Chapter 100: dead tired
Upper Earth Month, 2nd Day, 600 AGG
The grass was soft.
Because it was exceedingly comfortable, Draudillon didn't get up, content to stare at a sunless-but-bright sky frozen in time. Billowing clouds stood still despite the refreshing breeze, yet the viridian blades she laid upon shifted and waved with the wind.
As odd as real life could be sometimes, her current circumstances were quite the departure from common sense… couldn't the meadow and the firmament behave consistently?
In any case, this was definitely a dream.
"At least it's a pleasant one," to be fair, none of her nightly visions had been unpleasant as of late. Was it concerning that her idea of a good dream was one where nothing happened? Then again, she didn't think the distinction was one she had to dwell on; comparison was the thief of joy, but the opposite could also be true.
"It's because you've only had crappy nightmares before."
A familiar voice cut into the idyllic scenery. Draudillon lazily lolled her head to the side—all gentle greens covering soft swells that simultaneously resembled none and every rolling countryside she'd ever seen—and scoffed at the image of the angel. "I suppose you would know. But you're not exactly her to begin with, so you'll have to forgive me if my choice of words is a bit crass."
Brilliant as stars refulgent, resplendent with woven silver paler than snow, was it not the sunlight so carefully arrayed in a curtain adorning their crown?
For their eyes pulsed strangely like molten gold flashing in the forge, and her laugh was the song of passerines and chiming bells. Indeed, the whistling of halcyon days was not their equal.
Not-Yuriko eventually shut their mouth, but the offending aperture remained set in an annoyingly amused tilt. The sort of expression that shouted to the world that they knew something others didn't.
"Well, this isn't bad either," Draudillon murmured as she dropped the topic and returned to cloud-gazing despite the absence of change above. The angel sat down beside her, humming in agreement. "If you need to ramble about something, don't hold back on account of politeness."
"Rude!" Not-Yuriko indignantly sniffed. "Queens should be kind, and serious, a-and mature—that sorta stuff!"
She made a point to ignore the implications of the last item on the list. "Since this is all within my head, you're me. Thus, I can be as rude as I like."
"That's some twisted logic…"
She was not going to waste this moment of peace arguing with herself. Not-Yuriko waited for her to continue, then sighed when they realized she wasn't. "Is it that fun to stare at a bunch of grass? We saw lots of that a few months back."
"…" Draudillon mulled over the question. "It doesn't have to be fun to be enjoyable."
The angel looked away and hummed. "… I think it's better if it's fun though. Don't we deserve at least that much?"
"I can have plenty of 'fun' when I wake up," she snorted. "Not a moment's quiet out there."
Of course, the dragon queen wasn't upset or dissatisfied with how affairs had shaped out. She enjoyed working, and though there remained issues to resolve, the removal of the beastmen as one helped tremendously with improving her mental state.
"You're boring," Not-Yuriko declared in a very Not-Yuriko fashion, wanting to flick her on the forehead only for their finger to shudder to a stop right above her skin. They withdrew their hand with a scowl. "I mean, good on you for taking more breaks, but are you really satisfied with that little? How many years do you even have left? A couple decades? A century if you're careful? Are you going to spend all of it working?"
"What of it?" She promptly rejected the notion of abandoning her responsibilities. "Regardless of the way events ultimately unfolded, I was—I am determined to perform my duties. I'm glad present circumstances are… agreeable. Though even if they weren't, I wouldn't abandon the kingdom simply because it took my attention and time."
"It wouldn't be abandoning," Not-Yuriko rolled their eyes. "You'll just be leaving the nitty-gritty to somebody else, and… stay on retainer or something?"
"When did I become such a truant?" Draudillon clucked her tongue. "Besides, wouldn't I still be working in this scenario? Duke Carthalo's heir is eligible, but even including him, there's nobody in the kingdom who's qualified for the role yet."
She made her peace with it—to a degree anyhow. With regards to Yuriko, she had plenty of time to prepare for the eventuality of her mortality. Not that the dragon queen believed it would ever, ever be easy by any means, but it was preferable to nothing.
Even if the notion felt absurdly selfish. Perhaps she shouldn't have resigned herself to this fate so quickly; hadn't Fluder Paradyne accomplished longevity with mere Sixth-Tier magic?
"Either choice isn't an acceptable solution," she decided to keep her thoughts to herself. They probably knew anyway, what with being a construct of her unconscious brain. "Unless you, as a fragment of myself, have a suggestion that I haven't entertained yet."
"Weee~elll~ since you asked, I do happen to have a solution—though I can't say it's a solution to all your problems, but it's a solution to one of them so doesn't that count for something?" Not-Yuriko provided a uselessly vague response. "It'll be a waste if you rejected me~ Waaaaa~"
"Entertain me," a short burst of clear laughter escaped Draudillon's lungs. The angel had their moments no matter how real they were, it seemed. "I'm curious what my subconscious is capable of."
"Hug me."
Draudillon arched an eyebrow.
"One-hundred percent serious," it was a grave severity uncharacteristic of Yuriko's face. "Hug me."
"That's a sudden request. I didn't think I was touch-starved considering what her and I usually get up to—"
She cut herself off and exhaled. "You're not me, are you? Not completely, that is. I don't get the sense that you're dangerous either, so what are you? An advanced divination technique? Illusion magic?"
"You know what this is," they quietly answered.
"Fuuu…" Draudillon unhappily sat up. "I really don't."
Not-Yuriko shrugged.
"Why can't you dispense with the vagueness? It doesn't do much to persuade me when you deliberately try to avoid giving a straight answer."
"It's your subconscious, stupid. How am I supposed to know?" The angel's frown wavered. "Erm, I guess I'm you, and I do know, but it's your own fault for having a liminal awareness that works this way… So blame yourself."
What was with this developing trend of her dreams insulting her?
"Welp. I did my best," an air of disappointment surrounded Not-Yuriko as they stood to their feet and brushed off their perfectly clean skirt. "From here on out, it's—hwah?!"
Draudillon tightened her embrace. "That sort of expression… isn't one I enjoy seeing on her face."
"Stupid," they muttered, not returning the hug. "Really stupid. You'll trust someone for a reason like that?"
"Didn't you say you're me? It would be a little sad to be unable to trust one's own self."
"Didn't you say I wasn't completely you?"
"Mm," Not-Yuriko pouted, cheeks puffed. "I also said I didn't think you were dangerous."
An inexplicable warmth flowed from them into her and settled at the forehead between the eyebrows, near her heart, and slightly below her belly button. She wouldn't call the sensation painful, but the heat was such that it made her fidget in discomfort even within this dream.
The angel gently shoved them away after an indeterminate amount of time—the sweltering fever cooking her innards refusing to subside. Godsdammit, maybe she shouldn't have been so trusting.
Even still, it didn't feel innately harmful.
If she had to describe the discomfort, she'd liken it to… refining? More replacing than refining perhaps, or maybe transmutation fit the process better—
"My job here is done!" Not-Yuriko smugly declared, every scrap of their earlier cheer making a resurgence, arms crossed over chest. "Have fun with the rest of your boring dream, bueeh!"
She watched in bemusement as the angel flew off and vanished into the distance. The heat was cooling as well, and she didn't notice any drastic differences aside from… nevermind, she hadn't the words for a proper description. If it was a malicious effect, mind alteration or something of that ilk, Yuriko would immediately remove it the moment they found out, and that was assuming malevolent actors had the ability to bypass all the considerable defenses of Oriculia Castle in the first place.
Draudillon laid back down on the undulating plains of green and resumed the fulfilling activity of watching the unmoving clouds.
'My dreams are not boring.'
The Harbinger—that term was no longer an accurate representation of her role.
She commanded nothing of a Grand Concord, nor was the Testament hers to invoke, and the highest aeries of the Host were now outside her dominion.
Ryx was unaware of these secrets, but it understood a fundamental alteration—a loss—had occurred.
Then in that case, the… Goddess had collapsed from where she'd been kneeling, head planted face-first on the covers. At the same time, Ryx noticed the unfamiliar frailty weighing down upon itself. Of the blessings conferred to each of his fellow creations, the greater ones were nowhere to be found.
Ryx breached the space separating it from its creator in an instant, cautiously circling around her while spreading its awareness to detect possible threats. Gatekeeper it was not, but the Exaltation's senses exceeded even that which was exceptional among mortals.
"Mana exhaustion… isn't anywhere near… this bad…" The Goddess panted for air she didn't need as trembling arms pulled her atop the bed shared with the human. "Shit… ugh…"
Three Gatekeepers appeared outside the windows, the silhouette of an Empyrean not far behind as the bedroom's doors opened to allow the ingress of one of the human's permanently assigned Gatekeepers.
This much was well within their orders to ensure the safety of the castle's chief occupants. If doing so meant neglecting the structure's integrity, then that was an acceptable downside. Orders were orders, and the Goddess's were absolute.
"Think it worked," she said to herself in between gasping breaths, satisfied for reasons beyond the parameters of what his nous could puzzle out. "Gosh… yay…"
The Goddess appeared to have more she wanted to say, but couldn't in large part to the frightening exhaustion that had overtaken them.
Return to assigned positions. Everything's fine.
Without missing a beat, Ryx ceased his watch over the bed and returned to the Bunnia's cage where he had been assigned. As expected of the Goddess, even unseen troubles were solved in mere minutes without need for assistance.
"Crap, this is lame…" She lamented from where she was lying prone next to the human. Perhaps their response times were lacking; although, that was unfortunately an issue her servants couldn't correct if they lacked information on what the problem was to start with. "Too tired to move a lot, too angel-y to sleep, too bored to… do stuff. Wait, no, that doesn't make sense. Too bored to… to… whatever."
Her hand reached into a purple rift—an Item Box: which was another sign of the Goddess's divinity—and retrieved a hunk of greasy, cooked meat wrapped in rough parchment. Right as she prepared herself to take the first bite, she stopped and put the consumable away. "I'll be in big trouble if she catches me eating on the bed after telling me not to."
The Goddess turned their head towards the barely breathing human. "But it really worked, Drau! So eating here would be like, a celebration snack… na, I'd better not. She's already gonna be mad at me, probably."
The almost soundless crackling of Ryx's flames was the only noise for a while.
"I could just not tell her," the Goddess contemplated high-minded matters, her statement directed at nobody because who would understand if told? Surely, she was not one for wasting words. "And then she'll find out anyway the moment she knows I can't summon stuff I used to be able to." She sighed. "Have tons of work I skipped out on tonight, so I need to check on those. Maybe I should spend some time organizing my schedule journal—but I'll mess it up if I do it while I'm pooped."
Was there ever a statement so overflowing with virtuous humility? How could the divine make mistakes? To say thusly within the constraints of a flawed world was an incomparable compassion.
"Uwaaa… It's only two in the morning… Ryx, can you bring Tarou over?"
The Exaltation attempted to unlatch the cage, armor-bound claws failing to manipulate the delicate mechanism. Its was not an existence designed for subtle tasks, but that was a poor excuse which didn't even cross the quadruped's thoughtstream.
How troubling.
"H-Hey—!"
Ryx forced the gaps in the cage wide open and gently enveloped the furred creature within its paw. Tarou, as the Bunnia's designation happened to be, wasn't moving; although, his pulse raced quicker than it previously had, and his pupils were unnaturally dilated.
These were unfamiliar symptoms. Concerned that this might result in a dereliction of his heaven-sent purpose, Ryx rushed to deposit the Bunnia atop the Goddess's chest. She would have more knowledge with regards to the field of healing.
"You were scared, weren't you?" She murmured to Tarou. "Now we have to buy you a new cage, and—ah, I can do this.『Make Whole』."
Metal clinked from the wall where the damaged cage sat as divine magic restored the item to full functionality. In the aftermath of the spell, it was as if the container hadn't been mangled at all.
Unless somebody you're supposed to protect us in danger or you're explicitly commanded to do so, don't damage our personal belongings.
Ryx's flames flared in acknowledgment. Caution was to be exercised in every endeavor. Needlessly wasting the Goddess's mana and wealth was something it and its fellow host should have minimized.
"Guess it's you and me for the next few hours, buddy," Tarou stilled even further, if that was possible, at the Goddess's touch. Ryx connected the observation with its own personal experience concerning the Bunnia; reducing movement must be how Bunnias displayed gratitude and respect.
The stiller they became, the greater the honor, so it was only sensible that Tarou was very much alike to a corpse while the Goddess suffered his presence.
"If you're here when Drau wakes up, maybe she'll go easier on me," exultation through joyful laughter forced itself out the Goddess's lungs. "It'll be better if I'm not butt-tired though. Then we won't be bullied by her, or more like bullied less, I guess."
Tarou chittered in the meaningless language of animals.
"Well, she won't do anything to you, but try to worry about me, alright?!" The Goddess somehow responded to noise that Ryx found devoid of intent. Was creation in its entirety revealed to her? "Must be nice, being a Bunnia…"
Words ceased to part from her tongue after that, preoccupied as she was with silently stroking the creature's snowy fur.
Until morning came with the sun.
AN: Chapter 100! Tell me your thoughts so far!
