Chapter 41 – The Talk 2

Another templar just fell over, dead. Reina's big brother was really good at fighting them. He'd been fighting for years, so of course he'd be good at it.

It wasn't just humans he fought. Monsters, too. Daddy helped him get strong, but he still had to work hard to get stronger. And that's what he did before. He went out and fought monsters while Daddy watched to make sure he was safe. Then, when he was strong enough, he started helping Daddy with his work.

It was the same for Reina. Daddy gave her cool claws and wings, just like Brother Gau. Daddy trained Brother Gau, and now it was Brother Gau's turn to train Reina. She practiced fighting against monsters first with Brother Gau watching over her. She needed to be strong enough to keep herself safe from any templar she came across.

"Take that one." Brother Gau said, pointing at a templar shaking in his boots.

"Okay!" Reina responded, readying her claws.

The templar was still a higher level than her and wore a set of mostly plate armor, but Brother Gau had already broken the man's sword. All he had left was a dagger, and he didn't look confident with it. Reina's stats were high thanks to her transformation. Still, she wasn't going to mess around. Overconfidence was dangerous, something Daddy repeated often. This was her first human opponent, and a templar at that. She wasn't going to mess around.

"S-Stay back, monster!" The man yelled, the dagger pointed at Reina.

Reina learned all sorts of tricks to use. She expanded her wings, making her look bigger than she was. It helped, since she was much shorter than the man. She bared her teeth to make him think she really was just a monster, and not someone who could outthink him. Slowly, she walked closer, letting him fear for his life that much longer.

All these things would help him make a mistake. And that's exactly what he did.

With a desperate cry, he lunged forward with his dagger. Too far away to be a surprise, Reina had no problem knocking it away from her as she reached up with a claw and swiftly slashed the man's throat.

The dagger clattered to the ground as the man desperately held his throat. It was no use, as he fell to his knees, giving Reina an easier time to dig into his throat again.

With a heavy clang, the man fell back, a pool of blood quickly forming around his head.

"I did it!" Reina cheered, turning to her observing brother with a smile.

"You did. Good job, Reina." Brother Gau only took a single step before Reina jumped over to him, receiving a reward of headpats.

"Heehee!" Reina couldn't help but squee happily at the affection.

It felt so great to finally be able to kill a templar herself and not just hear about Brother Gau killing one that went where they didn't belong. There were sure to be many more just like the ones they found snooping around here. Reina could hardly wait.

~Forging Legends~

The party walked along the road toward the capital of Lespax. Few words were spoken between them after breakfast. Hearing what Lola said last night made it difficult to talk to the girl. Instead, Reina spent the silence going over the dream/memory she saw.

It took place sometime after Lola was experimented on, within a year most likely. Even four years before now, Lola hated the templar. Reina wondered how deep it went. Sure, Lola killed them without remorse, but she wasn't crazy about it. Otherwise, the ones who escorted Reina in Keston would have been killed immediately, even if Lola's father told her not to draw attention.

Reina's idea seemed to be right; she had a dream of Lola's memories. It was a bit more vivid, a few details being filled in more than just a general feeling. There was less confusion about what was happening, less of herself trying to figure out these memories and more just her accepting them all as her own.

That could be a bit scary, but she didn't want to dwell on that implication.

She did think back on that feeling when her 'brother' helped her fight against her berserk spirit. It felt exactly the same as in last night's dream, but much less confusing. The first dream was a bit like a stew, the conflicting memories floating around and colliding. The brotherly feeling probably came from Lola when she got close. Reina idly wondered what it would feel like if Vyrdrun actually was her brother, and how much stronger that feeling would have been compared to Lola and Goalith both being brought in by Derdir.

The girl at the center of her thoughts trailed behind her, though not on her feet. The advanced doll spirit held her in its arm, carrying her easily. Her wounds healed a little bit since last night, but it definitely wouldn't be good to walk around with them. She couldn't fly either, since her wing was still torn. So, having one of the forged spirits carry her was the obvious method of travel, or else have Vyrdrun do it. Kuromo was another option, but…no. Reina wasn't even going to consider having him carry Lola. He was too bouncy on land, and Lola was a bit mean to him before. Since it required no effort and Reina's SP wouldn't go below half with the two SP recovery bonuses keeping it there, the spirit was preferred.

That didn't mean Lola was talking to her, however.

Just like how Reina didn't know how to address Lola's views on sacking Savia's capital, Lola didn't have anything to say to her. She kind of wish she did. It would show Lola had some understanding of how bad doing that was…but no. That's not what Lola thought of it. She made that perfectly clear.

Derdir obviously thought it was worth it. He was the Demon Lord. He gave the order. Lola thought the same. To be so convinced that her so-called father was in the right…just what could he have done to her?

"Hmmm. Maybe I'm looking at this wrong." Reina mused. As things were, she wasn't going to convince Lola what she did was excessive, let alone wrong. And she couldn't really figure out everything Derdir did to make Lola think that way. She'd likely get more information on that from Lola's dreams than by just talking. No, what she should be asking was, why did Derdir think it was worth exterminating a city to kill one person?

She had just the person to ask about that…once they were talking again. They still had time. On foot, it would take about three days to reach the capital. Reina was certain…confident…hopeful she could talk with Lola more by then.

"Wait." To her side, Vyrdrun raised his hand as he spoke. "Mystic rain is coming."

"To the side." Reina instructed.

The party moved off the road, where Vyrdrun began working his magic to raise up some earth as a shelter. Just like before, they wouldn't use Maria's mansion spell. It would only help in keeping the nausea away, so there wasn't a good enough reason to reveal it to Lola.

The earth moved as walls began to form. Hardened dirt shifted around a support pillar and began to make a dome. No matter how many times Reina saw it, it still impressed her. She'd like to be able to do something like this herself, but she knew she wasn't skilled enough in magic yet. Maria definitely could, seeing how she made that mansion spell.

Once it was constructed, they filed into the building. Reina had her spirit gently set Lola down against the wall, letting her spirit dissipate soon after. The girl was wearing her clothes from under her armor, but not the armor itself. Vyrdrun carried that in his pack. If there was an issue with her injury, Reina wanted them to be able to get to it quickly. They didn't store the armor in Reina's weapon, simply because they'd need to visit a Dragon Hourglass to get it out, and bringing Lola into Lespax's capital wasn't a good idea.

"Hm." Vyrdrun stood by the open doorway, far from the center of the small building, and looked out.

"Something wrong?" Reina asked, walking over to him.

"It's coming in quicker than I thought." He commented. "Maybe the beginnings of it passed through a spirit's location and sped up."

There was a learning opportunity if Reina ever heard one. "How do spirits affect violet rain?"

Vyrdrun stepped back from the doorway to look at her. "Mystic rain gathers power from all the weak spirits they pass over. The stronger spirits who have their own home give much more energy. Once it reaches a certain point, the clouds form and the rain begins."

Reina nodded along at his explanation. "What about the churches? Those spirits don't have a set place."

The spirit groups of the 10 churches could bestow their blessing through the priests of their sects. That could be at any small church in Keston and beyond.

"I'm not sure." Vyrdrun shook his head. "The way those humans give magic is…unnatural." She could understand why he felt that way. "The mystic rain likely has the same effect on those places, though."

"What's that?" Reina asked.

"The spirit would be unable to form a contract. They go dormant during the rain and for a short while after, depending on how long it rained." He explained.

Reina wondered if it was the same with the Violet Storm Church, since the bonus she got from one of her copied weapon forms gave her some resistance to the rain, in a roundabout way.

"But you can still do magic." Reina pointed out. She'd seen him do so while they waited for some rain to stop before.

"So can Maria." He replied. That was true as well. "So long as the spell is not directly in the rain, the magic will persist."

"Hm." Reina nodded. "Once you have a contract, as long as you don't go against the restriction, the spirit is irrelevant." She gave her perception on the matter.

"That is my understanding as well, but not completely accurate." Vyrdrun explained. "From what I've learned, a mage will lose the contract if the spirit is dead."

Reina's eyes widened. "Spirits can die?"

"All things die, Reina." Vyrdrun responded with a hint of finality.

That was something she didn't know. Maria never mentioned that. Since she didn't, Reina could only assume it wasn't something that happened often.

Their talk helped Reina understand magic a bit more, helped by her magic lessons with Maria so long ago. While Vyrdrun couldn't form the same contracts as humans, he had a sort of pseudo-contract with the lesser spirits all around them. It was easy enough to do, even with violet rain around them. Additionally, she and Maria couldn't make walls to cover them, since the stone from the spell was very much a creation and not a manipulation of something that's real.

What Vyrdrun said also begged the question: if spirits could die—which probably meant they could be killed—why were evil spirits guarded? Lola said even her father only contracted with one. It would make sense to get rid of them if they were so dangerous, especially since the contract she had had no way of being removed.

Reina saw the familiar dark purple clouds form a little bit away, but they were quickly getting above them and beyond. She took this as her cue to walk away from the doorway and sit against the opposing wall, next to Maria and close to Lola.

"Questions for later." She supposed.

Then, it rained. The water coming down wasn't a storm or downpour, but certainly enough to bring her to her knees if exposed to in a matter of seconds, if that long. The effect inside the hut was immediate, her stomach starting to churn with discomfort.

"Ugh…" Maria held her head with one hand, the other resting on Reina's shoulder. "I'm not going to make it, Boss. Hold me tight~…"

"There, there." Reina patted her head instead.

Being able to lower her magic stat by shifting weapons made it easier for Reina to handle being near the rain. That didn't really explain Grim, who didn't use magic but was just as sick as Maria. Reina didn't ask, but maybe he had a decent magic stat. Combined with having a higher level to increase it further, that might explain it. Then again, he could just get sick more easily.

"How are you feeling?" Reina turned to ask Lola.

"I'm fine." Lola responded. "Mystic rain doesn't bother us."

It didn't quite surprise Reina how Lola referred to the rain outside. Humans called it 'violet rain', and Gromnar called it 'mystic rain'. Just something to differentiate Lola from humans, even if she didn't quite hate all of them.

"Must be nice…" Grim muttered, slouched against one of the walls. He covered his mouth with his hand, holding back a bout of vomiting.

"Gau!" Kuromo stood proud, his body easily fitting in the large earth hut.

"You're doing good too, I see." Reina commented.

"Gau!" Kuromo then nudged Reina's shoulder, getting her to pat his head.

"He's still a baby dragon, even if he's big." Lola commented, earning a glare from Kuromo. "He probably can't handle more."

"Gau!" With a stomp of his claw, Kuromo turned about and galloped to the doorway.

"Kuromo!" Reina called out as he ran outside, just as Vyrdrun was fitting the doorway with a short pelt to partially block out the rain. "Stop! You're going to…be just fine…"

She started to run to the doorway, only to slow down as Kuromo pranced around in the now downpour, the rain having quickly picked up. He jumped here and there, flapping his wings all the while. It was like watching a dog play in the rain. Reina started to laugh, but held a hand to her mouth instead. This close to the door, the water vaper started to get to her.

"Ugh…have fun, Kuromo." She called out, though a bit softly, before walking back to where she sat before.

"Dragons really are something else." She thought to herself, confirming what she thought before. Kuromo wasn't really affected the last time it rained, and he was even bigger and stronger now. Since Lola wasn't bothered, it looked like even dragon hybrids could stand the rain. Maria hadn't mentioned anything about that, but it wasn't like dragons were all that common.

Back to the task at hand, Reina took the opportunity to speak with Lola some more. "Any idea when someone will come by for you?" She asked as she sat back down.

Since Lola couldn't move well on her own, Reina didn't expect her to just fly off. The girl could walk on her own, albeit a bit slow. Since she didn't teleport away, Reina assumed someone would be by eventually. Hopefully, it wouldn't be Maphai…

"You want me gone, Big Sis?" Lola asked, not turning to look at her. "I bet you're worried about having to hide me."

Reina shook her head regardless. "No. I just wanted to know how much longer we had to talk and get to know each other more."

It was pretty easy to keep Lola out of sight of travelers. Really, it was because there weren't any. It was a bit odd, since she'd seen plenty of people on her way to Lespax from Savia.

Lola lowered her head slightly. "I think you know me well enough now, Big Sis."

Again, Reina shook her head. That was the exact opposite of what she wanted. So, she wanted to try what she thought earlier.

Seeing how beating around the bush wasn't likely to end well, Reina just came out and asked it. "Why did your father destroy the capital of Savia?"

"Why do you care, Big Sis?" Lola muttered.

"Because…maybe it was worth it." Reina began. She didn't believe what she was saying to be true, but there might have been more to this person. "I don't know who it was Derdir wanted dead. Maybe he would stop whatever it was Derdir was doing. Maybe he was really strong. I don't know, but I'd like to try and understand."

Could she have worded that better? Probably. Reina wasn't an expert conversationalist, not remotely. She'd gotten used to Lola enough to speak casually, like she did with her gaming group. Though, she'd either met or been around the people in her party under extraneous circumstances: barely surviving violet rain, being smothered by a pair of breasts, and fleeing a fight with dozens of templar. Also, the rain made it a little hard to concentrate on her wording.

Lola remained silent for about a minute, looking down in thought. When she looked back up, she stared right at Reina. "It was worth it."

Reina didn't want that to be the end of what Lola had to say, so she gestured for her to continue.

"You guessed right, Big Sis. The person Daddy wanted dead could stop all of his plans." Lola began, letting her gaze fall to the floor. Reina didn't know if that was a good thing or not. The knee-jerk answer was 'yes', but that couldn't be all there was to it. "He seems to think of himself as Daddy's rival, but he's just a clever, fake Demon Lord. It's because of him that Daddy's biggest plan is taking so long to complete."

"What…" Reina was about to ask what the plan was, but that would probably be a step too far.

"He wants to kill certain people." Lola, however, answered anyway. "I told you that before, Big Sis. Daddy has been searching for them for years. But sometimes, when he or one of his imps finds one of them, they disappear before he can kill them, only to end up in some other village or town."

If that was the case, and depending on how many people he was looking for, Reina could see that taking years. Derdir wouldn't be able to do a wide sweep, searching every settlement once. If they were getting moved around, which was what it sounded like, he'd have to search the same place again and again. The same could be said for these people traveling normally, but that more depended on the people.

This time, Reina did ask a potentially invasive question. "Who does he want to kill?"

Lola shook her head. "I shouldn't say. They're for Daddy to kill. We just help him find them, or help with any of his other plans. And he helps us with ours."

Reina looked at her, confused. "You have your own plans?"

"Yeah." Lola had a small smile creep on her face as she glanced over to Reina. "You know mine already, don't you?"

It wasn't hard to figure that one out. "You want to kill all the templar."

"Close. I want to destroy the 10 churches." Lola corrected. "More templar can always be recruited. Killing the templar just makes me feel better. But if the churches are gone, then there won't be any more templar."

Ending such a widespread religion, 10 of them no less, wouldn't be easy. Though, they seemed to be doing a good enough job fighting each other, if the Wave in Keston was any indication. The same could be seen when she talked to the high priests of all the churches and how they bickered with one another. Though, at least no one was stabbed then.

Reina had to wonder if their conflict was something Lola had any hand in. Maybe. But they were all large organizations that competed with one another, so they probably didn't need any help.

"What about your other siblings?" Reina inquired further.

Lola tapped a finger against her chin. "Well, Sister Maphai wants to kill all humans, but that isn't really possible. Plus, there are humans some of us like, and some that are useful. So, she just wants to kill a lot of humans."

That wasn't so much a plan as it was a never-ending goal, but there wasn't much point in drawing the distinction. Reina figured some of the 'useful' humans were like Borgi in Keston, and people in the Red Brotherhood. Aside from assassination, theft, and slavery, they likely dealt in information. As for the humans Lola's family liked, her cousins, the witch siblings, came to the front of Reina's mind. Also, Borgi the Not-So-Fat-Anymore, since Lola hugged him before.

"Brother Darvon wants to hold power over nobles." Lola went on. "That's why he's in charge of Daddy's imps. Sister Meru wants to live an easy life, so she usually guards our home. Oh, she was the only one available to help in Keston, so that's why she was sent out." She added on, her old cheer starting to come back.

That was five out of the six…no, seven members of that family. Reina nearly forgot about the newest younger brother that Meru mentioned.

"What about Goalith?" To not think about that, Reina only asked about the oldest brother.

With a giggle, Lola held a finger to her lips. "That's a secret~."

If the conversation wasn't about how high-powered people wanted to kill or control people—mostly—Reina would have found the action a little funny.

"But what about Savia?" Maria was the one to actually get them back on track. She was leaning on Reina's shoulder, listening in to the conversation.

Lola's expression turned more neutral. "I know how people…how humans are. Some of them are good. Too many are bad. Most just want to live peacefully, not caring more than they need to about the people around them. That's why I wasn't upset about all the people dying in Savia. If people were better, I'd care more."

Reina wanted to object to her way of thinking, but quickly thought better of it. Not only would that end the conversation, it was something Reina had seen a little of. The small town where she met Vyrdrun was pretty hostile to him, even after he saved a young boy's life. Then, in the next town, she saw a Gromnar being sold as a slave, along with a number of humans. It was a different world, yes, but it was still a terrible thing.

"I don't like seeing kids getting hurt." Reina settled on one of the biggest issues with the attack. Men, women, and children were all slaughtered.

"Neither does Daddy." Lola responded.

Again, Reina wanted to speak out about that, but yesterday's argument reminded her of why she shouldn't. She took a deep breath. "But you and your siblings were all kids when he transformed you. Even if you all asked him to, that's a huge decision."

Derdir might not like hurting kids—if Lola was to be believed—but he still killed many, and manipulated others.

"It made us stronger, and safer." Lola just reinforced what she said before.

Seeing no point in arguing about that, Reina returned to the proper topic. "And what about the children in Savia? They were killed when your father attacked."

"Daddy didn't kill any of them." Lola said easily.

Reina wanted to sigh at the technicality. "Not him, but all the monsters he brought. I saw so many dead people all around me when I ran to the castle. How many of those do you think were kids?"

"How many did you see?" Lola asked.

A vein threatened to bulge out of Reina's head at that comment. "Lola—"

"No, really, Big Sis. How many did you see?" Lola asked again, this time a little more forcefully.

Reina didn't want to think about that. She didn't want to remember all the faces of dead children she could do nothing to help as she ran for her life…

Only, she couldn't recall seeing any kids on the way to the castle.

"That can't be right." Reina relaxed a little on the ground as she thought. "There must have been…but the rumors said everyone was killed…" That's when she realized it. She didn't see a single dead child there. Sure, some were chased by the monsters, but they were with adults. That couldn't be the case. It just couldn't.

"We didn't kill any kids that night, Big Sis." Lola said again. "Well, you said I was a kid, so maybe according to you we did. But no one younger than 15 was killed."

Reina didn't want to believe that. She couldn't believe that. Derdir had no problem using children to serve his purposes, by Lola's own admission.

"What happened to the children?" Maria then asked. "Wasn't the whole population reanimated?"

"Only the adults." Lola responded. "All the kids were put in the city center and left alone. There was plenty of food, so they would fine until the queen's forces could retake the capital."

"Right. Fine. They only had to watch their family, friends, and neighbors shamble around as zombies." Reina thought bitterly. Those kids would be traumatized for a long time, if not forever. She couldn't imagine going through something like that, and she had Lola chasing her through the castle's underground labyrinth. The only silver lining, assuming this was true, was that they were alive.

This left Reina feeling strange. It was hard to believe, but maybe not entirely. Word about Savia was that it was sacked and everyone was killed. Who would believe a rumor that all the children were spared? It wasn't unreasonable, if the capital was attacked by an invading army. That would probably mean they were taken as slaves, and the women wouldn't have been slaughtered.

But it was the Demon Lord who attacked. Demon Lords were dangerous, destructive, and evil. She also couldn't imagine the queen letting that information spread, Reina's lackluster understanding of politics notwithstanding. It might make him be viewed less negatively, especially in countries at odds with Savia. Grim had confirmed as much with Hascain.

"In the end, we couldn't find him." Lola continued. "Daddy's rival must have escaped in all the chaos, cutting his losses."

"What losses?" Reina asked.

"He was probably looking to use you, Big Sis. Daddy thinks he was the one who convinced the prince to summon you. Well, sort of. He convinced a Yellow Hammer priest to convince the prince. It wasn't hard, since that dumb prince wanted to be the next emperor of a dead empire."

That was a strange conclusion to draw. "How would he convince a priest to do that? Is he well known or something?"

"He can shapeshift." Lola told her. "Better than us. Better than those two fakes in Keston Sister Meru told me about. He can make himself look like anyone. It's the only reason he's still alive, since Daddy says even I could kill him, and I'm the weakest. Well, I was until Aermith was reborn."

Reina was at a loss. This was a lot to process, and Reina didn't know where to begin. Lola didn't seem like she was lying, but Reina couldn't just take her at her word. Her father was still the Demon Lord and responsible for a huge number of deaths. He could have simply lied to Lola about all, or most, of that.

As for this rival, Reina couldn't say one way or the other. She couldn't say she noticed anyone following her, largely because she didn't even think to check. Not to mention the fact that the prince had a shimmer following her without her knowledge.

Still, at the end of the day, Derdir killed thousands of people.

Lola let out a small laugh. "It's funny. This is the sort of thing Sister Meru would be doing. She wouldn't even think not to say something until after she already said it. I know I shouldn't be talking about Daddy's rival, but I didn't want you to hate him for the wrong reason."

"He still did all that to kill one person, and get me moving. And I guess to keep his rival from using me." Maybe not on a personal level, not entirely, but Reina still hated the man that would kill thousands just for that.

"Well…" Lola scratched the back of her head. "Daddy was still upset at the king. He was close to catching that fake when the king found one of Daddy's hidden spots. Word got out before Daddy could stop it and kill the king, and that gave the fake time to hide in Savia and start messing things up even more. Though, I guess the Waves starting up meant you could be summoned anyway, so I guess it worked out."

Reina perked up. "What do you mean?"

"Ah!" Lola covered her mouth. "Um…I really shouldn't be telling you that."

That little bit of information told Reina something. Well, more accurately, it slightly changed what she already knew. Back in Keston, Lola said Derdir tried to summon her. She thought it was just an opportunity have a hero working for him, but maybe that wasn't it. Maybe he wanted to summon her despite the Waves. If that was the case…

"What was it Maria said? Something about there needing to be a massive threat to summon the Spirit Forger? Like the vampire crisis, or the first Demon Lord. Or…a new Demon Lord."

The implication of that…Was that his plan? Was Derdir going to be so much of a threat to the world the they would need to summon her? But…how would that have worked? If he was the threat, could he have summoned her. He apparently tried before, but it didn't work. Maybe he didn't know.

"Hey, Big Sis?" Lola pointed out of the hut. "Your dragon is drinking the rainwater."

Dismissing one problem for another, Reina stood up. "Kuromo! Stop that!" She shouted.

For his part, Kuromo tilted his head up from the puddle he was drinking from a few feet from the doorway. "Gau!" He gave out a happy little roar.

"Oh my~!" Maria let out a light laugh. "Well, I'm sure he gets his craziness from his mama~."

Reina ignored the comment. "Alright, enough playing." This dragon was going to give her a heart attack. She had no idea if he could drink that safely, despite the pleased look on his face. "Just come in now. I don't want you—"

A deafening crash resounded throughout the hut, accompanied by a bright flash. Kuromo jolted before falling to his side, blue sparks coming off of his body that glowed in a similar color.

"Kuromo!" Reina yelled. Panic gripped her. A lightning bolt was enough to kill someone, even if it was uncommon. If they lived, there was any number of problems that could occur. She had no idea what, if anything, would happen to a dragon.

As quickly as her fear surfaced, it began to dissipate. Kuromo stood back up on all four legs and did a couple leaps, bringing him back inside the hut. Vyrdrun came in right after, making Reina realize he'd stepped out at all. A metal pot was in his hands, likely to be made into those rain potions he'd talked about.

"Are you okay?" Reina asked, checking Kuromo over. She backed off the second she got close, the rain vapor making her sick. Thankfully, Kuromo didn't try to get any closer to her.

"Gau!" His happy reply told her he was fine, but he was still giving off blue sparks.

"Vyrdrun, please check him!" Reina quickly turned to Vyrdrun and pleaded.

"Of course." He nodded, setting the enchanted metal pot near the fire.

Both of them were drenched and both were fine from the rain itself. Vyrdrun ran his hands over Kuromo's scales as the dragon stood up tall. All the while, Kuromo kept his head facing Vyrdrun.

He seemed fine, and the sparks began to jump out less frequently, lowering the glow he had around him.

"There doesn't seem to be any problem." Vyrdrun concluded, stepping back.

"Gau!" The look on Kuromo's face told Reina his was indeed fine, and in fact smug about what just happened. The electricity had completely disappeared as well.

Reina let out a long sigh, and the breath she was holding. "Alright. Alright. Just…go sit over there until you dry off. I don't want any of us getting sick."

Thinking about it, Vyrdrun hadn't been worried. He didn't move all that fast to look Kuromo over, though he wasn't slow either. It also wasn't the first time she saw a monster struck by one of those lightning bolts. That doll on her first day here was struck, and all that did was make it stronger and faster…and give it a fork/trident. She'd have to ask what he knew about the lightning, but later.

"Gau…" Sadly, the large baby dragon complied, looking over his shoulder as he picked a spot at the other end of the hut.

Reina really didn't need any more surprises, even if they ended up being harmless. She had enough to think about without worrying about things like that.

Unfortunately, a scare wasn't going to be the worst of her problems by the end of the day. What happened next would shake Reina to her core.

Author's Notes:

Foreshadowing!

Not quite where I wanted to end the chapter, but I gave some information, so I think it works well. Normally, I don't like ending on these kinds of "something happens next time" with how I'm presenting this story, but here we are. Mostly just me being grumpy I couldn't accurately predict how long the rest of this chapter would be.

Once again, I'll mention I crosspost this on AO3, just in case FF has a problem that doesn't get fixed.