With each flap of his wings, Dan conjured up a cloud of dust and dirt. He changed out from his dragon form and into his human form. In the dust cloud, a tanned man landed. He combed through his artificially blonde hair with his fingers.

“Wha-wha-what may we do for you today o great dragon, breaker of continents, destroyer of all!” a woman asked as she ran out.

She panted, and knelt down on the ground. Why was she in such a rush? And those clothes of hers weren’t suited for the outdoors, and definitely not for crawling around.

“A-are you perhaps looking f-for a bride?” she muttered beneath her breath.

“Huh?” Dan asked, “I think you’re missing the point.”

“Oh f-forgive me o gre-great dragon! I hav-have been rude! Ple-please! W-would you like a m-meal prepared by t-the lowly lifeforms i-in my househo-hold?”

With each offer, she knocked her head against the hard ground. What, exactly, was she doing? Dan tilted his head. Well, what could go wrong?

“Sure. No problem.”

The woman led the dragon inside. If Dan judged from the mana flow within her body, she was most probably a trained mage, or a talented one. He turned his head to the tower tucked away in the corner of the mansion. The prize was there.

A young girl rushed out to greet them. Her face flushed from running, and her breathing shallow. She placed her hands on her knees.

“Did you run all the way down from the tower?” the woman asked.

“Ha... Ha... Yes. I made sure that he was safe, mistress.”

“Who is he?” Dan asked.

“Ah! I’m incredibly sorry for our rudeness!” the woman bowed her head again.

“I will introduce you to a bride soon! Please! C-come in!”

Dan raised his eyebrows. Humans were a strange breed of mammals. He shrugged, and shoved his hands into his pockets. It should be fine. As strange as they were, the humans were useful.

The dragon entered the mansion. With nice paintings hung on the wall, and marble statues presented on pedestals, this was a rather well off person. Two human sized artificial lifeforms walked out of a door, and bowed. Were they golems? If so, then this woman was rather skilled.

“Ple-please take a seat o great dragon!”

“Sure. What’s the plan?”

“U-uh! First, a meal!”

With a snap of her fingers, those golems brought out plate after plate after plate of food. Smoked meats and creamy cheeses. Baked potatoes sprinkled with salt and pepper, and coated with butter. If there was one thing that humans outdid dragons on, it was in the fine art of cooking. Dan’s stomach rumbled at the sight and smell of the freshly cooked meal, especially since it was right in front of him. He grabbed onto his fork and knife in a weird fashion, holding onto them in a fist instead of using his fingers.

Dan stabbed into the cooked mutton, and tossed it into his mouth. The saltiness of it was just right, and the meat had a delectable texture. He ripped it apart with his teeth, and swallowed without chewing. Meanwhile, the woman barely touched the food on her plate. Was she unwell?

“So. Let’s get down to business. Who are you?” Dan asked once he put his knife down.

“Ah! I am Angelica! It is of my ut-utmost pleasure to meet you o great dragon!”

“Hm. Intriguing. And who do you have locked up in the tower over there?”

“O great dragon! Within that tower is our offering to you. The bride is of the highest quality I can assure you!”

The dragon raised his eyebrows. Did she get more confident? Or did she just calm down after he ate?

“A bride, you say? Why do all the humans I meet offer me a bride?”

“There is a popular folktale that dragons often go into towns and cities to abduct young girls to become their wife. And I can assure you, the one I have to offer is of the highest quality of women.”

“Ho. What is she like?”

With his fingers together, he awaited her response. This was interesting. To think that humans thought of dragons in such a way. But in reality, they couldn’t be further away from the truth. Within his relatively short life, Dan failed to recall an occasion when a dragon actually visited humans to get a bride. Why would a dragon even be interested in a human girl? Wouldn’t it have made more sense for them to pursue a female counterpart of the same species? The only conclusion that Dan could reach was that human culture was weird. And he didn’t want to bother with it.

“She’s really pretty! And she’s a noble too!”

“And what noble house and nation might she be from? I have a certain house that I’m interested in, you see.”

“Uh, she’s from the Rayleigh house! They have a history with dragons!”

“Is that so. Very intriguing indeed. Might you take me to her? I want to see my future wife with my own eyes.”

“O-of course! Grey! Take him to her,” Angelica barked out.

“We’re not in a rush. No hurry.”

With her command, the grey haired girl walked towards the dragon. Her hands quivering, and footsteps unsteady. Were dragons really that scary to them? She bowed her head, and used her arm to gesture the way. Leading with her head down, she walked with uncertain footing, barely aware of what was in front of her.

“So... are you the only other human working here?” Dan asked.

Grey whispered. Her voice was soft, by human standards at least. But a dragon, being a dragon, heard it loud and clear. Still, for some reason, he wanted her to speak with confidence. To puff out her chest, and talk. Not to hide and shake in fear. After all, the best business that could be conducted was between two level headed parties.

“Were you saying something?” Dan stopped in his tracks.

When she stopped hearing his footsteps, she turned back around. Hints of tears were left on her face, and her cheeks were flushed red. Her hands were unsteady, constantly shaking, as if she was suffering through a seizure.

“I said. There are a few others here.”

“Good. You should keep that up. Carry on.”

Grey nodded and turned back around. She walked further into the mansion, their footsteps providing a rhythmic beat to an otherwise boring trip. Dan watched her from her back. That sway of her body, the way she stepped. Interesting. That beat echoed within the tower, and they climbed up a spiral staircase for a while.

“Here he- Sorry, she is,” Grey pointed up at the trapdoor.

With a mildly amused look, the dragon pushed the entrance open. He stepped up and in, and looked at the ‘bride’ lying down in front of him. Of course, he knew what the mansion’s owner was playing at. So that man was Francis Rayleigh. Dan reached out towards him, and placed his hand on the sleeping beauty’s head. Blood streamed from a corner of his head, and a brick lay beside it. Dan looked up towards the roof. There was a hole, probably a dislodged brick. The dragon muttered an apology beneath his breath.

***

Ripples, like a peddle disturbing the calm surface of water. Each step he took created more ripples within the void. What a strange place. Francis tilted his head, and hopped down. The light level was the same everywhere, and he seemed to be able to move in all three dimensions freely.

“Get down here.”

A kick to the head. Francis stood up and spun around. A fist met his face. He fell on his knees, and spat out blood. Another kick, this time to his chest. The attacker picked up his target by the collar.

“Bitch,” Francis muttered.

He spat out a mouthful of blood on his attacker’s face. Forehead against forehead. Skull against skull. Francis headbutted the attacker.

“Fuck you.”

The attacker threw Francis onto the ground. Pain flared throughout his entire body. But, he grabbed onto the person’s neck as he fell. Using it like a rock climber clinging onto dear life, Francis held onto that man’s throat and squeezed.

“Fine. Urg.”

Francis stood up and faced his attacker. Same height, and same face. It was the exact thing he didn’t want to do.

“So, how does my body feel?” the original asked.

“When you put it like that, it sounds extremely wrong.”

“I see that you're enjoying your time.”

“By getting tortured?”

“Oh yeah, why did we get tortured anyway?”

“Are you seriously asking me that?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“That’s because you’re a mixed blood.”

“Oh so it's my fault now?”

“Doesn’t matter. Where is this?”

“You don’t know your own mind?”

“This is my own mind?”

“Well it's our mind to be exact. Oh by the way, when are you leaving?”

“Leaving what?”

“My body? It's mine, you know.”

He walked around within the void. The ripples that formed crashed against others. With a rather ambient purple lighting, it was a nice place to be. Completely devoid of anything, but the two current inhabitants.

“Are you being serious?” Francis asked.

“Yes. Give my body back. I already took control once.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No,” Francis shook his head, and crossed his arms.

The original jumped down from his vantage point, landing elegantly on his toes. His arms behind him, and his eyes sharp. He walked towards the imposter, standing on the solid water lake, and gazed.

“You have no right to take this.”

“Do you have any idea how much trouble you caused? Why are you such an asshole?”

“Fuck you. I didn’t ask to be born like that,” the original growled.

“The question isn’t if you were born like that. It’s your personality.”

“Haaa. And what about you? Enjoying the situation I see. Stealing my identity, my life, and everything I had. Perhaps I should have done more than bitch slap her.”

“Ohhh? This is quite a place, isn’t it?”

The one who spoke was someone completely foreign. His voice was deep and husky, yet powerful. The feeling that the imposter got was familiar, and something he didn’t really want to recall. Either way, his appearance derailed their entire conversation. Both of them dropped the current topic and turned their focus on the other intruder.

“Yo,” the man said.

Tanned skin, and artificial blonde hair. Utterly unfamiliar. Who was he? Both inhabitants raised their eyebrows, and looked at each other. It really was like gazing into a mirror. The same exact features, save for the changes after the original perished. But the facial structure, the distance between the eyes and nose, everything else was the same.

“Who are you?” the original asked.

“Dan, a dragon. So your mind is like this, huh.”

“What. I’m not giving you permission to be here.”

“Oh, don’t mind me. Do continue.”

“Do you want him here?”

The original pointed at the intruder with his thumb. The imposter shook his head, and wagged his finger at the intruder. Dan looked slightly confused.

“This is our mind, you know. So get out.”

With a show of force, the two Francises ejected the dragon. It was surprisingly easy, given that the intruder they ejected wasn’t a mere human. But again, this world could be equated to a lucid dream.

“You know, it's strange. Why is it that you, an imposter, have access to all my memories, whilst I know utterly nothing about you?”

“Well, what do you want to know?”

“How did you even get here? Who are you?”

“For ‘how I got here’, that’s a long story. And I think that it’s still too soon to know who I am.”

“We have time.”

“Hmm. For one, I died.”

“Go on.”

“To be honest, I’m not really sure. I don’t know if I really ‘am here’ , or if I’m still in the process of dying. Does that make sense?” the imposter answered.

“Yeah. A bit. Everything just... Kinda slows down, right?”

“And you slip down the mortal coil, unable to climb back up?”

“The exact same, then.”

“You’ve died too?”

“We died at the exact same time. Though, I’m not sure why you’re here, and I’m not there.”

“Are you angry? That I stole your life, your place, everything?”

“I was so pissed off. Still am, actually. But, you’re surprisingly competent.”

“Oh, thank you. I really appreciate that.”

The imposter took a bow. Off in the distance of everywhere, a soft, far away laughter broke the excessive silence. The original tilted his head. That trait probably passed onto the imposter.

“Now, shall we deal with the dragon?” the original asked.

“You putting the words ‘deal’ and ‘dragon’ together brings back some bad memories.”

“Hm. Well, what’s your business here, Dan?”

“Ohoho. I’ll excuse your rudeness. I’m here to strike a deal with you, mixed blood.”

Ripples formed around the intruder’s feet. The human floated down, and landed on his toes. Graceful. He felt his face with his hands, and turned towards the two.

“Should I change my appearance to suit your tastes?”

“No nee-”

“You can change your appearance?” the imposter interrupted his counterpart.

“How would you like it?”

“Female. Around 21 human years. Long black hair, somewhat tall. Brown eyes. Slender arms, long legs. On the chubbier side, but not by much.”

“And what about the face?”

“Oh! Her face! Her... Face.”

Francis furrowed his eyebrows. His eyes were shut, and he massaged his temples with his fingers. Muttering something under his breath, he collapsed onto his knees.

“Hello?” the original asked.

“I... I can’t remember. Why?”

With his head down, and his hands blocking their sight, neither the original nor the dragon could see what sort of face he was making. But, small ripples formed directly beneath his face, as if water dripped from a leaking faucet into a calm, bottomless sink. The once rare rain drops quickly evolved to a downpour.

“Calm down,” the original said.

“How did she look like? What was her voice? How could I not remember?”

“It's not your fault you can’t remember. Calm down.”

“‘Not my fault’? As if. How can I ever begin to even forget about my sister?”

“This feels domestic. Should I leave?”

“Look, just, fuck right off!” the original bellowed out as the dragon was banished for a second time, “And calm down. You haven’t forgotten her yet.”

“What did she look like, again?” Francis whispered, “What did she look like?”

“Who is she to you?”

“My only family.”

“Ah. Take as much time as you need then. I can’t eject you, nor can you eject me. But I’d suggest you wake up soon.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Anyway, you still have my sisters.”