A Pet for the Dragons

182.

ARIKA

I was looking through the water guns when I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Zorge, his eyes gleaming with mischief. It had been such a long time since I had seen that.

"Watch this," He said before pointing his water gun at Ivret, who was busy looking at other toys. I immediately knew what was going to happen, but before I could stop Zorge, he shot at Ivret, throwing him into the shelf due to the impact and shock.

Ivret immediately let out a string of curses while Zorge burst out laughing, aiming to shoot him again. I wanted to laugh at their shenanigans again, but I looked around the shop, looking for any store employees.

Radrox was an aisle ahead of us, a look of deep annoyance on his face due to his brother's antiques. However, I was sure that under that annoyance, he was rather amused.

"No, don't," I hissed at Zorge, but it was too late. He was already chasing Ivret with his water gun pointed at him. I ran after him to stop him, but I couldn't help but crack a smile.

It was most likely that we would be caught and thrown out of the third shop today. This gave me a strange thrill — one that I hadn't felt recently. I remembered being as thrilled as this while pirating in the sea and sailing through the storms. If anything, it made me miss the sea even more.

"Stop," I told Zorge, but it was already too late. Ivret had managed to get his hands on a gun, and he was shooting back at Zorge. The whole aisle was wet in a matter of seconds. It took even less time for an employee to find us and kick us out of the shop altogether.

"Why can't you two stop acting like kids?" Radrox scoffed at Zorge and Ivret. The latter was almost drenched. I couldn't help but laugh at their antiques.

"We're supposed to have fun today," Zorge grinned at me, his eyes twinkling. He seemed to be back to his playful nature already, and that put me a lot at ease. The past few months were... tense.

It finally felt like we were coming back to normalcy.

"Where to next?" Zorge asked.

"I need to change," Ivret whined.

"Let's get him a set of clothes. We'll go eat after that," I said. "I know a good spot. It's run by one of my old crew. I'm not sure if it's still here, but it's worth checking out," I suggested, looking around the big buildings of the Kersas city.

We were surrounded by humans, and it felt... odd. I wasn't used to crowds like this, and it felt even more strange after coming back from the dragon's realm. Zorge and Ivret continued to bicker as we passed by a few clothing shops.

I stopped for a moment to look at the displayed mannequins, but instead caught our reflection in the glass.

All of us looked different... which was supposed to be that way because we were under glamour magic to conceal our identities. The dragons weren't allowed here, and the authorities were still looking for me. It was dangerous for us to wander here without any disguise.

But still, I could see our real faces under the glamour magic. I had lost a lot of weight. My face looked bony, and my eyes looked hollow. The same was the case with my dragons. They looked exhausted. The light in their eyes was the dimmest. I might have been the one to be injured and sick, but they seemed to be equally drained, tending to me day and night.

For the first time in months, I seem to come into my senses while staring at our reflection fully. I had been merely awake for the past months, but not fully aware. It felt like I was sleepwalking all this time, but somehow, seeing our reflection together awakened something in me.

I didn't know what it was, but it filled my chest with a gust of warmth and guilt for my dragons. I put them through so, so much from the very beginning. I deceived them, lied to them, hurt them, and so on. Yet they were still beside me. I was pretty sure they'd hunt me down again if I were to run away.

I considered running away when Zorge had proposed the idea of going out yesterday. I had even teased him about running away yesterday. Zorge had taken it as a mere teasing, but little did he know that I had been considering it.

I had been considering running away ever since waking up because... it was all too much for me to process all at once. I didn't know what to do with myself anymore after I woke up. I still didn't know what to do, but things were bleaker in my head back then.

All I wanted to do was find my ship and sleep in my familiar cabin while the sea rocked my boat with a storm brewing somewhere in the distance. I still wanted to do that.

But now that I was truly awake, I could see how selfish I was to even think about running away after all the things they did for me. They took care of me like I meant the world to them. Yet I wanted to run away and never see them again— I don't know how I'd have coped with that. I couldn't ever imagine not seeing them.

It made me feel even more selfish.

"What happened?" Zorge asked, and I snapped out of my thoughts. Radrox and Ivret were staring at me with concern. I could tell that they were guessing if I was spiralling again.

"Are you alright?" Ivret asked, touching me. All the playfulness was gone from Zorge and Ivret's faces. Radrox looked concerned, his annoyance at the other two gone. "Do you need to rest?"

"We can—"

"We need to go somewhere," I told them, making a U-turn to where our truck was parked. I felt restless all of a sudden.

I needed to find my ship... I needed to... I needed to know where my sister was. I needed to see if she was alive and if her mates were alive. I needed to... talk to her. I needed to see my sister.

My steps quickened, and I was almost jogging towards the parking area.

"Where?" Radrox asked, matching my steps. The others followed closely. My mouth went dry. I couldn't find the words to explain to him. I didn't know where I'd start if I were to ever explain to them what I did to my sister.

"Hey, wait!" Radrox growled and pulled me back before I almost stepped into a busy lane. "Where do you think you are going?" He growled, his claws digging into my skin painfully. It was when I realised that I had tears running down my cheeks.

"M-myra," I managed to utter my sister's name between the desperate sobs. Her name tasted like poison in my mouth, but I yearned for her. "I need to see her...please,"

~

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