Drageria
Ch.11: Getting Along with the Kids. Part. 1
Izuku woke up with a startle! His body twitched, his eyes darted, his pulse raced, and his body sweated profusely! He sat up after falling on the floor…...wait a minute. Falling on the floor? He looked around and noticed he was still sitting on the floor with his back to the door…. Oh yeah, last night. Izuku realized everything wasn't all a fever dream. What he saw, what he saw Tachibana do last night! The scene of those people suddenly flopping to the ground lifelessly still played through his mind like a sickening record. Guess even when there's light in Darkness, it's still Darkness.
He sighed as he picked himself off the floor and went to the bathroom. After taking a bath to calm himself down, he went to the closet and put on one of the many outfits. Once dressed, he went to the floor mirror to examine himself. He looked, all things considered, pretty handsome, although his face looked like it glimpsed into the pit of Hell.
Today, he wore something similar to what the other villagers at the mountain's base would wear but still seemingly designed for the upper class: a white collared shirt with three buttons going down, brown baggy pants, and brown shoes. The only difference is that it was accented with gold trim and embroidery, alongside a gold and brown belt and pink stringy shoulder decorations.
He decided not to stay in his room all day long; he was in a new place and had to get his bearings about it before he set out on his new life as it expanded. He just hoped he wouldn't have to see Tachibana….yet. He wasn't ready! Not yet, anyway. He took the castle map and made his way out of his room and through the castle. He hoped to reach the front entrance but always got lost or turned around, even when he asked the staff for directions. Eventually, he found himself in what looked to be a very large secretary's office. One large desk in the front, surrounded from right to left and even back with smaller ones. Several dozen men and women, all with silver hair, all typing away on computers like a swarm of ants running in their mound, with none other than Arete as their queen.
Then, it briefly dawned on Izuku how strange it was to see modern technology in a medieval-style town. As he approached, he decided to ignore it for now. Arete, ever aware, took notice of someone approaching.
"Welcome to The Scales Office chain of Drageria. Please take a seat, and one of us will be with you soon.", She told Izuku in an almost robotic tone without looking up from her screen, having done this many times.
"Oh, uh, okay.", Izuku shrugged while looking towards the many waiting seats, which resembled those in an office.
But at the sound of his voice, Arete lifted her head and stopped the teen from sitting with a plucky, "Oh, Izuku! It's you, I didn't notice."
Izuku turned around, and with an awkward head rub, he replied, "It's okay, Arete-chan. I'll just wait."
She quickly waved and said, "No, no, it's fine. What do you need?"
Izuku scratches his cheek while nervously fiddling as he tries to find the words. Then he finally tells her, "Well….I was just kind of lost and found….here."
"Even with the map?", Arete asked with a raised eyebrow, making Izuku shame blush. The woman giggled with a sigh and told him, "It's okay, I get it. Everyone gets lost the first few times. You'll figure it out."
"Okay, thanks.", Izuku replies with a smile before suspiciously looking around. Once he was satisfied with his search, he asked her, "By the way….is Tachibana here?"
Arete shook her head and explained, "Oh no, he is off doing his daily duties around the kingdom. You know, important boring leader stuff.", Izuku nodded and looked down and away in an uncomfortable manner. Arete takes note of this and asks more directly, "So…...need anything else? Looking for something to do while you rest these next two weeks, get your bearings and such?", Izuku says nothing in reply apart from an enthusiastic head nod. Arete smiles and says, "I have just the thing!"
She then goes to her desk, pulls over a receptionist microphone near her lips, pushes a button, and speaks into it, "Oh Deskin, please come to my office." The call rings out over a hidden speaker system within the castle. After a minute, Arete became upset and yelled into the mic, "Deskin, get your ass down here now!"
Within a second, a voice yelled back to her over the speakers, "Alright! I heard you for the first time, whore!"
Arete sat back in her usual position, smiling at Izuku, while he stared at her with an uncomfortable expression. While they waited for Deskin to arrive, Izuku struck up a conversation and asked, "So what is it?", He asked as the woman looked at him inquisitively. Seeing this, Izuku explained further, "The thing you were saying before."
A light bulb went off in her head, and she said, "Oh, that! You see, Izuku, all permanent members of the castle are required to at least attempt to make good with Lord Tachibana's children."
"The dragons, why?", Izuku asked her with curiosity and anxiety.
"They're extremely territorial and vicious towards strangers. If they don't know you well enough, they may attack, and I'm sure we'd all like to avoid that." She explained, and Izuku rapidly nodded his head in agreement. But don't be too flustered. You don't have to gain the acceptance of all six; just one or two will do. Just so they don't defend their home from you." She told him with a smile.
Izuku sighed with relief and asked, "Oh, okay, but by the way. What's with the computers? I kind of thought this place was in a pre-technical state of growth."
"Well, you aren't wrong there. The only real reason we jumped to computers is because of a little…..let's say, an incident involving Prince Drogon.", Arete told him with a nervous and uncomfortable expression coupled with a forced smile.
"Back then, we were recording things on straight paper and storing them away, but then the Prince came in with a hissy fit and burned all documents, "One of the older ladies told him flat out.
"Alura!", Arete scolded the older woman who didn't even bat an eye. Arete sighed before turning back around and telling Izuku, "But yes, she's right. That did happen."
"Luckily, we all have pretty good photographic memories, so we were able to save about 95% of what was lost. Then I made the technological jump and got computers.", A young man explained to Izuku with a proud smile that showed an inflated ego.
Suddenly, the large office doors kicked open, and heads turned to the front. There stood Deskin with an unpleasant expression on his face. He marched directly up to Arete, completely ignoring Izuku's presence, and crossed his arms.
"Alright, I'm here, the hell you want?", He demanded of her.
She told him, "Take Izuku down to the Dragons' Roost and help him make nice with the kids." She pointed to the boy.
Deskin switches his head from her to him and back to her, asking incredulously, "What? Why me?! You know full well those winged lizards hate my guts, and I do too!"
Arete smiles evilly with her kind outward demeanor and tells him, "Because, with you as a foil, the children will bond with Izuku much quicker."
Deskin scrunched into himself, narrowing his eyes and asking, irritated, "So I'm just the ugly friend at the nightclub?" Arete nodded, and Deskin growled and cried out, "Skank." In frustration, he ground his teeth for a minute before stating, "Why not just get The Keeper to help the little brat?!"
"He's on mandatory vacation.", She informed him.
"Seriously? That was today?!", Deskin asked back with exasperation.
"Uh, what?", Izuku pondered from the sidelines
Both adults turned their heads to the boy as Arete asked, "Oh, you're probably confused, right?", Izuku nodded, and Arete continued with a deeper explanation. "Well, he's the one in charge of feeding, entertaining, and cleaning the children, and their roost is The Keeper. However, he's a real workaholic, so every year, Lord Tachibana forces him to take a mandatory month off.", She explained to the young teen.
Izuku pondered this for a minute, and we wondered who that could be or if he had met this person. His mind wandered to last night with the large man dressed in an executioner's outfit made from scaly leather—the one who took those people's bodies away to be fed to the dragons. The thought alone made him turn pale and shiver!
Izuku was pulled from his thoughts when Arete clapped her hands and exclaimed with a peppy demeanor, "No more chatter, just go and help Izuku, please."
"Why should I? I'm busy myself. Get someone else.", Deskin groaned, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.
At this, a thought crossed Izuku's mind, and he asked, "Uh, what exactly do you do, Deskin?"
Before he could breathe to answer, Arete cut him off and answered for him, saying with a snarky tone, "He's a professional fanboy."
"Fuck you!", Deskin yelled at the smirking woman while giving her the finger. He growled as she stifled her laughter, and turning to Izuku, he told him, "If you must know, I have the most important task in the whole kingdom!"
"Oh boy, here we go.", the older woman, Alura, groaned while pouring a flask into her tea glass.
"I'm personally in charge of ensuring that no slander, dishonor, or negative gossip spreads about Lord Tachibana! I also ensure that he is properly respected for his many titles and stature. That is my job!" he said boldly and proudly, with his chest out and head held high.
As Izuku considered this, Deskin had a very important job! Even if he didn't fully understand it, it obviously was important for Tachibana's sake.
However, this illusion was quickly shattered when Fay, of all people, fell from the ceiling, dropping elegantly like a monkey and landing right on Arete's desk.
With an impish smile, she clarified, saying, "He's a simp with a paycheck!"
"Don't you have somewhere to be Fay!", Deskin screamed at her while grabbing anything he could and throwing it at her!
To which she simply laughed and flew out of the room with small office supplies.
Once she was gone, Arete got up from her seat and grabbed both boys while moving them out forcefully. "Just go and take him to the princes and princesses, and don't cause any trouble to him, or Lord Tachibana will find out.", she told him with a warning before slamming the door shut.
Making Deskin growl and mutter another Cruse under his breath before harshly turning to the hall. Once he was a few steps away from the still-standing Izuku, he called out, "Come on, squirt, let's get this over with."
Izuku quickly realized what he should do and scrambled to keep pace with him. The two of them walked silently, Deskin keeping his eyes firmly planted forward with a knitted brown and an arched back. At the same time, Izuku just stood to his side and slightly to the back to keep out of range of his ire. They finally made it to the front entrance where the Gates of Drake's stood in all of their enormous and magnificent glory!
Izuku wondered if they would have to go through the huge gates and open them up just for that. If so, that would be a pain and completely unnecessary. But then that thought was quickly brushed aside when Deskin veered off to the far side of the gate, where a much smaller set of doors stood.
They were still large in every sense but more manageable. They almost looked like service elevator doors. Then Deskin pushed a button, and the doors opened just like an elevator! Completely to Izuku's surprise!
Deskin walked in and waved his finger for Izuku to follow. Izuku stammered for a moment before jumping in while Deskin pushed a button that looked like a basement button.
When he pushed the button and the doors closed, Izuku turned to Deskin and said, "I didn't realize you guys had elevators."
"We first used stairs, ramps, and pulleys to descend the Dragon's Roost. But that caused far more issues than needed, so Lord Tachibana made the jump to a more advanced and convenient system.", He explained before acting like a love-struck high school girl and saying whimsically, "Lord Tachibana is the kindest, most generous, most intelligent, most brave, most thoughtful, most benevolent leader ever, isn't he?"
Izuku looked at him strangely before asking, a bit exasperated, "Why do you do that?"
Deskin snapped out of his butt-kissing mood and turned to the teen; he asked back, "Do what?"
"Place Tachibana-san on such a high pedestal? I get it; he's great, and there are no doubts there. But you seem to take it to the tenth degree. Why? I used to do that….and it kicked me in the teeth.", Izuku explained with a dejected tone while looking at the floor.
Deskin looked at the young teen with a mix of amazement and stupor before giving a small smile and explaining while looking away, "Your worry for me is an admirable runt; however, that man saved me when I needed it most. I owe him everything I have and am today. Let's just leave it at that.", He finished off with a serious tone as Izuku looked back at him with a silent yet inquisitive expression. The elevator dinged to signify their arrival. Deskin looked up at the monitor above the door and said, "Finally, we're here!"
The doors opened before a bewildered Izuku to show a small space carved out into the underground section. A few floodlights and several crates stacked high and scattered about were in it. Many different tools of varying sizes and uses littered the walls, while a weapons stand stood in the center holding dozens of torches.
Deskin approached the weapons stand and grabbed one of the torches before striking and lighting it ablaze. After Izuku had left the warm elevator, he noticed the temperature difference! He also took note of the small space they were in, leading out to a much larger, more comprehensive, and darker section with no light present!
Izuku shivered while rubbing his arms and complained, "It sure is dark…..and cold."
Deskin scoffed at his comment and said back, "No kidding, but those six lizards sure like it. So stay close. Got it!?", He said with a serious tone while getting into Izuku's face, making the boy nod.
Deskin then turned around and shuffled into the darkness, with Izuku following close behind, ensuring not to stray from the ring of light. All around him, there was nothing but stone and darkness and deafening silence. The whole place was giving off an eerie haunted vibe, like that of a horror movie, that made Izuku shudder and shiver more than the cold of this place could do to him! No matter where he looked or how he looked at it, he couldn't see anything, and yet he knew this place was big!
"How big is this place?", Izuku asked aloud with obvious anxiety in his tone.
Deskin snorted at his reaction and told him, "Very big. Although the Dragons Roost occupies the bottom half of the castle, it connects to a network of tunnels far deeper in the earth. Dugout by none other than Prince Ninhog himself. Keeps those geckos from fighting each other.", Deskin said one of the dragon's names with a sneer.
"If that's the case, then how do we find them?", Izuku asks him, realizing such a task could be impossible.
Deskin tapped his finger on his chin as he looked around and replied, "Well, they've all been fed this morning, so they shouldn't be too far, probably just up ahead."
And just like he said, they spotted a single scaly clawed digit once they walked a few more feet forward. The claw pulled away, and the light revealed a reptilian face that appeared far more frightening in the dim light and dark cave, exaggerating its jagged and angular features with every scale that seemed to have a shadow of its own! Izuku felt his heat drop into his leg as a stone formed in his throat at this sight! He also began to sweat and shake when he heard the sound of the other dragons beyond this one, beyond in the dark! The thought alone put him on edge!
While Izuku was silently freaking out, Deskin looked unfazed in the face of the colossal creature who made no noise, staring at two of them, apart from its breathing. He sneered at the animal, who sneered back at him.
He grunted and confirmed, "Yep, that's them. I hope you're ready for this." He then pulled out another torch from this coat, lit it, and handed it off to Izuku while also shoveling a book into his arms.
"Welp, good luck.", he told the young teen in an unnervingly peppy tone, turning around fast and walking the way they had come.
Leaving a scared, confused, and dumbfounded Izuku to stand there and stammer as he watched Deskin's torchlight begin to fade into the darkness.