Mid Evening - Early Summer : Atlas | Bahamut

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"Dummy! Dummy! Dummy! Dummy!"

Krystallo repeatedly stomped on my head as we slowly descended to the ground, with Mother still tightly clinging to my chest as if afraid to let go of me. *Fwoosh* *Fw-Fwoosh*

As I finally touched down, I lowered my stance and looked up at Krystallo before speaking with a hopeful tone. "I-I'm assuming you won't accept an apology?"

"OF COURSE NOT!" *stomp-WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* Tears slowly welled in her eyes as she stomped on my head, managing to balance herself on my head and horns.

But while my mind raced to think of a way to calm her down, Mother finally started to ease her grip on me and looked up at me with a pure, thankful expression.

"I..I'm glad.. you're finally home safe..." The tears in her eyes quickly started streaming down her face as she spoke. "I.. thought we really lost you..." *pat* Pressing her forehead into my chest again to hide her crying expression from my gaze, her frost tears dripped down my scales.

Gently picking up Krystallo with my aura, I lowered my head next to Mother and spoke gently. "I'm sorry for making you worry..."

As I gently pressed my head into her to hold her close, she gripped me even tighter before her breathing shortened and her words became stuttery. "If this- is a dream... I hope I- never wake up!"

Seeing her sobbing, I felt my chest ache, but more than anything, I was thankful to be alive as well... -If I wasn't spared... I wouldn't be the one here right now...- A mix of worry, sadness, and anger instantly started to well in my mind.

But after a moment, I felt small pieces of ice falling onto the back of my neck and glanced up to see Krystallo sniveling while I held her with my aura. "I THOUGHT YOU REALLY DIED, YOU DUMMY!" She quickly started squirming as her icy, crystalline tears were thrown through the air.

"A.. A lot happened... A lot of things out of my control..." Guilt quickly started infecting my swirling emotions. "I'm.. sorry..."

Slowly lowering her back onto my head, she clung to me momentarily before Ilios walked up and started licking her face with a happy wag in his tail.

"Mmmm..." *Lick-Lick-Lick* "Even Ilios is bigger than me now!" She pouted as Ilios happily licked away her tears.

But the crying continued for many hours after that, until eventually, we made it to the living room where I had laid down with Krystallo and Ilios sleeping on me.

Mother was the only one besides me still awake, but after crying her heart out for so long, even she was drowsy.

However, rather than talking, we watched the massive flame in the fireplace dance and listened to the enormous tree trunks crackling under the heat.

But after a moment, she crept over and snuggled beside me.

Once she finally got comfortable, she spoke with a lethargic but warm tone. "Was it you that broke the moon..?"

She truly sounded like she already knew the answer. "It's.. a long story..."

"We have time... I have waited nearly eight years to hear it..."

-So, my guesses were close...- With Mother having grown to 30 meters and Krystallo to 21, it was clear quite a bit of time had passed. -But it's not nearly a century... Thank goodness...- "But I'm not sure where to start..." -How much should I even explain...-

As I fell silent, trying to think of what to say, she eventually turned her yearning gaze back toward the fire and rested her head on my leg. "If you wish to keep it a secret, that's fine... I'm sure you have your reasons."

"I..." I hesitated hearing her tone. "All I can say is that it was related to a god... I still don't know how to feel about it..."

Gently pressing her head into me, she finally closed her eyes before beginning to doze off. "Well.. if there comes a time you want to talk about it, you know I will always lend an ear."

A part of me wanted to keep talking, but at that moment, seeing her finally start to relax and ease enough to sleep, I stayed silent.

*crackle.. pop* Hearing the fire pop, I looked back up to see a plume of glowing ashes rising into the chimney.

The silence combined with the beautiful sight was the perfect time to think, but for the first time since I had awoken, my mind was truly at ease, finally at rest.

But like all good things, it too eventually came to an end.

After dozing off to sleep with them, I ended up passing out for several hours, but as I woke up, I found Krystallo standing over me with a lethargic but angry expression.

I didn't know how to even react; I simply froze when I saw her.

"I'm glad you can sleep so soundly after worrying everyone to death for the last seven and a half years..." She sounded like an angry teenager.

"Sweetie, quit pestering him..." Mother struggled to open her eyes as she spoke with a heavy, sleepy tone. "There are reasons for everything unexpected... We can't blame him for things outside his control..."

"But he's so strong. His aura even warps the light around him now. How is anything out of his control?!"

"Sweetie..."

Seeing an opportunity, I quickly interjected. "The world is full of powerful beings, even ones that can kill me with a wave of their hand... As I told you before I left, I wanted to go to the Tree of Prayer, but after arriving in Siratha, my sleep started, and.. I'll just say I was kidnapped by a god and taken to the moon."

It wasn't a lie, but Krystallo continued to give me a judgmental look as if it was a crazy, made-up story. "I hate you."

I felt like a mountain instantly slammed down on my head before she started storming out of the room. "Hey," *Vwoom* Quickly picking her up with my aura, I switched to my fenririan form and dragged her back to me before smothering her in my fur before she could react.

"HUH?! WHAT THE-" *puff-muffled noises*

But while she squirmed about, trying to escape my grasp, Mother simply looked up at me with eyes filled with awe and curiosity.

It took her a moment to speak as if she was at a loss for what to say. "How.. did this happen..." She quickly looked down at my fur-covered shoulder before gently pressing her nose into it to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.

"I unlocked this form during my dragon sleep. I think it had to do with reintegrating my soul into my body."

"Y..your soul?" She sounded confused but also curious. "Is that why my connection to you is.. stronger than it was before?" She fell silent to think for a moment before looking up at me. "But if that's the case, why wasn't your soul already in your body? And why is a form related to it fenririan?"

"Well, I wish I knew more about it as well, but if I were to fill in the gaps..." I paused to think of how to word it all before finally speaking softly. "Before I hatched, my soul supposedly absorbed the remnants of Nott's soul, as well as another god, so when I hatched, my body couldn't contain my own soul and was destroying itself... If it weren't for Father's artifact, I would have died shortly after hatching."

Mother listened intently as she stared at the glowing coals in the fire.

"When I touched the artifact, it split my soul from my body and modified my genetics so that my body could grow to contain it. This dragon sleep just happened to be when my body was strong enough to handle it." Glancing at Ilios as he hopped off my back to check on Krystallo squirming beneath me, I glanced back toward Mother. "This form is essentially the same thing as my humanoid form, except utilizing a different, new section of my genetics." -The one the artifact added...-

She remained silent once I finished talking, but after a moment, she leaned her head into me again. "So... Does that mean you're really.. Nott?"

I was quick to shake my head and ease her worries. "I hatched from your egg, did I not?"

She immediately hesitated. "I..."

"I'm undoubtedly your son, Mom." Pain coursed through my chest, seeing the hint of doubt on her face, but after a moment, it disappeared.

"I know, sweetie." Her warm, motherly smile slowly returned to her face as she finally eased the tenseness in her body. "You may not realize it, but you're draconic form is starting to resemble your great-grandfather's quite a bit. If your scales were white and you were closer to Krystallo's size, no one would doubt you are my child. Soon enough, though, it won't matter."

-Hm?- "Why is that?"

Her smile slowly widened. "The coming-of-age festival is in just over two years, sweetie."

My eyes shot open in an instant. "What?!"

"PWAAAH!" Finally making out of my grasp with a bit of help from Ilios, Krystallo glared up at me. "What was that for?!"

"You said you hated me. I can't just let you storm off and give such thoughts time to brew."

"Ack..." She immediately tensed up. "Well.. I can't deny that it helped calm me down a bit..."

"Is that so?" Glancing down at her, a slightly evil smile came to my face. "In that case, you should do it again."

Her eyes instantly shot open. "WAIT, NO! MOOOOOOMMM-" *muffled noises*

"Hoho, it seems her rebellious phase is nothing in front of you." Mother let out a soft chuckle hearing Krystallo, before closing her eyes again with a gentle smile. "I'm proud of how you've grown, Vasilias... I hope you know that..."

A warm smile found its way onto my face as I looked down at Mother's peaceful expression. I felt proud.

But before I could truly bathe in the warmth of the moment, there was a knock on the door. *knock-knock*

It was Chloe, and Mother was quick to let her in. "Please enter."

I was a bit worried about my new form for a moment, but as Chloe entered, she never took her eyes off the ground. "Uh, h-here to report that most estate staff, people in the streets as well as nearby buildings, and the estate lord have passed out... Many nobles around Atlas have also come to investigate the unbelievably oppressive aura as far as a hundred kilometers away... If I am not mistaken, it is my lord's aura."

-Ah... I forgot about that...- "Uh..." Slowly glancing down at Mother, I felt a cold bead of sweat form on my head. "About that..."

But she was too shocked to budge. "A hundred kilometers?!" She quickly looked up at me. "Did you fly over them or something?"

"Uhm.. that's just my aura now... It's.. uh.. pretty far beyond what I can control..."

Her mouth slowly fell open before she zoned out and turned to Chloe. "T-tell them it's one of the Ancient Fenrir."

-Huh? What?-

I was instantly thrown through a loop, but before I could think about it, Mother looked up at me. "I think.. it's time I find you a better aura control technique... Although I'm not sure we have anything in our family library for that volume of aura..."

-The family library?-

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