Author's Note: Yuuki~desu! Hi guys! So finally, after a week, I managed to musterenough energy and write a chappie. I gave it my all, but it still sucks unbelievably. Try to bear with it. I'm squeezed totally dry from school and lack of sleep...

Chapter 16: Line Between Lives

I woke up suddenly, not sure what made me rise from my nap.

My vision was blurry from exhaustion and my limbs felt like lead. I was too tired to move, so I only tilted my head to take a better look at my surroundings.

At first, I didn't recognize the place. It felt vaguely familiar but I couldn't remember why.

This is not my room. I thought as I took in the violet wallpaper with black ornaments, grand mahogany working table, ancient-looking onyx fireplace and enormous library shelves full of books.

It didn't look anything like my little apartment in Magnolia with my small table, cheap-looking chair and my pink bed under the window...

I furrowed my brows, willing my memories to come back to me. Nothing.

Wave of panic shot through my sleepy mind and I sat up straight in alert. The armchair protested to my sudden movement and I glanced at it. It had beautiful and delicately carved armrests.

Upon impulse, I rose my hand to try to copy the images depicted in the wood with my fingerprints and gasped.

My hand was paler than I've ever seen it, my wrist more slender and my nails were black and pointy. Like claws...

It all rushed back to me then. Everything that happened only few hours ago, comprised into seconds of remembering.

I'm Luciana...

It was understandable that I had problems differentiating between my life as Lucy and Luciana, but it still made me upset. I hope it goes away soon...I didn't want to know what would happen if I accidentally spoke to one of my ex-teammates while in that state.

I gently rose from my seat and slowly made my way to a black archway on the other side of the room. Behind it was located a much bigger room, similar to the office I just came from. The wallpaper pattern and oak floor tiles here was same as in the other room.

Of course, since this was bedroom, the furniture was different. Easel was located at one of the corners of the room, with small table on which lay wooden pallet covered with all kinds of colours- proof of my hobby. Other three corners were occupied by either closets or cabinets full of books – ranging from the ancient ones to those published 25 years ago.

I'll have to update it. It was a silly thought but somehow it made me less tense.

At the centre of the room stood another table, this one was oval and made from pure amethyst. I gingerly ran my hands over its top plate, remembering all the hours I spent sitting at the table, writing books. I patted my favourite chair, the table's only companion and went on to another mahogany piece of my old life.

After all these years, I was standing here, in my bedroom. It felt so nostalgic that I had to touch the furniture to stay in the present.

After that, I turned to look at the walls. They were covered with numerous paintings showing different dragons.

Now that I was Luciana, it was easy to identify all of them. Acnologia, Metalicana, Wallia, Sirial, Igneel, Eira, Godral, Kaisen, Rowan... I went from the most recent ones to the older ones, prying hard my memories from my previous reincarnation cycles.

Lastly, I came to stand before my queen-sized bed. There, right above the bedpost, hung the biggest and oldest painting of them all.

It showed a graceful yet deadly indigo dragon. The whole picture has been painted so carefully and in detail, it was as if the creature in it could jump from up there any second. It pulsed with life force so strong, it was as if he was a real living being, who was only trapped inside.

Yet, his eyes said otherwise. They looked dull, empty, void of any trace of life. Somehow, they looked like they were mocking the rest of the beautiful masterpiece.

Vernon...

Flashback

"Hey. Lu?"

"Yeah, Ace-niisan?" I answered him, not tearing my gaze away from the heartbreaking sunset before us.

"There is something I've been wondering about..." It wasn't like my sibling to ask me something so I urged him to continue.

"Go on."

He was visibly contemplating how to continue and I patiently waited.

His next words came out in a rush, startling me not only by the content of his question.

"How did you know Vernon was your Soul mate?"

I whipped my head around to look at him. We never talked about Vernon. Not since the nght I almost died by the river. It was like an unspoken taboo.

I got up and was about to leave, when he grabbed my shoulder.

"I'm sorry for asking you, but I really want to know. I... How can you be so sure he's The One?" His eyes were pleading for me to forgive his tactless behavior. " Please understand, I don't want to you to be in despair over a guy who wasn't really your mate..."

I could think of million reasons to tell him to leave me alone, but something made me sit down and even answer.

"He is The One. I know it."

"How?" Curiosity was written all over his face.

"It's... I don't know. Truth to be told, it wasn't love at first sight as I used to tell you." I smirked at the lie I once told him.

"He was cocky, annoying, egoistical... Everything I hated. What's more, we were exact opposites. He was the Night Dragon, while I was the Dragon of Light. We would fight, compete..."

Acnologia stared at me in disbelief. His soul was younger than mine. He hadn't even been alive then.

"Sometimes the older dragons had to interfere in our fights to prevent us from actually killing the other... When we grew up, we avoided each other, only caring about our missions..."

"So what happened?" The midnight blue dragon was holding his breath in anticipation.

"Magicians attacked one of our tribes. The two of us volunteered to be the bait while the others escaped." At that moment, I felt like I was once again on the battlefield, blinding the humans with my light, fighting back-to-back with the reckless but brave dragon.

"We barely managed to survive... After that, my opinion of him continued to rise and we finally became friends. The best ones, actually. We had so much fun then. Where there was some kind of catastrophe, you could bet we were the cause... And you know the rest..." My voice trailed off as image of my long lost lover flashed before my eyes.

I focused again and tried to remember the day I found out that the person I loved so much was actually my Soul mate.

"You just know it. When the time is right, of course."

That was the last conversation I had with my brother before he went on rampage.