“Hi there Zeverous, I’m your Big Brother!”

‘Uhhhhh…’

As confusing as introducing yourself to someone who you aren’t related to as their ‘big brother’ is, Zeverous did not let that confusion show on her chubby face. Ribren, in contrast, cocked his head to the side and squinted in confusion. He opened his mouth and pointed to himself.

“Ri-bren, Big Bro-ther”

“?” Zeverous raised an eyebrow.

“Brother!”

Ribren continued to point at himself as he inched closer to her from across the low table. After repeating himself and moving to be only inches from Zeverous face, Ribren frowned and his brows bunched up.

“I’M TELLING YOU TO CALL ME BROTHER!”

“Bwufer!” Zeverous unintentionally spouted.

His being so close doubled with his sudden outburst caused her mind to jump into just doing what he asked.

“HA! Yes,” He went back to sitting in his seat and pumped his fist, “I knew I could do it. Now let’s finish all of this right now!” Ribren shook the papers that were now in his hands.

It is no stretch to say that Zeverous was unnerved at his blatant arrogance. The hours went on and they covered more words and she learned to simply ignore Ribren’s attitude and simply comply with him. Even as her stomach howled in desperation they continued their ‘lesson’ on words. By the time she finished, she was feeling faint as hunger constantly clawed at her mind. This is when Ribren got up from the table to find some food for her and him at last.

It was certainly nothing special as it missed the spices, textures, and sauces of the food she ate in her previous life but It was the first food she ate in what must have been days. The salty broth seeped into her tongue as she swallowed the less than pea-sized chunks of meat. It was fortunate that Ribren even remembered to cut the pieces so small as her baby teeth had yet to fully grow in. That isn’t to say they weren't there as she coils feel them pushing through her gums as she ate her food with a passion. Zeverous drank the broth her ‘brother’ had given her until she was halfway through and completely stuffed.

A tidal wave so sleepiness washed over as her eyes grew heavy and her mind faded into the comfy darkness that every man seeks. Despite her wishes, she was pulled back to the real world by Ribren’s arrogant yet childish voice.

“Hey, you can’t go to sleep now!”

Like a puppet, she was pulled up onto her feet by Ribren’s hand. Even though Zeverous wanted to just go to sleep she found herself unable. Not because she was suddenly awake but because some subconscious force kept her from doing what she wanted. Zeverous looked at Riben who was wearing a perplexed expression on his face.

“We have to do our training session now.”

Despite the large smile that he wore on his face Zeverous could tell this ‘training’ would not be fun or enjoyable in the least.

“First are laps, which I guess we can do around the house, then pushups, crunches, squats, pull-ups, and finally weights.”

It would not take a genius to know that Zeverous was nervous when this strange boy said ‘we’ , but as Ribren took her feet and put tiny shoes on them that nervousness grew tenfold. She was taken outside and placed standing on the green grass that was slowly getting showered with the vibrant pink cherry blossom leaves that fell from above. Ribren took her hands and they both slowly walked around their house in an oval manner.

When they finished the lap returning to where they had begun Zeverous was sweating slightly from how long the walk was. Unfortunately, this is when Ribren let her hands slip from his grip and said some foreboding words.

“Now do the next fifty on your own!” Ribren said as he blasted away and around the wall of the house. Zeverous was standing there on her chubby legs with her mouth wide open. That kid had no reasonable standard on how much she could work as a baby.

“Why haven’t you started?”

“-Eep!” Zeverous felt like her skeleton jumped from her body as Ribren asked.

He looked at her slightly worried and confused for a moment. His brow was raised like he was confused why a literal baby couldn’t run.

‘Perhaps,’ Zeverous thought, ‘the words baby-steps don’t come to mind for him. -How did he finish that lap so fast?’. She ejected the thought from her head. She looked up at Ribren and tried to do puppy eyes at the boy.

“Run, no.” Zeverous pleaded in her soft and squeaky voice.

“Run, Yes.” Ribren countered imitating her voice. “How did I teach you those words? Nevermind”. Ribren came to a sudden realization and harshened his voice, “I am TELLING you to run fifty laps.”

Again Zeverous lost control of her body like a puppet and got up to begin running. She ran until her thoughts became hazy, only remembering a few images of Ribren passing her over and over. This continued until she collapsed onto the grass and her main consciousness fell asleep.

“HA- So what? You left it there to get smothered by those lesser things?” A young dragon asked arrogantly.

“We did not say that. Armageddon is coming for that place soon, so We gave them some hope.” Retorted the Agre’gell as a small grin crept and faded from their face.

“HA! ‘Hope’ our draconic rear ends! IF that opens HAHAHA! We’ll give you eight- no, twenty Desires!” Tvre’zek’gell walked around like a predator encircling its prey.

“Quite the bet you have given Us? Very well, We shall match you on that.” Agre’gell pushed their nephew.

“FuFuFu- Agre’gell You old oaf, We know you do not have many Desires left Unused! HAHAHA! This shall be your last gamble!” Tvre’zek’gell excitedly leapt in front of Agre’gell, waging their tail like a mutt.

“Interesting thoughts You have. We will be waiting for our Desires from you when it finally opens.” Calmly said Agre’gell, already confident in the outcome of their bet.

“HAHAHA-! You are delusional. HAHA-! When that world ends We shall be coming for your life, so no running! HAHAHAhahahahahahhahaahhahaahahhahahahahaah” Tvre’zek’gell laughed maniacally barely getting his word out.

Agre’gell watched contently as their nephew disappeared in a puff of smoke, returning to terrorize whatever world they came across in their youthful adventures. Agre’gell set their head down on a regal pillow as its consciousness willed back to that world. Agre’gell laughed slightly at one of the human descendants who was becoming increasingly stressed at losing some of the relics Agre’gell had left to cause a bit of mischief.

It would certainly be interesting to watch all the mayhem unfold as those lesser-minded beings tore their world apart. Agre’gell relaxed their mind slightly making sure not to miss any bit of detail as greedy individuals unknowingly sowed their fate.