Hovering in the air above, observing the scene before me made my hands tremble. My excitement knew no bounds as I watched Cecilia walk through the field towards where Grey and Nico were. Her mere awakening not only manifested her phoenix blood but also triggered the manifestation of Grey's Draconic and Nico's Vritra counterparts.

Looks like I chose the right vessel for her.

*Flashback*

After dismissing Viessa to prepare the orphanage, I made my way to my most anticipated experiment.

'The Legacy.'

Entering the experiment chamber, I was met with bows and greetings from scientists and Sovereign Orlaeth. He was invited because it was him that I entrusted the captured Phoenix woman with, to help obtain a Vritra blooded phoenix infant. After many experiments, a stable offspring was obtained.

Orlaeth seemed to be having a few questions based on how he was acting.

"Is something the matter Orlaeth?"

"Forgive me for my imprudence but what is the reason for using an infant of the phoenix race for this experiment my lord."

"Good question. You see, her status as the legacy prevents direct reincarnation. So bringing it into any other Vessel would cause the body to reject it, failing the process. Her strong spirit needs anchors, arrays that'll help in true integration of her soul. And the phoenixes are known for their ability of revival because their body is in a constant state of death and rebirth, not truly anchored to the mortal realm. Hence, their knowledge of souls and divinations. So bringing the legacy into this body of the infant must at least trigger a pseudo manifestation of phoenix blood to sustain her soul through constant rebirth. And ever since its birth, I've constantly worked on removing the soul from this vessel to have no mishaps. Having Vritra blood in the infant only helped me more with this as it is easier for me to influence a basilisk's biology. I have successfully removed the original soul before it could get anchored to this body."

"My lord, your knowledge far surpasses anyone as usual" He replied seemingly content with my explanation.

Walking over to the small table where the infant lay on a plush cushion, I began the procedure to bring The Legacy to this empty shell.

Channelling mana into the various artifacts our scientists had worked on, brought me into the mind realm with the baby similar to how it had been with the other two.

Approaching their fabric of reality, I could see it, a bright strand of fabric, detached from their world but tethered to the reality through Grey's and Nico's souls. Now that they were in our world, a faint web similar to the spiders' was visible attaching her soul to our world.

Gently tugging at the web-like phenomenon, I redirected it and proceeded to stick it to the baby on the place where her core was located. The soul slowly drifted along the web and entered the baby.

Success.

Exiting the mind realm, the baby shined a bright orange before the hair turned a brighter shade of red, few intricate runes flowed from her neck down her arms. Looks like the pseudo manifestation occured. The infantile body then started drawing in mana which was progressively increasing.

"Orlaeth, have Seris supply the mana fluids she has been working on. I believe you mentioned those in your reports. The baby needs huge amounts to sustain its survival... for now."

"As you wish my lord."

Looking at the infant, who is currently in a state of suspended animation, brought me joy imagining the possibilities and opportunities that we will get with her potential.

'But for the next few years, those two have to grow up together as friends... again. And then they shall meet Cecilia, the one who completely altered their lives.'

*Flashback-End*

Knowing their conversation is gonna take a while, I summoned Seris and told her to bring them over to Taegrin Caelum once they had their 'Reunion'.

I won't be altering their memories, something tells me lying to these three, will only bring trouble later. That doesn't mean I'll be revealing the whole truth either.

'Relief'

That's all I felt as Grey's sword managed to slide into my body past my lower defenses. Relief knowing I won't be put through those torturous experiments again, relief knowing Nico would be safe and relief knowing I didn't have to be a burden to Grey anymore.

But that relief didn't last long as the dust settled. Grey stood there, absolutely horrified as he looked at his sword inside my chest. His hand trembled as I saw his very being, his soul shattering right in front me. The gravity of the situation slowly caught up to me.

'What have I done?'

I just used my best friend to kill myself. No, I made him commit a murder. Murder a person who he worked hard to protect. Why didn't I think that these actions would break him? Is it because of the experiments that affected my mind? Is it because of Vera? The government? No.

It was my own selfishness.

Death would've been mercy to the state I put Grey in. The pure intensity of grief and despair in Grey's eyes washed over me to the point I couldn't feel my own wounds eating away at the few seconds left of my life.

"I'm... sorry Grey... they wouldn't let me... kill myself. This was the... only way." I managed to complete a few sentences before I was drowned in the cold embrace of death.

~~~~

Floating in a sea of darkness, trying to make sense of what's around me, I only failed.

'Who am I? Or rather what am I? I feel like I've been in this place for a long time.'

My thoughts were broken by a burning sensation near the spine of my neck. Someone pulled at what my hands should have been.

I was brought to a place where there lay an empty vase, a vessel meant for something beautiful. It had intricate designs of gold lined over a red base. My form gravitated and entered the vase.

Not long after, flames erupted from the base. Red, blue, yellow, purple and many other colors I couldn't identify. Contrary to what's supposed to happen, the flames felt like they were healing me, keeping me alive.

It felt like warmth flooded the cold surroundings which I could feel now. Closing my eyes, I let this comforting feeling of warmth embrace me. Slowly, memories of my life started to enter my mind.

'Grey, Nico...'

~~~~

"...er name is Ce-"

"Cecilia"

Two voices overlapped, bursting with emotions.

Why does the tone feel so familiar? I tried opening my eyes which was futile. But something was different, my physical body was now palpable, the vase I was in moulded itself to wrap around my form.

The multiple presences around me invoked a plethora of emotions. And a moment later was revealed why.

"GREY! Augment yourself with mana. Nico fainted due to mana loss." came a feminine voice.

Happiness, guilt, relief and curiosity washed over me in that moment.

I could feel a lone tear escape my eyes as they started to leave the place I was in.

'I'm glad that we could meet again.' Remembering the unfair burdens I had placed upon them to escape my own.

~~~~~

It has been a couple of months since I could hear voices of people around me. It probably occurred due to my contact with Grey and Nico.

My body seems to be in a coma despite my consciousness being active.

After spending time with those two, particularly Nico since Grey seemed to be avoiding me, probably due to what had happened. Nico practically spent his whole time with me working on artifacts as they put it. I chucked internally hearing his conversations with Grey and Seris who teased him about his attraction to me.

But the most confusing thing was they didn't seem to remember anything and I realised we were kids through their conversations. We were reborn? Reincarnated?

I was happy knowing whatever the situation we were in, we could rebuild our relationship. Whatever it takes.

Throughout the months, I could feel my vitality replenish, as if drinking water in a desert. Midway, 4 particles of colours - red, green, blue and brown became visible to me inside the realm I was in. Although there was another which I could feel but not see. The 4 colours appeared on injecting ki, or mana as they put it, into my metaphorical eyes.

A few days have passed since the comforting flames that engulfed me vanished. I became more and more aware of my surroundings since then.

I could feel the temperature and touch gradually.

~~~~

Yesterday was Nico's birthday. And today was supposed to be mine and Grey's 8th birthday. They seemed to have gone out to shop for items.

But after a while I felt it, the same presence which had pulled my hand in the void into the vase. It was near Nico and Grey.

Next moment, fissures ran across the vase I was in and it shattered like glass. My form seemed to take shape as I felt my body burst with power.

Opening my eyes, I was greeted with a scene that looked like a bomb had exploded around me.

I was brought out of my thoughts as I felt two familiar mana signatures fluctuate rapidly. Augmenting my body with mana similar to ki, I made my way through the rubble to the place where the fluctuations were felt.

Fire clung to my skin as the other particles in my vision trembled erratically.

In a field were two people fighting, one of who was trying to kill while the other just defended. The field was a mess, littered with sickly black spikes.

"I'LL KILL YOU GREY!" shouted the black haired kid as he covered a similar spike with black fire ready to launch it at the blonde kid who stood still as layers of mana started to cover his body.

"I'm sorry Nico, hope you lead a happy life," uttered Grey as he closed his eyes ready to die.

My heart raced as I drowned the area with my intent hoping it would stop them. Thankfully it worked as Nico dropped to his knees holding his throat while Grey stood there... unaffected? How?

Grey's eyes widened after seeing me as tears flowed down his face. Nico had a similar reaction after he recovered.

"Hey guys, it's been a while."

Every step Cecilia took towards us increased the intensity of the clashing feelings in my heart. Happy that she can now lead a good life, while anxious due to not knowing whether she will forgive me and determined to make things right.

She first went to Nico and... slapped him. His eyes widened at her actions.

"How could you think of killing him, Nico? He's our best friend isn't he?" she said in a sad voice. Hope grew within me at her words, especially when she said 'our'.

"But he killed y-"

"No, I killed myself. Grey was not at fault. Did you ever think Grey would do something like that?" she questioned.

Nico averted his eyes as tears left his eyes. He probably knew deep down that I didn't mean to kill her but to ease his suffering, he opted to blame me instead. Cecilia then proceeded to hug him. His knees gave out once more as relief and exhaustion caught up as she helped him stay up.

They started walking towards me with a happy expression on their faces.

~Few hours later~

"You've been through so much, Grey. And it's all because of me" Cecilia was a sobbing mess as Nico comforted her by rubbing circles on her back.

"I'm also at fault for not listening to Nico back then Cecil."

"I'm also sorry for abandoning you Grey, even though I could see how much you were suffering over those 20 years." he said in an apologetic tone.

I walked over and took both of them in a loving embrace as we cried our hearts out. Our bonds were now stronger than ever, having been through things that I wouldn't wish upon our worst enemies.

"Looks like you guys made up." came a voice I had grown familiar with for the past few years.

"Headmaster Seris" both me and Nico said in unison.

"Although I'd love to be called that, in the public call me Scythe Seris."

Huh? Scythe? The ones second in command of a domain? Don't tell me Viessa and Mezri are...

"And before you ask. Viessa and Melzri are scythes too." She said trying to hold her laughter back.

"Imagine being taken care of and trained by scythes. That too by beautiful women. We're lucky aren't we Nico?" I shot a grin towards him.

"That's true." He gave a small smile.

He fell for it.

"You really have guts to say that in front of your fiancé." He stiffened at my remark realising what he had done.

Small beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he turned to see a 'calm' faced Cecilia with one of her brows twitching.

~Few minutes later~

Nico was now sitting next to Cecilia curled up, looking like a kid who was scolded by her mother. Cecilia had a refreshed expression on her face probably satisfied with the tortur... ahem... lessons she taught Nico. Seris sat at her usual chair she sits on in our room with an amused smile on her face.

"Now back to what I was supposed to tell you. I'm now gonna take you three to the High Sovereign. He wants to discuss some of his plans as well as your future training regimen. And before you ask, yes, he was the one who brought you guys to this world." She said before taking out an anvil like contraption from the dimensional ring, placing it on the ground and activating it. A portal manifested and Seris walked through it.

Giving a nod to each other, we followed her into the portal as bright light enveloped us and we were instantly in a different place. It felt like the royal hall from my past life but more grand. No one was present except the lone person at the opposite side of the hallway sitting on a lavish throne. His features were sharp, had a handsome face and had horns which I remembered were the first thing I saw after coming to this world.

Seris gave a slight bow as we followed suit.

"We greet the High Sovereign"

"Raise your heads. Good that you all seem well. Now I know you have a lot of questions, so ask away" he said in a tone which sent shivers up my spine. The power he holds is unfathomable.

"May we know the reason for our reincarnation. And why exactly us?" I questioned after a few seconds.

"You know the history of our continent, right? I need your help in protecting and if needed attacking the other in order to prevent a war on our lands. And the reason why it was you three. It's simple. Because you wished for it. You wanted to apologize and make up with your friends, Nico wanted to meet and protect Cecilia again in a different life and Cecilia wanted to redeem herself. The powers I used to bring you needed a deep desire from the other party, and the desires of you three were so strong, I managed to target you." He answered. Although it didn't seem like he was lying, it felt like he wasn't telling the whole truth either. But it's no use to pry or go against such an entity. At least not for now.

Turning my head wondering why Nico or Cecilia haven't spoken, I could see they were pale faced and beads of sweat formed on their foreheads. I realised that his presence was actually intimidating.

"Interesting, to see someone so young unaffected by my presence. Anyway for the next three years you'll be trained. Nico and Cecilia will be trained by Viessa and Melzri. Occasionally I'll train Cecilia myself since her powers are too strong. And you Grey, shall be trained by my wife Sylvia and Scythe Seris. Since she is the only dragon here who can train another, that is you. And you are somewhat of a son to me." he gave a smile which didn't quite feel right.

"Seris take them to my wife. I'm sure she's eager to meet them. And I need regular... reports on Grey's situation." he ordered.

"As you wish my lord." she replied and gestured to us to follow her.

As we left the hall, I could feel the air lighten as Nico and Cecil both started breathing rapidly.

"How were you so calm Grey? and you're a dragon?" asked Nico.

"Maybe because of my wars, I've gained unnecessary... intent. And regarding me being a dragon, this is the first time I'm hearing about it."

"Grey here is mostly a dragon, Cecilia is mostly a phoenix and you Nico are mostly a basilisk. All of you have asuran blood coursing through your veins."

We were surprised to hear this new information.

"And it was impressive Grey, to be able to hold a conversation with him. Now lets get moving."

She once again placed the same artifact and as we went through, we were greeted with huge mahogany doors. She knocked twice before a warm voice told her to come in. My heart started racing for some reason. As we entered we saw a beautiful woman, dressed in white, white hair that flowed smoothly over her shoulders and purple eyes that radiated motherly warmth. The same eyes that Headmaster Wilbeck looked at us with. She seemed to be in her late twenties but I knew that was just the appearance.

"She's the one who gave you a dragon body. So she is like your mother." Seris whispered in my ear.

'No wonder she felt so familiar' I thought as I felt my eyes become moist.

She walked over to us and took all three of us in her embrace. "You've been through a lot, something no one regardless of age should go through. So if it helps you in any way, please feel free to call me mother and treat me the same, as I consider you three my own children."

All three of us broke down as since coming to this world, we never realised we lacked the same thing we did in our old world.

A mother's love.

"I'm Sylvia by the way, and don't worry about your mental age. You're starting a new life, don't let those things restrain you."

"I'll try...mom" I managed to reply while Nico and Cecilia were still wiping the tears that invaded their faces. I never knew uttering a single word could make someone so happy. This feels so natural.

I was broken out of my thoughts, noticing a black shadow behind my mother.

Mom moved aside to reveal a girl not older than 4. She was a little girl in a simple black robe with two black unmistakable stubs jutting out from the side of her head. She had long choppy hair that was pale wheat in colour and they looked more like soft feathers than strands of hair. She stared at me with big round yellow eyes.

Her mana signature felt similar, almost resonating with my own.

"Sister," the word involuntarily left my mouth.

Mom gave the biggest smile she could as she picked her up.

"Sylvie, come meet your brother. His name is Grey" she said as she held my sister.

"Bwoder Grway?" she asked in a curious voice. My heart melted at the sight.

"Yes, little one. He is your brother. You know Grey, she hatched a few hours ago. That was when I guess you manifested your draconic blood. The condition for her to hatch was that she should feel an overwhelming sense of security and love. Looks like you, her brother, have the ability to give both." she said as she wiped a tear that I didn't realise had left my eyes.

Sylvie held out her arms like she wanted me to take her in my arms. Taking her in my arms, I felt so happy, more so than when I met mom.

" Hello there Sylvie, my little sister." I managed to utter trying to contain my urge to cuddle her.