You Are The Light In My Darkness

Side Story: Remembrance (Part 3)

I can't go back.

Father will kill me.

He knows.

He knows that I failed the mission.

Failed him.

He always knows.

So that's why I'm running. I dash past the streets, my feet barely touching the tiled pavement. The weapons strapped to my legs and waist didn't drag me down anymore.

Oh, and one other thing that sped me up?

Half of the Fiore army chasing me down the main street.

I sprinted down the alley to my left, only to see the other half of the army closing in in front of me.

Crap.

Trapped between the two battalions, I scanned the area in a mad frenzy, trying to find a way out. Nothing. There were no gaps in the sea of human bodies, and I was sandwiched in the middle.

"We got him!" One of them screamed.

Him? Oh yeah, they've never seen what I looked like before.

I wasn't expecting almost twenty magic bullets drilling into my side at once. With a pained cry, I was slammed into the wall beside me. I slid down to the cold stone floor, holding my side in agony. Seconds later, millions of attacks, both magic and physical, rained down on me. I screamed in anguish, rivulets of blood streaming down my face, arms and legs. Shielding my head with my beaten up arms, I tried to stop the blows from hurting my skull.

"Captain, are you sure that we should be doing this?"

"Yeah. That guy made us work around the clock for three years straight! It's time for his payback!!"

I looked up weakly at the young boy frowning at the other soldiers in worry and slight disapproval. His violet eyes meet mine, and as if he were in a trance, he walked forward. I spotted the red band around his left bicep, worn over his Council uniform.

A trainee.

But before he could get close, a behemothic gust of wind swept my attackers away. My eyes widen in astonishment at the thousand-hued beam launched at the soldiers a moment later, and the four colossal paws that landed around me. Another flash of that rainbow attack bowled over the men easily. Something clicked in my head, and I pushed the trainee out of the way before he was hit.

Why in hell did I do that?

His eyes registered astoundment at my actions. I was feeling the effect of all that blood loss, as black spots danced in my vision. My body was slowly slipping into oblivion when I whispered to the boy wearily, "E-Eas-East f-f-orest..."

He nodded in catatonia, shakily getting to his feet and taking off. Taking one last glance at the bodies around me, my heavy eyelids plunge me into the darkness of sweet, sweet sleep.

The figure above notices my body slump forward, the rhythmic rise and fall of my chest a symbol that I was alive. Gently lifting my limp body onto her back, the majestic beast spread her feathered wings, taking off into the dusky winter night.

************************************

"...But it's impossible!..."

"...That child..."

"...his..."

My eyelids drowsily flutter open, my cloudy vision gradually clearing. I could hear raised voices and hurried whispers within the distorted haze fogging up my head. Blinking, I try to sit up, but a wave of pain rolling over my body stopped me. Wincing at the agony, I quickly statute myself to end the ripples of pain washing on me.

The memories flooded back, and a brisk glance at my heavily bandaged hands exposed from under the thick quilt confirmed the attack from last night. I didn't need to raise the cotton sheets to know that the rest of my body was swathed in a similar fashion.

My blurry oculuses finally clearing, I look around the stony structure that cast shelter over my head. For the first time since forever, I was able to see sunlight streaming through the opening in the spacious cave I lay in. I was about to examine the rest of the sun-kissed cave when a young woman walked in.

She had straight, ankle length platinum blond tresses, highlighted in a rainbow ombre halfway down. Clinging onto her slim frame was a navy blue gossamer silk dress that reached the stone floor, and they sparkled with miniscule sapphires that emphasise her purest blue eyes embedded in the fine material. Accompanied with her exquisite features, she radiated an ethereal presence. However, what I stared at most were the pair of midnight blue dragon horns, her matching dragon tail and a pair of multi-hued dragon wings.

Rendered speechless at the sight of this otherworldly being, I slowly sat up, the awe I showed for this humanoid stumping any pain I felt in my aching muscles.

"I see that you're awake, child." Her voice was gentle and lilting, soothing to my jumbled nerves. I nodded mutely, not trusting myself to speak st the moment.

"As you can see from my different features, I am a Dragon." The simple sentence shocked me. There was obviously no sugarcoating the truth from this Dragon, and I never knew that they existed till this day.

Ignoring my astonishment, she pressed on. "This is my human form. I didn't want to scare you in my natural form, child." She smiled warmly, unlike the eerie grins from Father.

Though wary, I allowed her to get closer, along with two other females that she motioned in. I shrank back a little at the two strangers, noticing that one of them had feathery horns, wings and a tail just like the Dragon.

She must be a dragon as well...

I turned my gaze to the other. Unlike the two dragons, she was just like a normal human. No protrusions from her head nor back, except the glowing patterns on her skin.

Both of the newcomers bow respectfully to the blonde Dragon.

"This is Grandine, the Sky Dragon." She motions to the other Dragon, and the white-haired woman stepped forward, her admiral blue optics closing in a smile. "And this is Lyvia, the Sky God." The black-haired woman nodded to me, her greyish-silver eyes studying me intently.

I show a hesitant smile at them, slightly apprehensive. But somehow, when I look into the sapphire blue oculuses of the Dragon, I feel like I can trust her.

"My name is Spherenial, the Rainbow Dragon, or rather, I am the Dragon Queen." She spoke, and I could hear the slightest bit of pride in her voice.

"U-umm..." I started, testing my voice. I had never spoken once in the dungeons Father kept me in, and I barely recognised the sound produced by my vocal chords. "M-my name is Kasumi, Kasumi Dreyer."

Spherenial grinned at me, her eyes sparkling.

"And now, Kasumi, you're my daughter."
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~To Be Continued~