Chapter 2: A feeling of warmth

On the edge of an island miles away from Fiore's mainland, sat a mighty dragon. He was nearly as big as a mountain, with dark purple scales similar to obsidian covering most of his body while his wings were more violet colored and had glowing blue, green, and red dots and lines that seemed to be constantly moving around.

He looked onto both the star-filled sky and its reflection in the ocean, taking in the beautiful sight. "Beautiful as always" he said to himself "but the scene still felt empty". The dragon wears a melancholic expression. He has felt this way for years, a feeling of cold, of loneliness. He has a human friend on this island who had kept him company for most of their life yet he still can't help but have these feelings. He wishes for something to help him escape these feelings.

The island is believed to be the home of many dangerous mythical creatures. Very few dares sailed near it for fear of some of these creatures attacking them, leaving the island mostly uncharted by humans.

As such, the presence of a human approaching the island causes him to immediately snap out of his trance. Using his dragon eyes, he searched around for any human ships approaching. While he doesn't have any problems interacting with humans in general, the humans that are either brave enough or stupid enough to approach this island usually bring trouble with them so he was simply preparing for the worst.

He searched around for a bit before noticing a disturbance in the water. Focusing on the source, he saw a little basket carrying what seems to be a human infant. This caught the dragon completely off guard. He has so many questions about the situation but he decided to save the child first and work things out from there.

Scooping the basket out of the water the dragon can help but feel a sense of warm rising in him while holding onto the basket but he then noticed a faint scent of blood. This further raises the dragon's confusion and now a feeling of wariness also occurs.

Landing near a small hut deep in the island's forest, the dragon gently placed the basket down so as to not hurt or disturb the child and called out to the hut's owner.

"Lumina, are you still awake?" The dragon asked,

"What do you need Astery(pronounce as-teh-rai)?" A female voice is heard from inside the hut, sounding sleepy, tired, and slightly annoyed. The hut's door then slowly opens, revealing a blond woman with blue eyes who looks to be in her mid-forties.

"It's late you know, and I haven't had a good sleep for the past few weeks trying to stock up for the winter." Lumina said.

"I know and I'm sorry" Astery response "But I need your help with something"

He then points towards the basket and as Lumina takes a closer look, all of her previous fatigue is gone, immediately replaced with shock.

"WHERE DID YOU FIND A HUMAN BABY?" Lumina screamed, causing said baby to start crying.

"Ah no don't cry please I'm sorry I didn't mean to" Lumina panicked as she tried to calm the crying child. Astery can't help but let out a small laugh at the scene. He then leans in closer trying to help his old friend when suddenly the child stops crying, stares at the dragon for a bit, touches him, giggling to himself, then falls back to sleep. That same feeling of warmth rises up again.

The two just stood there dumbfounded for a bit before Lumina spoke up.

"Looks like he likes you" she said smiling

"So it seems" Astery response with a small chuckle and give the child a look of fondness and a smile of his own. This didn't go unnoticed by Lumina.

"So" Lumina said "What happened?"

"I was stargazing at the edge of the island when I sense the presence of a human" Astery response "I went to check it out and found him"

"I see" Lumina humm in thoughts then she went to check the basket for any clue. She found a white piece of handkerchief with writing on it.

Please protect my Romeo

"So his name is Romeo" Astery said "A decent enough name I suppose"

"I think it's a lovely name." Lumina said back. She then looked back at the handkerchief.

"It's written in blood" she noticed "most likely from the blood of whoever wrote this"

"So that's where the smell came from" Astery realized "judging by how close the two smell resembled each other, it seems that it was written by the boy's parents. But to sent their own child across the vast ocean, they must be in a really desperate spot" he said solemnly.

Lumina thought for a moment then said

"Poor child, his parents are most likely dead by now." A few tears escaped her eyes but she managed to recompose herself.

"Don't worry, Astery here is gonna be your new father"

"Wait why me?"

"Because A)The boy likes you more. B)You can offer more for him than I ever could and C) I can tell that you also want and need him too"

"I…I-"

"Listen Astery, I've known you for most of my life and as such I know what you've been feeling these past years. I feel like Romeo here can help you more than you know"

Astery sigh. But then think to himself "could she be right? Could this child helps me with my feelings of loneliness, of this coldness? " he thought for a bit then looked at the sleeping boy and the sight of his calm sleeping face gave him that warmth again.

"Alright" Astery exclaimed "I will take care of him, but I will need your help"

"Of course" Lumina smile "There's no way I'll left a baby in the care of someone who know nothing of how to take care of them"

Astery smile

"It's decided then," Astery exclaimed , holding up Romeo, waking him up, but he didn't cry.

"From today on I will take you in as my son," Astery continued "and as such from today onwards your name will now be Romeo Steorra"

Romeo giggles and flails his limbs around excitedly.