With the dragon continent of Oros now under a new order, the dragons quickly began the recovering of their kingdom. Well, it was called recovery but most of the work was done by Celdora and a few top elected others who mainly focused on determining the hierarchy and how the political process would begin from now on. Unlike the other races with their countries like Ceadric, the dragons had no need for houses or sophisticated buildings to live in. A simple cave or even a plain field big enough for their size would more than sufficient. In this aspect, the dragons were not very complicated in details.

However, it was not about rebuilding that was the focus of the debate. It was about the relationship between the dragons and the rest of the world from now on. For long, they have closed off their borders and holed themselves on this continent while ignoring everything that was happening around them as long as it didn't concern them directly. But that attitude no longer seemed to be working anymore...or did it work at all after all these years?

It was out of question for the dragons to even consider the option of joining Valhalla at this point. Their pride simply could not allow it and to be frank, there was no meaning in that. The original aim of Morrigan was to reunite the three kingdoms of the humans since they were the ones with the most hatred toward the demon kind. As for the other kingdoms, she might conquer but did not plan to rule over them too. But just as many things in life that never went according to plan, she somehow managed to have also Malatas and the beastmen of the Whispering Forest too. And that in itself was the start of troubles. It was impossible to just bring all the races and everyone under the rule of a single person. That diversity, the culture and we were not even talking about the different level of acceptance concerning the demons just yet... there was simply too much difference. This kind of kingdom, built on such a fragile foundation, was bound to one-day collapse. It might last for a time but what would happen after Morrigan was gone? Or Alastor was gone? Without a real absolute power in the top of the chain to keep them in check, conflicts would surely rise again in order to take control of that throne.

That was what the dragons of Oros feared. When that day came, they would prefer not participate in that fight. Old habits died hard after all. But instead of doing just that, Celdora had a better proposal: the dragons should prove themselves as the protectors of the world and cooperate with Valhalla to maintain the balance of power all while keeping the peace. As the elder ones holding centuries or even millennia of knowledge thanks to their lifespan, they must be an example to the young races. And to do that, the dragons themselves must change their way of thinking. No longer would it be just about Oros or a small group of privileged individuals but the new council, under the rule of Celdora, must become the heralds of the world, spreading words of peace to those in need, to protect the weak from the oppressors and to shatter all sources deemed as evil to order and peace.

But while Celdora and the other dragons were preoccupying themselves on that matter all while maintaining a close contact with Ragna and Valhalla, a lonely old figure was sitting by himself near the large lake little Syralth used to come to play. With his sorrowful and tired expression, he expired a long sigh, wondering why he was even still alive at this moment. He has lost everything: his fame, his position and even his own son. But it was Taragon's betrayal that struck the heart of the old dragon the most. Even more, he blamed himself for being so blind to what was going on right in front of him. All those years, he was deceived, used as a tool by his own family member for their selfish goal. In the end, that son died in the most horrific way possible and even then, Maragon was helpless to do anything.

"Why am I still alive? For what reason do you want me to continue this pitiful existence?" the ancient dragon mumbled to himself, asking the Gods who created him.

From the bushes behind him, a small girl, not exactly small compared to a normal human but tiny when by Maragon' side, walked out of the forest by the lake and toward the old dragon. Resting on her shoulder was a gyrfalcon, her life companion who has accompanied her throughout so many years and together with her, gained reputation for her efforts during the insurrection in Oros.

"Lord Maragon?" asked Abalone.

"I am no longer a lord, mind you." Maragon reminded the young dragon of his recent downfall. "You are that sea dragon...the one who put my army to shame with that bird...Abalone was it?"

"And Heru!" the dragoness showed the bird on her shoulder. Hearing his name being mentioned, Heru screamed a joyful tone, proud of himself for being no less than a dragon.

"What an intriguing little creature! ..." Maragon grinned. "So what can I do for you, Abalone and Heru? The war has ended and the dragon council has been disbanded. Therefore, all the laws and decrees made by me and my peers have been void. You and the rest of your clan sea dragons can now return to Oros if you so wish.

Or do you want to see me for a more ...personal reason? Revenge for all the sufferings you had to endure all these years because of that sentence? Because I was the one who exiled all of you?" the dragon spoke casually.

"No! None of those! I don't want to kill anyone, especially not an elderly person..." Abalone retorted. "I just want to know the truth."

"The truth? About what?" asked Maragon.

"I want to know the reason why you sent all the sea dragons to exile, never to return to Oros. Even my parents have been quite unsure of themselves about what really happened. Others only said you were jealous of us but were never able to give me any proof of that."

"....And why do you wish to know such thing? It is not going to change what has already been done."

"Perhaps not but at the very least, I am allowed to know that much right? I deserve it!" Abalone affirmed.

"....Some things are better left unknown, young one. For your own sake! Knowledge is power but too much of it will push you down into the pit of insanity. The more you learn, the more you realize the cruelty of truth and how the world is not like what you think it is. If you wake up one day, only to learn that your whole life was a lie, would you be able to bear it? To keep your mind sane?

That's why people say ignorance is blissful. Bury your head in the sands and continue to live that way! For once the truth has been revealed to you, there will be no turning back.

Knowing that, will you still pursue the path of knowledge? That path of truth? Tell me, young one: are you prepared to face those consequences without becoming something else? Something that could no longer be a part of this world?"

The words of the ancient dragon, one of the oldest beings in this world, the wisdom of thousands of years' worth of knowledge...and his words were a warning. A not so obvious warning however to say the least! The secret of the sea dragons, hidden by many for a good reason...would Abalone be able to handle that truth without going insane? Would she walk away from it? The thing she has been searching for years, the vindications for the exile of her entire, could she let it go?

"I am prepared!" answered Abalone firmly.

"...I see. Then I have no reason to hide it from you. As you said, you deserve to know the past of the sea dragons...What they found...The sins they committed... And how it all ended like this...Are you ready?" inquired the ancient dragon as he stood up on his four legs, revealing his large stature.

"I think I am but for what?" the dragoness asked in her human form.

"For a journey to the past!" Grabbing Abalone and pinning her down to the ground with only one of his hands, Maragon put one of his finger on the girl's head who was struggling heavily out of surprise. "It may hurt a little but do try to stay conscious!"

All of a sudden, without warning, Abalone could feel a tremendous flow of energy, accompanied by images pouring into her head all at once. The first were the images of the battle in Canaan just recently. Then it switched to the scene of a meeting between the members of the dragon council before the war even started. Following that pattern, Abalone realized that those images were not randomly placed but actually events that happened in the past. It was as if time itself was rewinding in front of her, only at light speed. However, the strain it created to her mind was unbearable to say the very least. Even though it hurt so much, the dragoness tried to endure the pain and continued watching what was going through her mind. She might not be able to catch them all but as long as she could last until the actual images Maragon wanted to show her appeared, it would be worth it. Closing her eyes and biting her own lips, Abalone focused.

"...It's done! You can open your eyes!" the voice of the ancient dragon echoed in her mind.

Slowly spreading her eyelids as the scenery hit through the small opening gap, Abalone was bewildered by her surroundings. The lake that was just in front of her a moment ago was gone. In fact, the whole area was different. Currently, they were on some kind of coast with swirling dark clouds above, along with the heavy crushing waves of the sea constantly coming to the rock formation they were on.

"Where are we?" Abalone uttered in awe while turning her head from left to right to look for the answer herself.

"It's not where but when. We are still in Oros, although slightly to the south from our initial position. As for when...this is the dragon continent five thousand years ago." Said Maragon while standing on four legs on a large flat rock. His voice echoed loudly, indicating that this was only some kind of illusion or rather an echo of the past recreated by his own magic.

"Five thousand years ago? Is that when...?" asked Abalone.

"Yes...it was before the first dragon council was formed...before the cataclysm that fell upon the sea dragons, leading to their exile....before 'he' doomed your entire clan for generations from now on." The ancient dragon had a reminiscent look on his face as he raised his head up, looking at the dark clouds from above. "And that...that is the cause of everything."

From the sky, piercing through the swirling dark clouds, a bright light descended in flame before falling into the sea of water, creating a loud boom and shockwave. Even though this was only an illusion, Abalone could feel the immense pressure and had to grip onto the rock bed below her to avoid being thrown away by the shockwave.

"What is happening?" Abalone shouted as the pressured subsided. With the gale now ended, the dragoness looked at where the strange light fell into: from under the deep sea, a column of pale blue light was shooting into the sky, showing the exact location of the strange thing.

"What is that?"

It was not Abalone who asked that question but a voice not very far from her. Looking to her right on another rock formation at the coast, Abalone could see two dragons also present at the scene as they took flight toward the column of light. One was a large black dragon while the other was not white but better described as pale wet smooth skin without any scale, like that of an underwater creature.

"Wait a minute...is that you?" Abalone asked the ancient dragon. His appearance was exactly like the other black dragon. The only difference was that the other one was slightly younger. If this was indeed the past then it would not surprising to see a younger version of Maragon himself.

"Yes..." Maragon replied shortly.

"So then who is the other one? His appearance...he is a sea dragon right?"

"Yes he is! As for who he is, it's up to you to find out. But it's not important right now. Follow them and see for yourself, the terrible truth that awaits you!" Maragon said. "But be careful! Do not succumb to madness!"

Following his advice, Abalone retook her dragon form and jumped into the sea as she swam toward the column of light. What was this strange sensation but oddly indigenous she was feeling inside her? What were those intangible whispers that were becoming louder and louder the closer she got near the column of light? And why was the moonstone necklace she was wearing starting to shine brightly?

Meanwhile, Abalone could still hear the flapping wings of the two dragons hovering right above her surrounding the column of light.

"What was that?" asked the pale dragon.

"Be careful! It could be dangerous. Let's just go back and get the others!" said the young Maragon.

"Do you hear it? Those strange sounds...it is coming from below where that thing is...I must go to get it." The pale dragon said while staring in the column of light originating from the deep sea.

"Wait a minute! We don't know what it is."

"I will be quick. Wait for me here!" the pale dragon dove into the sea and vanished with a splash.

"WAIT!" shouted the black dragon.

Deciding that there was no use to stay here doing nothing, Abalone dove below the surface and followed the pale dragon. Since this was an illusion, she did not have to fear being discovered by him. However, the feeling of water splashing into her face, the pressure going up as she dove even further into the deep sea...it was so real that she had a hard time to believe this was just an illusion. Although if this was indeed a simple, Abalone would not be able to follow the pale dragon since Maragon was not actually there with him. In a way, she did travel back to the past, but only as a phantom, unable to interact with anything or do anything except for watching. Who could say to what extent could the power of an ancient dragon like Maragon reach?

After a seemingly endless time of travelling inside the darkness of the deep sea, the two finally arrived at the source of the light: a very large opaque stone of ivory colour with a faint azure luminescence shimmering from inside. Its size alone was at a few dozen meters in length and possessed an oval shape. However, it was its very shape that begged a question.

Meteors or comets falling from the sky, while rare, were not that strange of a phenomenon. But never has there been a rock with this perfectly rounded shape, suggesting it was artificially made by someone or something rather than just a random rock falling from the cosmos above. And most of all, Abalone recognized this rock. It looked exactly like her moonstone from the colour to the light it was emitting. The only difference was the size.

"ᴃᴇᴄᴋᴏᴎ ᴛᴂᴇ ᴃᴌᴑᴑᴅ ᴍᴑᴑᴎ! ᴈᴑᴌᴌᴑᴪ ᴑᴝᴚ ᴔᴝᴉᴅᴀᴎᴄᴇ! ᴌᴉᴤᴛᴇᴎ ᴛᴑ ᴛᴂᴇ ᴤᴑᴝᴎᴅ ᴑᴈ ᴪᴀᴛᴇᴚ!"

A strange seemingly gibberish language echoed inside the mind of the two dragons as the laid their intensive sight upon the stone. Abalone could not understand what it was saying. She was not even sure if those were voices of someone or simply an incomprehensible muttering of some kind of unknown creature. Either way, it was something out of this world, something that was outside the reach of the minds of those born on Astora. Furthermore, the only thing else she could make out of this cryptic message was the "Flip Flop Flip Flop", the sound of dropping onto the surface of water, one drop after another. Where was it coming from? How was that possible to hear something like that in the depths of the sea?

"...................?" A tiny voice called out to Abalone who was mesmerized by the giant moonstone. The loud repeating whispers were keeping her from hearing anything else.

"Abalone, wake up!" a majestic voice brought the dragoness back to her senses.

Opening her eyes and gasping for breath suddenly, Abalone found herself back in the present, near the lake. Only, she realized that instead of being on land, half of her body was immerging in the lake while Maragon was pulling her out of it. She almost drowned inside that lake. How was it possible for a sea dragon to drown? Simply because she was not breathing at all. From the old dragon's point of view, what he saw was an Abalone jumping into the lake by herself and bubbles coming up to the surface as it filled her insides. She was trying to kill herself.

"What...what happened?" the girl asked as she gasped for breath.

"You were unable to keep your mind sane to face the truth. As I expected, it was simply too dangerous for a young dragon like yourself." Maragon explained.

"That stone...it's just like mine but much bigger...What was it?" the dragoness asked.

"...Have you ever thought on why the sea dragons have the moonstone while the other dragons don't? Don't you think how strange it is for them to be so special?" the old dragon uttered.

Rubbing her chin, Abalone thought hard before coming to a conclusion. "Are you saying that what I saw was the first moonstone? It came from the sky?"

"Both yes and no! There was only one moonstone since the very beginning. Yours and many others out there are only tiny fragments of the original one that came down from the sky five thousand years ago. The pale dragon you saw was the first sea dragon to ever find it before using it just like you use it today.

Compared to others, the sea dragons are the weakest dragon kinds because of their dependence on water and the absence of scales on their skins. And I am not talking about your usual scales but the true scales that gave the dragons their reputations of being the strongest. Thanks to them, we are extremely resistance to magic and all kind of physical damages. However, the sea dragons, perhaps because of their living environment, did not have them and therefore fairly vulnerable.

But everything changed after that discovery. With the moonstone broken into smaller parts and distributed to every one of their clan, the sea dragons quickly rose to power, surpassing even their own peers thanks to that amazing power given to them." Maragon explained.

"...Is that why you exiled us? Because we were too powerful?" asked Abalone reluctantly.

"Do you really think an entire clan of sea dragons, each with a stone like yours, would be easily overpowered by me or anyone else? You alone were able to take one dozens of us with just a fragment and believe me when I say you are not the most powerful one I have seen so far compared to your peers! Not even close!

Tell me, young one! What did those of your clan tell you when you asked them for the reason of their exile?" questioned Maragon.

"They said that you were jealous of our power and in a single night, you ambushed us and killed the majority of our clan before exiling the survivors." Replied Abalone in a sad tone.

"Hahaha! Is that so? And do you believe them?"

"No...not after this. But then who massacred my clan that day five thousand years ago?"

"...You were killed...by the very same person who bestowed all that power upon your people...by the one who found the stone in the first place."

"That pale dragon? But who is he?"

"He used to be a friend of mine. A scholar who followed the path of knowledge and sought the truth of the world...of the universe. That was it before he decided to turn on his own people, on his own friend and killed my wife. On the day of the massacre, he turned into something else...

His name is Xenes!"

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