Chapter Two: Reunion in the Park

As told by Katia Freefire

It had been just over four months since I had become aware of my draconic nature. Since that time, I had come to terms with some of my powers and became aware of the karma, the mystical force behind magic. Despite all I had learned, there was something missing from my life, a void that remained in my soul. I knew in my heart I needed to find my broodmates.

I had seen both of them in my dreams and I knew their old names. Celestias, a magnificent drake with scales as white as snow, had been a kind soul, with a devotion to magic almost akin to that of a broodmate. Tanaka, a serpent whose appearance was exotic even for a dragon, was a master shape shifter and would often spend many years at a time in forms other then his own. I, myself, had been Illura, the ruby red serpent, child of fire, and the fiercest fighter of our brood. If I had been reborn into this world, then perhaps they had too. But in those four months I had found no clues, until I met young Kara.

The day had started like any other. I woke up, wrote in my journal, ate breakfast, and showed up to the museum for work. The morning passed uneventfully as I worked on cleaning up some artifacts from a recent excavation. As I cleaned them, I had mentally checked them for karmic energy, but didn't find any. It didn't matter anyway, I already some back at my apartment.

I took my lunch break at a little early and headed for my usual lunch spot, Hyde Park. I arrived a bit before noon and ate my sandwiches at my favorite bench. I wasn't really sure why it was my favorite bench, but I ate lunch here everyday. This day though, something different happened. As I enjoyed the early afternoon weather, a young girl sat down next to me and let out a long sigh. At first I ignored here, but then I felt her staring at me.

I turned to correct her for staring, and our eyes met. Flashes of a neglected childhood, long hours studying, and long nights working at a pub all shot through my head. Then came a memory of a dark night when a drunkard had attempted to rape the poor girl, only to find himself flung straight into the air. I saw all of this in an instance and then there was just a name, a name I had long waited to hear: Celestias.

"Seems I finally found you, Celestias," I said, making no attempt to hide the joy I was feeling. My greeting was met only with waves of anxiety and fear. I felt them radiating from her through a bond older then time itself. I understood in an instant, the girl had not yet come to terms with her past. Do not be afraid, I thought to her, sending calming waves through our connection to counter her anxiety.

"How'd you do that?" I heard her response both in my mind and with my ears at the same time, puzzlement beginning to replace the fear.

It's easy. Just direct your thoughts to me and I will hear them, I thought to her.

Hello? I felt her response, timid but there. A smile blossomed on her face as I sent my response, but it didn't last. Who are you? she sent, a bit of the fear returning to her thoughts, And why did you call me Celestias?

Because it is your name, or at least it once was, I return thought, trying to quell her fears once again. Have you never had strange dreams of creatures you thought were impossible. Have you never looked through the eyes of one of those creatures and felt whole? I sent with this thought an image of her as I remembered her; as Celestias, the white drake.

NO! I felt her mental scream like a shockwave, Those are just bad dreams. I am Kara, Kara Teaford. I am not a monster! With that last thought she fainted, slumping over onto me. I tried to shake her awake, but it didn't work.

A worried expression ran across my face. What am I going to do now? I thought to myself. I was sitting on a park bench with, what I knew was my broodsister, unconscious, leaning against me. The only problem was she did not know of her heritage. My apartment is only a few blocks away, my brain beginning to operate properly again, I can take her there until she wakes up. And then what? She obviously is horrified at her own existence. Maybe I can explain things when she wakes up. At least as far as I understand them anyway.

With those thoughts, I began to work my way home with her limp form.