Draconia Offline vol. 1

43.1. Consequences - Part 1

"Is it because of me?" my heart skips a beat.

"Because of those humans who attacked you," Liana corrects me and clutches my hand. She wants to send me comfort but it's no use. I'm too anxious.

"B-but if I didn't run away..."

"Stop victim blaming," she gets angry but not at me—at those humans who made me feel this way. "You're too kind for your own sake."

I can't help it. I do feel responsible. If I just could control myself back there and didn't fly away, it wouldn't have happened in the first place. How can it not be my fault?

"Don't, just don't," Erik pushes me gently into the elevator where he goes for a comforting hug. Liana and Vermiel get in with us while Ingri and Fefnir have to take another one because Celestials take too much space.

Erik is trying to send me some positivity but even he can't muster much in such a situation. Civil war. The conflict we were so desperately trying to prevent from the very beginning. I want to believe that it's not my fault but I was the trigger, no doubt about that.

"We might still do something about it," Erik kisses me into my hair and starts to caress my wings that are trembling. Liana touches my wings as well and joins Erik in petting me.

"How was it? Flying I mean," she asks in an attempt to distract me but she's also genuinely curious. Naturally, Vermiel is dying to know as well.

"To describe it as amazing isn't doing it any justice," I say weakly, gobbling Erik's generous love.

"I thought we'd have to train first," Vermiel ponders.

"It's pure instinct," I answer, grateful they're forcing me to talk so that I'm not focusing on self-blaming. "Some might be better at it than others in the beginning but I think every Celestial should be able to fly right away. We'll have to train our wing muscles and overall stamina, though."

"At least some good news," Liana tries to smile and notices that I'm massaging my temples. "A migraine?"

"I've faced too many humans," I say tiredly. "It should get better, the skyscraper is mostly Draconian."

"You should rest," Liana chews her lip.

"But I can't, can I?" I sigh. "Not with civil war erupting while I might be the only one who can stop it."

We get off and the first thing that catches my attention is even more guards patrolling the floor and watching over us. Vermiel is following me like a shadow, paranoid I might fly away again and feeling responsible because it happened during his watch.

I quickly tell Erik to stop petting me because I have to look confident in front of my people. They need to see a strong leader, not someone who's barely recovered from a panic attack. I'm not good at pretending, never been, but Draconians need hope more than anything now. My smile is cringy but at least I somehow manage not to look half-crying.

"His Majesty is back!"

"Is he okay? That video was terrifying!"

"Only monsters could rip his feathers like that!"

The corridor is full of people who work on this floor and who left their offices to greet me. I'm assuring them that I'm fine when I pass them and I realise that I really enjoy being surrounded by Draconians again. I've come to love feeling Draconian minds all around me and I needed its absence to fully appreciate it. Did I gradually become addicted to the ambience of Draconian emotions? What if it becomes a problem in future?

"Ehm, sorry about that window," I apologise because we have to move to a different office since I broke the glass in Liana's.

"Should be fixed by tomorrow," my Viceroy waves her hand and leads us to the conference room next to it.

Luviael is already sitting there and the table is covered with laptops and various documents that were moved from the main office. The EU delegates Miss Ortega and Dubois are also present. They look and feel the same—scared and tense. Not even Dubois, who is undoubtedly a jerk, wishes for civil war.

"Your Majesty!" Luvi stands up quickly.

She's teary but otherwise relieved that I returned safe. She wants to bow or something stupid like that but I don't let her and go for a hug. I think Erik's habit is rubbing off on me. Besides, I find that I really like hugging someone I consider my friend and who also knows about my telepathy so I can truly relax around them.

"You scared us," Luviael whispers. "I have Bauerova, Duke, Bennett and even the President of the United States on hold, waiting for you."

I gulp. Did she just say the President of the United States? Waiting for me? Once again, I realise how my life has completely changed and I don't mean just my physical transformation.

"I've never talked to him before," I say, worried. What kind of person is he I wonder? "It's almost as if he's been avoiding me."

I sit down and Erik hurries to get the seat right next to me so that nobody dismisses him again. I'm grateful to have him by my side. Luviael is definitely a better counsel because of her knowledge but what I need right now more is emotional support.

"Because he has been," Liana sets the record straight. "The States were in an active opposition to acknowledge us as nations and they agreed only when the whole UN kept pressing them. They were refusing to talk to us because they didn't see us as the official Draconian government. Well, now they have to... finally."

She doesn't manage to go into more detail because the call gets connected and we're suddenly facing the Bohemian Prime Minister, the American President, the EU President and the UN Secretary-General. Not counting Bauerova, those three are the most influential people in the world! Will they take me seriously? What are they thinking when they look at me?

Calm down, you're the Celestial Emperor, Liana touches my wing with hers. Antagonising us is the last thing they'd do in this situation.

"Your Majesty, thank God you're okay," Bauerova blurts out, probably out of the protocol because the participants raise their eyebrows.

Besides Erik and Julia, I think she's ranked as one of my favourite humans. But sadly, she doesn't hold that much political power. She's just a chief representative of a small Central European country. The man on a separate screen next to her, however...

I carefully study the US President. I don't know much about him, just that his name's Pablo Delgado and he's the youngest American President ever elected—he can't be over 40 yet. I can't say he's naturally handsome but he has a certain unquestionable charm about him. And he certainly knows how to dress to impress. His brown eyes are looking at me sternly but he doesn't let anything else show on his face.

"Your Majesty," Delgado starts, his tone perfectly even. "I trust you'll do everything in your power to calm your people down? There're spontaneous riots all over the States in reaction to that video of yours."

I stare at him in disbelief. My video? I'm IN the video but it's hardly mine. He sounds as if he's openly accusing me that I let myself be attacked. Is this how one is supposed to open a diplomatic talk? Just how arrogant is he? I can feel everyone in the room getting pissed off. Definitely not a good beginning.

I'm almost crushing Erik's hand under the table but my Celestial strength isn't much so he doesn't mind. He gets anxious, however, when he feels anger awakening in me. Celestial wrath. I suppress it with sheer willpower because I need stay calm and collected but thanks to it, I see one thing clearly now.

I was stupid to blame myself and, ironically, I needed Delgado's arrogance to see it. It wasn't my fault. Not in the slightest. If humans had acted civilised, they'd simply lend me their phone for a minute, I'd look at the map, thank them and be on my way.

I take a deep breath and look at Erik. His eyes are widened, he senses the change within me. He's experienced my Celestial Emperor's nature once before when that Earthborn accidentally ripped my feather but I wasn't in full control back then. I am now. I finally feel like a true ruler and it scares my beloved.