Serendipity (Veldora x TBATE)

12 | Retrospective

I sit in retrospective.

Over the hillside, staring up at the sky. Clear, wide, and endless. Not a cloud in sight. I am Veldora, the Storm Dragon. That title used to be so simple. I was the storm, and storms don't question themselves. They just are. Creation, destruction—it all came naturally, without thought. Power was effortless. I never needed to think about what I did. I existed because that was enough. But now, in this world, something feels... different.

This human form I wear—I never understood it before, and I never really cared to. Humans, with their short and fragile lives, never deserved more than a passing glance from me. Yet here I am, in their skin, walking among them. It doesn't make me feel weaker. But strangely, I don't feel the need to release my power, either.

Why?

I'm not confused. True Dragons don't get confused. But I am curious.

I close my hand—flesh and bone, not the body I was born with, but it moves the same. It's not fragile, but it feels small compared to what I used to be. I could disappear in this form, hide among the crowds. That's new. I never cared about blending in before, but now it feels... necessary. Not out of fear. No, it's something else. I want to see them. Humans. Their world. Their lives. They move so fast—here one moment, gone the next. And yet, they keep going. What does it mean to them? What does their brief existence amount to?

I didn't care before.

Why now?

Maybe being sealed for so long, trapped in silence and boredom, changed me more than I thought. Before that, I was pure, raw destruction. I didn't notice until now that something shifted. I find myself watching this world, not to see how easily it could be destroyed, but to see how it continues despite its fragility.

I don't regret what I was. I don't question my nature. Power, chaos, destruction—those are still a part of me. But now, I'm more careful.

I look back at the sky, wondering what the old me would have done. He wouldn't have hesitated. He'd tear through this world without a second thought. But me now? I want to understand. Why do they fight so hard to live, knowing their lives will end soon? What drives them to build, to connect, to care for things that will vanish?

Why do they treasure what they know they'll lose?

I don't have the answers yet. But I'm in no rush. Time doesn't mean the same thing to me as it does to them. I have all the time in the world. But they... they're always racing against it. Maybe that's what fascinates me. Their fragility isn't a weakness. It gives them purpose and a drive to become the best of themselves.

The wind brushes against my skin, a soft breeze. For the first time in ages, I'm not thinking about destruction or strength. I'm just... being. And that's enough. I close my eyes, letting the quiet wrap around me. It's not loneliness. I've never been lonely. True Dragons don't need others. But this calm, this stillness—it's not so bad.

It's just life. A life I never noticed before.

When I opened my eyes, it was gone. Just a dream. Back in my room. But it felt real—more real than anything I've felt in a long time.

~🐉~

A week had passed, and Victoria had long since gone back to Epheotus.

And in the same continent, in the royal and regal palace of the Indraths—the head of the draconic asuran clans—a powerful man sat on a throne, looking down on another man below the set of stairs donned by a gleaming red carpet. It was General Aldir, and he knelt below the man on the throne, his figure practically oozing with respect.