an egg." The water dragon replied casually. "I wasn't even born yet, so I was put there against my will, unlike what Zeke kept telling me. I can't believe I'm bringing him back into the picture after so long."
"Zeke?"
"He was the leader of the Red Scarves, a dangerous great white shark thug with a horrifying reputation of using blood to satisfy his needs. He literally showed no mercy to all who disagreed with his proposals."
"I remember that bastard shark!" Carol exclaimed with her mouth full before she swallowed that serving. "He was so much older than us, but goddamn it! He was like a nagging father! Ugh! I couldn't stand him, but if we wanted to live, we had to put up with him on the daily… and it's totally worth it every single time!"
"Huh! I'm… guessing that he's the one who accepted you as an egg." Corazon predicted.
"Yeah." Lilac replied after she swallowed another spoonful of the oatmeal. "But, I don't think we need to worry about him all that much now. He's retired and probably doesn't even have the strength to use all 2,000 pounds of biting pressure anymore."
"Whew! Good. I was worried for a moment, too." Torque sighed. "So, with all this set in stone between you and Poseidon, will you still keep him five feet away from you in public, like you promised before meeting with the Magister yesterday?"
"I was, but now… I'm afraid that's gonna be impossible at this rate. We've already gotten a picture of him in our heads, thanks to that news report yesterday… hmmm…" Lilac trailed away into deep thought mode for a moment and everyone around her was watching with curiosity for the next sixty seconds. "…that's the question I need to ask him when we finally meet: What happened to his skin?"
"Why ask him that first?" Milla asked sweetly.
"My family were all purple water dragons, with the exception of my mother. She gave Poseidon and I the hair, but for the life of me, I can't remember what she actually was. Even though I was an egg, I just knew that from people who knew us personally for a good number of years. Anyway, Poseidon should've stayed purple throughout his whole life, but somehow, he's in the color that resembles ice."
"Well, they did say that he's half-water and half-ice." Torque pointed out. "Somehow, though, the same tendrils that you both share remained purple on him. Maybe that's his body's way of telling everyone that he's a part of a very unique family and nothing should break that bond."
"Hm! You could be right, but I need to know from him personally…" Lilac stood up and gently placed her finished bowl in the sink after that was said. "…even if he doesn't comply with the DNA test yet."
Meanwhile, at the Shuigang Snowfields…
Poseidon had just heard the radio announcement from the Magister and snorted at it with disgruntled manner before he had just finished his breakfast and headed for his icy bathroom for an equally cold shower. His pet silver wolf, Blizzard, followed him not too long after and just decided to sit in the facility while the solemn half-ice, half-water dragonblood casually began his bathing process.
"Mandatory or not, I cannot endanger Sash like this." Poseidon started towards the wolf, who nodded in understanding. "She's like a precious diamond to me and I just know that he's still out there out to get her, if he sees us together at even ten feet away from his location. I don't know what sparked it, but I have to protect her at all costs. What do you think I should do, Blizzard?" He paused for a moment as he saw through the thick curtain that his pet was thinking hard. After two minutes, he released a few barks and Poseidon was able to translate perfectly, making him gasp with astonishment. "Really? You think I should still take the DNA test, but keep away from Sash regardless of the results?" Another single barking response. "Huh! That… should satisfy her enough. Knowing her, she can get hot-headed if things don't go her way. Doing this might trigger her temper, but it'll be worth it. Thanks, Blizzard. You're a good boy." A satisfied whine of agreement came from the gorgeous wolf before he got into the 'lying-at-the-master's-feet position and continued to wait patiently for his master to finish his shower.
Back at the Dragon Valley House…
Lilac had just gotten out of the shower and didn't waste a moment blow drying her hair in the mirror. As she did so, Carol had just walked in with her towel and washcloth, but playfully frowned when she saw that her water dragon girlfriend was wrapped in a pure white towel of her own, blocking her beautiful nakedness underneath. As she kept her green cat eyes on her, she slowly closed and locked the door, making the two clicking sounds tickle the dragon as she giggled, sensing her presence immediately.
"Don't get mad at me, Carol." Lilac taunted as she focused on her long, luxurious purple hair.
"Awww, why not, babe?" Carol taunted back as she casually approached the purple dragon and wrapped her arms around her waist, immediately telling her to stop and put the blow dryer down for a moment. "You know I wanna play a little before you try to make peace with your brother. Don't know why you always come out of your shower with a towel on, anyway."
"A dragon's gotta be warm, ya know…" Lilac trailed away as she felt the green wildcat's hands at the top of her back, ready to let the towel go. "…but in this case, I guess I'll have to make an exception."
"Mm-hm. Ya got that right, bitch." At that last word, the towel fell to Lilac's feet and Carol didn't waste any time as she slowly planted passionate kisses all over her neck while her hands kept a soft, but firm grip on the dragonblood's bodacious breasts, feeling her tits between her fingers. This euphoric sensation made Sash snarl with compassion as she held her hands closer against them and leaned her head back in pure sexual bliss. Five minutes into that later, Lilac finally turned around towards Carol and they engaged in another tongue-lashing frenzy of a kiss that made the two drool convulsively, especially after the dragon wrapped a leg around her waist, trying so hard to grind her bare clit against the wildcat's clothed one in reflexive response.
Carol felt this desperate attempt and stopped the wild kiss momentarily to just look as deeply into Lilac's eyes as she possibly could with a dark, sensual glare as she slowly snuck two fingers into that drooling pussy, making her sing out a harmonious moan that made the wildcat emit that same sound as well with satisfaction.
"That's all you wanted, right?" Carol playfully asked in a seductive tone. The two never turned away from their eyes, even while the green cat continued to thrust her two fingers in and out of her dragon lover with greed. "You were hungry for me as usual."
"I… I can't help it… mmmm, yeah…" Lilac moaned with her head leaned back, finally looking away. "…please… don't stop, Carol… not until I… aaaahhh…"
"Shhh! Don't say it. I just wanna feel it." At that last word, the wildcat quickened her speed to breakneck and Lilac instantly gasped and then, roared with extreme ecstasy as her pleasure water was gushing out, releasing gut-wrenching squishing sounds that were blissful to them, but would be disgusting to others. Carol purred at this sensation as this lasted for the next five minutes.
After that intense orgasm was over, Carol finally pulled out those naughty fingers and used her dry hand to get Lilac to look at her face once more before she slowly put those same wet fingers into her mouth and took her oh-so-sweet time sucking them clean, making the dragonblood blush with a sexy smile.
"(pant, pant)…thank you, Carol. You naughty cat." Lilac giggled after that was said from her and then, she slowly leaned in for one more passionate kiss that was full of her authentic flavor. It lasted for a short two minutes before they pulled apart again and the water dragon got her towel back on. "I love you."
"I love you more, Lilac." Carol replied as they were now in a loving embrace. "Promise me that you'll keep up that determination and strong will to reunite with your brother peacefully. Whatever the reason for the separation, take it all with a grain of salt, wouldja?"
"Thanks. I'll try." The two released each other before Lilac left to get dressed for the day. Carol stared at the closed door with a smile for just a few seconds before she went on with her shower.
15 minutes into a peaceful flight later…
Lilac was just hovering above the fateful Shuigang Snowfields and looked all around for a cave. After the three minute scan, she found it with a smile of pure joy. She was just moments away from seeing her long lost brother in person for the first time and she landed with grace as her wings went back into her back before casually strolling inside with hope. It was dimly lit and her curiosity got to her as she just looked around and saw how homely it actually looked for a cave. Good thing she was wearing her traditional blue suit with longer sleeves this time. She would've felt the sheer coldness by now.
After a silent two minutes of searching for Poseidon, she frowned with disappointment. All she could find was his pet wolf, who was snarling at her. She never cowered as she tried to speak to him.
"No need to get defensive." Lilac reassured in her usual friendly manner. "I just need to know where Poseidon is." She jumped back as she heard two of the loudest barks she's ever heard from anyone, even from Milla. "Whoa… easy, boy. I'm not gonna hurt you. I just wanna-" Another set of loud barks and he was growling in between them, making the usually brave dragonblood step away from him with horror in her eyes. "Uh, oh… something tells me that he doesn't like me at all." More barks came and she finally decided to step out the cave. When she did so, Blizzard stopped and went back inside, leaving a flummoxed Lilac speechless… for a moment.
"…what the hell was that about?" She asked herself before she just looked out into the rest of the beautiful snowfields in wonder. "(sigh) Damn, Poseidon's got something against me. No wonder he allowed Neera to share his story instead of himself. What did I do to him?! I'm getting that information out of him one way or another, even if it takes all day. It's like Corazon said: I want him to be my brother… I really do." She trailed away as she started walking further away from the cave with a bowed head and melancholy tears oozing out of her closed eyes. "I'll bet he's been wanting to take care of me since I was an egg, but since he had no choice but to surrender me to the Scarves… hmmm… I've gotta talk to him. It's the only way. Hearing it out of anyone else isn't enough anymore." Then, she felt it: her tendrils tingled in a single direction and she looked towards it. "There! He's in Shang Mu somewhere! Poseidon, I'm coming for you!" At that last word, she flew off towards that busy city to see if she could finally make peace with him, despite his pet wolf nearly mauling her just moments ago.
Meanwhile, at that city's ice museum…
Mayor Zao was just taking his usual stroll through the chilly building and saw the many impressive ice sculptures depicting so many ancient figures throughout the history of Avalice, including himself. He began to wonder who's responsible for them and his question was answered by the sound of some brand new ice being chiseled within the distance. He followed that sound for two minutes before he came across who he didn't expect, especially after the Magister's radio announcement:
"Well! You must be Poseidon Lilac!" The short, humble mayor started in his usually cheerful demeanor. The ice-water dragon didn't even pause his work nor give him any eye contact as Zao continued. "Those purple tendrils you got there aren't fooling anybody, ice dragon. I've been waiting patiently to finally meet you in person for the first time. How do you create these magnificent icy masterpieces so effortlessly?" Still no response from him. "Hello? Don't tell me you need those cool hearing aids like your sister in order to hear me." That finally got his attention after those full sixty seconds of trying. Poseidon turned towards him with shocked wide green eyes. "Oop! I guess not. Hello…"
"Sash is wearing hearing aids?!" Poseidon asked with surprise. Zao nodded as he regained his senses.
"Ah, yes. She is. Those same fins that you have are underdeveloped and they strongly affect her sense of hearing. So much so, that she's completely deaf without those hearing aids she wears. It's absolutely mandatory that she wears them at all times, if she wants to travel all over Avalice with ease."
"…she hatched too early. Humph! I knew it." Poseidon became angry as he resumed his ice sculpture. "She was so eager to join the Red Scarves and couldn't wait three more months before it was officially time for her to hatch."
"(gasp!) How can you say that about your own flesh and blood?!"
"How can she be if she never wanted to be with my family after all we did to make the ultimate sacrifice?"
"My goodness! You hate your sister!"
"Damn right, but despite this factor, I'm keeping her safe on account of the fact that deeper inside the hate is the love I have for her. She'll never understand why I had to let her go while she was still incubating."
"Wasn't it because you wanted to save your family?"
"It's… much more than that. SO much more."
"Uh, oh…" He looked around with his eyes once more and found the small flaw: "Is… that's why despite the fact that she and her friends saved this marvelous planet twice, you refuse to build an ice sculpture of them in their honor?"
"Yes."
"…oh, boy." Zao massaged his eyebrows with agitation. "This reunion's gonna be rough."
"It's not gonna happen."
"But, it must! Magister's orders as well as my own!"
"I don't care."
"…" Zao showed a look complete disappointment for ten seconds, but before he could open his mouth to verbally force it with an ultimatum…
"Poseidon?!" Called out a brave and mature female voice in an echoing distance, making Poseidon stop his work momentarily with a majestic glare of deep listening, which was oblivious to the short mayor. "Poseidon! Are you here?! It's me, Sash Lilac! I just wanna talk to you!"
"Stop her." Poseidon whispered. "Don't let her come near me."
"I'm not understanding this repelling behavior you're doing." Zao whispered back. "I just cannot allow long lost siblings to keep this unbreakable connection broken. I refuse to block her. LILAC!"
"SHHHHH!" Poseidon held back the mayor with a hand covering his mouth. Fortunately, the call towards Lilac didn't even reach her since it was still silent on her end. "Do as I say and you won't get frozen." Zao shook his head frantically as he did what he never thought he could do to anyone: elbowed Poseidon in the gut, making him release the mayor before he ran off towards Lilac in an extreme hurry. "Ugh! NO!" Poseidon became panicked as he frantically ran after the short mayor. "ZAO!"
"LILAC! LILAC! YOUR BROTHER'S HERE!" Zao ran as fast as his short legs could carry him, but grew nervous as he saw that the taller, stronger, and more agile Poseidon was catching up to him quickly. "LILAC!"
As for the younger dragonblood…
None of the commotion was reaching her fancy hearing aids as she was aimlessly wandering through the ice museum. She was mentally impressed by how amazing they looked, but was surprised to see that not one resembled her or her friends. As soon as she was about to contemplate a question as to why…
"LILAC!"
"Mayor Zao?" Sash guessed as she walked calmly towards the sound. "Zao, is that you?!"
"LILAC… OOOF! GET OFF ME! YOU HAVE TO MEET YOUR SISTER!"
"Poseidon!" Lilac whispered that name as she now ran towards the source. When she heard the humble mayor's struggle getting worse, she busted into her famous dragonboost and she was at the scene within seconds, screeching to a halt with the widest eyes she's ever pulled and gasped her loudest as well. She saw that Poseidon himself was wrestling with Mayor Zao in order to stop him from getting further into the museum and she just couldn't believe her eyes. She scanned her brother's body and saw how much he vaguely resembles her, even down to his long, baggy pants version of her famous unitard. His overall appearance did look exactly as she saw on TV yesterday and tears slowly welled up when she noticed the purple tendrils flowing behind him from underneath his algae green hair, just like her very own. Despite the overwhelming joy that took over her soul, first thing's first… "POSEIDON! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" That made the two freeze and look at her with Zao's thankful glare and her brother's dark, regal stare of hate. He had the mayor held on by his sleeves. "…you're really my brother?"
"…" Poseidon remained silent as he violently pushed Zao down on his back on the tiled floor and he stormed back to his workstation with tears streaming down his eyes, which were oblivious to both Sash Lilac and Mayor Zao as the younger dragon helped him up to his feet.
"Are you okay, Mayor? What was going on?"
"Thank goodness you're here, Miss Lilac." Zao replied as he had just finished dusting himself off and carefully placed his hat back on. "I'm fine, but it's Poseidon you need to have a good talking to. He didn't want me to retrieve you and it's all because he hates you. He doesn't want anything to do with you."
"No! I know that's not true. He may say that he hates me, but as my brother, he's gotta love me on the side somewhere."
"That's exactly what he said, but still… he doesn't want you near him at all. If I were you, I'd be extra cautious when you approach him. Those muscles he has aren't just for show."
"Thanks, Zao. You better get out of here, then. It might get ugly." After that last word, Lilac gathered up her unrelenting courage and walked in the same direction her older brother took, following the sound of the same block of ice being chiseled. Zao looked on for a full thirty seconds before he reluctantly obeyed the water dragon's orders, leaving the ice museum with deep thoughts about how bad the reunion could get.
Moments later, back in the same sculpting chamber…
"Poseidon, there's no turning back now." Lilac started with her usual brave tone. "It's just you and I here alone and I demand tons of answers from you."
"…" Again, Poseidon refused to speak to his baby sister as he continued his work. Sash saw this and sighed with annoyance as she scratched the back of her head in the same manner.
"Well, if you won't speak to me, at least hear me out. I had a bit of hate for you too at first because I didn't believe that you're my brother. You were never there for me all these years, especially when my friends and I were literally risking our lives against Lord Brevon within the snowfields. You've been living there this whole time and you never stepped in to help! I know that, deep down, you frenetically wanted to because you knew I was involved. Besides, look at you: You've got the ice powers that I never thought you'd get, you look nothing like me or our parents, and you probably have much more power than me. I'm not jealous at all because of it, though. Just… please… answer me this question: What happened to your skin?"
"…nothing that concerns you, Sash." Poseidon finally spoke since her arrival. The cold tone of that response made her show a regal look of antagonism.
"I'm not sure I like your tone. I guess Mayor Zao was right. You DO hate me, but I'm not leaving, Poseidon. Not until you answer my questions." She dared herself to approach him and gently placed a slender gloved hand on his shoulder, but he vigorously pushed her away, ending up with the two of them looking at each other with extreme disgruntlement. "What the fuck is with you?!"
"How I ended up like this is none of your damn business, Sash! And also the fact that I desperately wanted to save you is an over exaggeration. If I wanted to save you, I would've done so in a heartbeat. I love you, but I… I just can't be involved with you, even if you are my sister by means of a DNA test."
"But why, Poseidon?! What did I ever do to deserve all this?!"
"For starters, you didn't really deserve what happened to you then. Our parents and I unanimously agreed to give you to the Red Scarves because it for all of our safety, but since Zao mentioned those things on your ears…" The ice dragon paused as he pointed to Lilac's famous hearing aids, making her gently hold a hand up to one. "…I guess it's safe to say that you really shouldn't deserve my love regardless."
"What?! What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's obvious!" Poseidon turned back towards his work and continued as he spoke. "You hatched too early after the Scarves adopted you. That factor alone tells me that you were despairing to join them." Hearing that last statement made Lilac gasp with horror as she covered her mouth for three seconds before she screamed her heart out:
"THAT'S NOT TRUE!"
"Humph! I find that hard to believe."
"POSEIDON! I left the Red Scarves on my own after I realized what I was getting myself into as I grew up! I was never eager to join them at all! I was just ready to see what Avalice has in store for me and I couldn't wait three more months!"
"…You're such a liar." Sash couldn't believe what she was hearing and welled up in even more tears, finally allowing them to escape as she continued.
"How could you say that? Deep inside for all my life, I've always dreamed of being back in the arms of my family again, especially after Brevon nearly shocked me to death at the Thermal Base. Not once did I rebel against my fellow dragonblood descendants. I knew I had a family all this time, Poseidon… and I knew that one day, I'll finally reunite with them, despite my past of being a thief in a gang. I'm sure none of them will find us."
"…" Poseidon paused his handiwork and slammed down his tools violently as he stood up, still not facing his baby sister. What was oblivious to her was his look of apology. He sighed. "…Zeke will."
"…what?"
"Zeke will find us… and he will kill you if he sees me with you."
"Huh? Zeke is involved with all this? I had a gut feeling, but why kill me because of this?"
"…" Silence from her brother once more before he unexpectedly started to walk away from his unfinished work. Lilac saw this and ran after him.
"Wait! Where are you going?!" She caught up to him with her dragonboost, but Poseidon's tendrils had other plans and, right at ten inches away, one grabbed her by her neck and she was being strangled in the same way Brevon did when she was captured. "Ugh! Poseidon! Don't… don't do this!"
"I have my reasons for repelling away from you, Sash. Besides, you know him better than I do. You should know why he aims to kill you for our reunion instead of me, but if you're so anxious to know the reason…" He released her and she massaged her neck for relief as he finished off his statement without facing her. "…ask Spade." After that was said, he closed his eyes and turned back towards his ice block, walked over to it, and continued his daytime job. Lilac watched this with bewilderment while she mentally took in every word like a sponge to water. She was still curious about her brother's ice-themed skin color, but decided to put it to the side and finally do what she calls a good start to slowly becoming siblings:
She decided to obey his older brother.
"Fine. I will, but Poseidon… this reunion was just the beginning. I'll make absolutely certain that the next time we meet, it'll be much… much… MUCH… more peaceful. For now, I'm just happy to finally see you after all these years and deep inside, I know you're happy, too." After that was said, Lilac summoned her beautiful wings and flew off towards Spade's mansion in Shang Tu. As soon as she was completely gone, Poseidon was still focused on his work, but finally smiled after that whole moment and said to himself with joy in his soul and in his voice:
"Indeed, it will… and I am tremendously jubilant to have finally met you. I promise that our next meeting will be 100 times more affable than how it today. I love you, Sash."
To be continued…