“Oh.” Is all I can say, slowing down and stopping in a clearing. We had recently reached the forest, having passed through mountains, and I have to go with my gut feelings as to where to go. I did get a map, yes, but a big forest that goes endlessly in all directions with little variation makes for a quite uninformative map.

  “Yeah…” She sighs and sits beside me. I let Darkness down to rest. Rosaline takes that as a chance to change the topic.

  “Why has he not woken yet?” She asks, frowning a little with a worried expression.

  “A fusion of dark mana, which is quite soothing, and illusion mana, which lets me put him to sleep. He's having a peaceful dream right now.” I rest one talon on the mechanical arm. For a moment I'm tempted to just rip it out. “I am… not ready to speak to him again.” I growl to myself. “I should have been there. Maybe then I would have been able to save them. Save him. But I thought it was all fine and dandy to go gallivanting into the woods with Snowstorm to explore some little piece of metal that caught my interest!” In my anger I smash my tail into a large, thick tree. My tail cleaves straight through as if it were a knife through butter.

  CRACK!

  The tree topples over onto the ground. I let out a roar. Birds flee from trees and the forest goes dead silent, like a single creature moving would lead to their death.

  “Abhor…” Rosaline looks up at me for a moment. Then she takes a step forward. then another step. She stops right in front of me, then wraps her arms around my neck.

  “What are you-” I freeze. She's hugging me?

  “Im sorry, you just… I’m a mother, and you looked like you needed a hug.” She looks up into my eyes. “Don't beat yourself up over things you can't change. And, I know that it won't help but I truly am sorry for what you have went through. I don't know why my people don't know that dragons are sentient, but not knowing isn't a good enough excuse.”

  “Commander Brennen knew, and so did the Grand general.” I point out, not moving. She hasn’t removed herself.

  “Really? But… why?” Slowly she removes her arms from around my neck. I sit down on the ground, and she rests against my side the same way Evelyn does. Both of them have a catlike balance to themselves. I wonder if this is why humans tend to snuggle with animals so much. It's comforting.

  “My guess? Dragons give a lot of experience per kill. More than other species.” I say. “I think he is experimenting on us to kill more of us. He wants to be a god, and the best path is to level fast and efficiently.”

  “Oh… oh no.” She blinks in surprise. “That makes a horrific kind of sense. I always knew the power structure in Camica was bad, but this? I wanted to be an incorrupt leader to help the country forward. This changes things.” She sighs. “If I go back then he might kill me. Maybe leaving was a bad choice, but I did it so spontaneously.”

  “Before time rewound when I died, Evelyn had come with me. I didn’t mention what happened to her, did I?” I say, turning my neck to look down at her. I hand her a packet of jerky. She takes it and chews as we talk.

  “No, you didn't…” She says hesitantly. “Do I even want to know?”

  “No, you don't, but I'm telling you anyway. When we went and I saw what happened to Darkness, I was utterly consumed. I flew straight up to the Commanders mansion with Evelyn and murdered him. However, after smashing the man into a mountain and watching the life leave his eyes, I heard a scream. I flew back, and the Grand general stood over the rubble. He had Evelyn's head in his hands. Her decapitated head.” Both of us choke back sobs. Her because she doesn’t want to imagine that happening to her daughter, and me because I was literally there. “Then he killed me.” I sigh.

  “I'm not strong enough.” Rosaline sighs. “I guess its stupid. Familial attachments in a world where people can have thousands of children and live for millions of years… But she is my only daughter. I don't want that to happen to her. Ever.” Her bow appears in her hands. She turns and looks up at me.

  “Abhor, please help me get stronger. You're a whole tier below me yet I can tell you are considerably more powerful then myself.” For a moment I hesitated. Then I smile.

  “Let's go.” I stand up. “You're strong already. I'm just a cheater.”

  <{(0)}>

  “What level are you?” I ask as we move. Deep in the forest we have to move more carefully to avoid hitting trees. Theoretically I could just bulldoze my way through, but that would be tiring, annoying, and totally bad for global warming.

  “354.” She answers, leaping over a tree. “Heavy focus on perception. I should have focused more on stamina in hindsight. It would have made the trip easier.”

  “You focus on a substat?” I ask curiously.

  “Yes. My bow is stronger the higher my perception.”

  “What is your perception at?” I ask curiously.

  “um… do you really want to know?” She looks a bit nervous now. She is seriously so much like Evelyn when she opens up, damn.

  “Hit me.” I nod.

  “498…”

  “Holy whoa!” I blink in surprise. “So that's where your free points are going! You must have some sort of title, right?”

  “Eagle eyed. It gave me the farsight skill at Epic rarity.” She chuckles softly. “It is buffs on buffs, you know?”

  “I certainly do know.” I nod in respect. “What's your lowest stat?”

  “That, I'll keep to myself. Can't let all my secrets out.” She smiles.

  “Fair enough, fair enough. I wonder if Evelyn has evolved yet. We have been on the road a week now. We should get there tonight.”

  “I, uh… have a selfish request to make.” Rosaline says, stopping as we locate a nice clearing with short grass and flowers.

  “Go ahead” I nod.

  “Can you please not mention my previous… occupation?” She fidgets with her hands.

  “Yeah, sure.” I say easily.

  “Wait, really?” She blinks in surprise. “You won't mention it? After all that the Commanders and Camica have done?”

  “Rosaline, you're super nice. That is all I care about.” I say with a shrug. “You have treated me kindly, and have shown that you don't think like they do. That is enough.”

  For a moment she just stares at me. Then, she starts laughing and crying all at once.

  “You're so… nice.” She says. “How does someone like you exist?”

  “I lived under a rock my whole life.” I say simply. “I'm also not a logical thinker.”

  “Oh, so so comforting.” She smiles, then sighs. “How much farther?”

  “Let's see.” I set Darkness down and scale a tree, looking up. I immediately come back down.

  “I'm an idiot. It's, like, barely that far. Maybe 2 miles northwest? Hop on my back.”

  “On your back? Really?” She hesitates for a moment.

  “Don't make that face. For some reason humans seem to like riding on my back. Is it a fantasy or a fetish?”

  “Shut up and move Darkness!” She shouts, blushing a bit. She climbs onto my back as I lift Darkness up.

  “Keep him steady so I can use my wings.” I tell her. She nods and raises an arm. Vines shoot from her wrists, wrapping around darkness and securing both my passengers to my back. I should have asked her for help sooner, then we would be there by now.

  Anyways, its easy to spread my wings and shoot into the sky at frankly scary speeds. Rosaline lets out a little yelp as I shoot off. I turn my head to her.

  “You alright?”

  “Yeah, fine, just surprised you're so fast in the sky!” She exclaims, wrapping her vines tighter. In no time rocket towards the canopy around the outside of the trunk.

  “Um, aren't we going to slow down?” She asks as we shoot at the canopy.

  “Nope!” I grin. We smash right at the canopy, which opens for me, letting me inside. I laugh as Rosaline looks like she just had a heart attack and a half.

  “You absolute-”

  “Look ahead!” I interrupt her. She chokes up when she sees the trunk.

  “Whoa…” She blinks up at the tree. “Such life energy… a god has to have made this, right? Wait, is this the church of life's headquarters?!”

  “Sure is! Come on, lets go meet with the others. And try not to faint in the presence of a god.”

  “The what?”

  <{(0)}>

  She almost fainted. Apparently her high intelligence was carrying her through pretty well. Still, meeting the literal god of Life and destruction would rattle almost anyone.

  “So you wish to see your daughter?” The skeleton dragon notes, looking down at her.

  “Y-yes, I do…” She responds, her voice shrinking as she speaks.

  “Aftermath, tone down the energy.” I say flatly.

  “Alright, alright.” Aftermath nods, and Rosaline's shoulders slump a bit in relief.

  “So, where is she?” I ask curiously.

  “She evolved recently, and is currently sleeping in your shared room.” Aftermath tells us, gesturing to the hole in the canopy to my room.

  “Got it.” I nod. “How is Darkness?”

  “Awake. He isn't speaking much, but I personally healed him. His wings are back fine, but the mechanical bits I can't remove without causing permanent damage to his soul shape.”

  “Thanks for trying.” I smile up at him, but my eyes are sad. I just hope he gets better.

  “Ready to go?” I ask Rosaline, who nods. After a moments hesitation she climbs up onto m back. We fly out of the courtyard and through a hole, popping into my bedroom.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Abhor!” 2 voices sound, and both a white wyvern and a black haired humanoid turn to me. It seems she has evolved!

  “Are you hurt? What happened? Is Darkness ok?” Snowstorm scrambles over to me, then stops when he notices the human on my back. “Who is this?”

  Evelyn has gone completely silent, just staring at the woman on my back.

  “M-mom?” she hesitantly takes a step forward.

  “Hey Evelyn…” She slides off my back and slowly steps forward. “It's… been a while…” She fidgets with her fingers, not meeting her daughters eyes. Then,

  SLAP!

  Evelyn slaps her across the fage, then grabs he collar.

  “Where have you been?! I thought you were dead!” She stares into her eyes. “And what is with your hair? It was black last I remembered!”

  “It changed to green when I hit tier 3…” Rosaline says, still not looking her in the eyes. For a moment Rosaline turns to me as if begging for someone to save her from the family drama. I tactically retreat over to Snowstorm and watch the show unfold.

  <{(0)}>

  “They need a room of their own, right?” Snowstorm says, looking down at the 2 women. Evelyn eventually ended up hugging it out. The storm before the calm I guess.

  “I guess its up to them.” I shrug. “Hey, ladies, where do you intend to sleep?”

  “Can I stay?” Evelyn asks immediately. She pushes her hair back, revealing pointy ears. An elf now.

  “I… sure, if you want.” I shrug. “I do like having something to snuggle with. That’s why humans get cats and dogs, right?”

  “I had a cat when I was little. super fluffly and nice to snuggle with- wait, are you calling me a pet?”

  “No, more like a stuffed animal.” I shoot back, smirking. She pouts a bit, frowning. I laugh.

  “Anyone hungry? I packed way too much food.” I lift up my bag and dump out a literal mountain of meat, plus a single solitary bag of cheese. Don't question the cheese.

  “So that's where my cheese went!” Snowstorm snatches the bag up. The guy is terminally addicted to the stuff. I thought a little time away from it would help. Guess not.

  “Is getting a room of our own even possible?” Rosaline asks.

  “No, it isn't.” Aftermath says, materializing right beside her in his demi form. Rosaline yelps, jumps 10 feet into the air, then pulls out her bow before realizing who it is and dismissing it, looking both embarrassed and cautious.

  “Um… might I ask why?” She asks hesitantly.

  “Abhor may trust you, but I do not trust easily. I also believe it would be better for these 2 to keep an eye on you both. I trust your daughter more, as I have watched her and gotten to know her, but not you. You were an important, powerful individual from a land I frankly do not have positive feelings towards. That does not make you the most trustworthy individual.”

  “Wait, why were you so open and nive to us then?” Snowstorm asks, confused.

  “I have my own reasons. Reasons you will learn on your own.” Aftermath responds cryptically.

  “Fossil fuel.” I say flatly.

  “I understand.” Rosaline clearly is uncomfortable, and I can't blame her. She's been taught to hate dragons and see them as mindless skilling machines her whole life, and now she has to live in the same room as two of them.

  “Hey, Aftermath, do you think we could have a private room carved in for them?” I asked. After Evelyn joined up with us, Snowstorm had drilled human etiquette and mannerisms into my head. I can tell apart some facial expressions now, and I know that humans value privacy in a way that dragons just don't. They also have a weird thing about being naked in front of each other. As a dragon, I'm technically naked all the time, though I don't have any apparent extra parts hanging out. Humans get weird about those.

  “I can have that done, yes.” Aftermath nods and places a hand on a wall with nothing on it. A human door appears there. Opening it they find a room with 2 beds, a closet, and one of those things that water sits in for humans to go in. I think it was called a bathe? No, it was a bath, right? Dragons only use showers, and baths just don't have the effect on us that it has on others, since we only need to wash our scales. Back when we first arrived here, we must have smelled pretty bad, since Aftermath sent us to the church's shower room. The church seems to have everything at this point.

  “Thank you.” Rosaline nods gratefully, bringing me out of my thoughts. I think Evelyn looks disappointed looking at her bed for some reason.

  “Mind if me and Evelyn talk in private? There is something she needs to know.” Rosaline asks Aftermath.

  “Alright, but bring Abhor in with you. Consider him your babysitter.” I snort, nearly laughing as Aftermath leaves.

  “You two have been doomed to die.” Snowstorm says, looking to me. “That guy managed to kill a cactus by not watering it enough.”

  “Oh, the horror.” Evelyn chuckles.

  <{(0)}>

  “So, what did you want to talk about?” Evelyn asks. The three of us sit at a set of chairs around a rectangular table in corner of the room. On the table is a few plates with some chips and meat on it. I grabbed the chips I sit with my chair pushed back a little. It's their conversation, not mine, and I already know what they're going to talk about.

  “It's about your father…” Rosaline sighs. She picked up a chip and just stared at it.

  “What happened to him?” She blinked at her.

  “You see, he had known I was alive. He had helped me hide it when I got promoted. I had enemies among the other commanders. Commander Jensen had wanted his younger brother to get the promotion, but I was chosen instead. He didn't like that. I staged my own death in order to become a stealth unit for the Grand general. Because of this, the commander couldn't treat you too badly as he didn't have me as a reason. I’m glad he's dead.”

  “Mom…”

  “Yes, yes, about your father. Not too long ago after you supposedly died, your father, who was MECHA squad captain at the time, received an order to capture more live dragons. He went south. He never returned, but others did. Apparently they attempted to capture some of the aquatic dragons down south, and failed. Many died. He… nobody saw it, but one moment he was there, the next his MECHA was shredded and there was no body.” She slumps against the table. Her eyes are hollow and painful.

  “Dads… dead?” Evelyn made a choked noise, her hands covering her mouth. “That… no, no no no…” She begins to sob. Rosaline stands up from her chair, circles around the table, and envelops her daughter in a hug.

  For a while, neither say anything. I say nothing. Unfortunately, I know exactly how they feel. I stand up from my chair.

  “I'll be right back.” I say softly, just giving a nod.

  “Wait.” Evelyn looks back up at me. “Please stay.”

  “What?” I pause, looking back to her. I had assumed they wanted a bit of space. I would have still watched from the shadows but I would have been out of their way.

  “Please.” She repeats. “You… you're my best friend. Please stay with us.” I turn to Rosaline. She looks unsure. But looking down at her daughter, she saw something. She nodded. I sit back down. I smile a bit, hiding it by looking down. First Snowstorm, now Evelyn. I have good friends.

  <{(0)}>

  They talked for a while. Talked and cried. I was mostly just an emotional support animal. I came to learn that people just feel at ease around me, according to Evelyn. Eventually, they turned away from the depressing bits to the, well, less sad stuff.

  “So, what do we do now?” Rosaline asks. “We are likely both considered criminals there. So do we stay here?”

  “I'd like to.” Evelyn nods, the nturns to me. “What do you think, Abhor?”

  “I think its not my choice.” I say simply. “You're making decisions that will affect the rest of your life. Though, Rosaline, you would do better living here since the affinity here is so well aligned with you. Evelyn, you're an adult. You can go wherever you want, though I’m inclined towards keeping you safe. We're friends, you know? But I'm not the best to ask for advice.”

  “That was quite insightful of you.” Rosalind gives me a reassuring nod. “You look down on your own intellect too much. Take a little pride in it.”

  “I… thanks.” I scratch the back of my head.

  “I agree.” Evelyn smiles. “You're smart when you want to be. The problem is that you never want to be.”

  “Hey!” I swat at her and she expertly dodges. And by dodge I mean she falls backwards out of her chair.

  “Ow.” She says flatly as she lies there.

  “Oh, grow up. Your durability is over 50, A boulder would crack on your head.”

  “Well, my pride is hurt.” She pulls her chair back up and sits back down. I pull my chair back in to the table. Rosaline smiles.

  “So, all joking aside, what now?” She presses. “I don't dislike this room, but we can't live here forever. A tier 2 can live for over 200 years, and a tier 3 over 1000. We need somewhere permanent.”

  “I think its more about getting Aftermath's trust.” I say. “Once he trusts you like he trusts Evelyn, he will help you get a home.”

  “Great, so I have to, as a former high ranking enemy, attempt to win the favor of a god who might or might not smite me if he finds me too suspicious.”

  “Well, we won't smite you or anything.” I say, frowning a bit in contemplation. “Well… maybe?”

  “Now my life lies on a maybe.” She sighs.

  “It's fine, mom.” Evelyn shakes her a bit. “You have me, who Aftermath likes, and Abhor, who he seems to like more than me.”

  “Yeah, we hit it off pretty well. Though, I had thought he kidnapped me at first.” I shrug. “I think the first step to him trusting you, is you trusting him.

  “You want me to trust the god of destruction?” Rosaline asks me with the flattest tone imaginable.

  “Yes.” I respond with a nod.

  “Fine.” She sighs. “What can go wrong?”

  “Do not say that, because something will absolutely go wrong.” I warn her. Evelyn chuckles.

  “Yeah, true.” She picks up another chip and tosses it in her mouth. Me and Evelyn smile to each other. Rosaline looks from her, to me, to her, then smiles.

  “So, are you two interested in each other?” She asks. Evelyn somehow coughs on the single potato chip she was eating. I just blink.

  “What do you mean?” I ask, confused and oblivious.

  “Are you two in a relationship?” She asks, getting to the point when she realizes the thickness of my skull.

  “Uh… no?” I respond, confused. “Aren't we different species? Plus, different ages.”

  “Evelyn had some problems when she was born. She spent the first 2 years of her life in a coma in the hospital, barely clinging onto life. Eventually she came out fine, but she has only really been developing for 17 years mentally.”

  “Mom, shut up!” She tries to tackle her mother, but Rosaline expertly dodges.

  “I guess I never really considered it.” I say with a shrug. Have I ever really felt romantic interest towards Evelyn? I… don't think so? I'm not sure. I don't have a great grasp on my emotions. I know shes a good friend, almost as good a friend as Snowstorm, but is she a friend like that? I don't know.

  “I'm unsure.” I say eventually. “Evelyn?”

  “I-I…” Evelyn seems to have short circuited, face beat red.

  “Another thing is that she was not a very social person, and didn’t use much social media. She never developed socially too much either, and only really knows romance from movies.” She chuckles. “Though I'd like to get to know you better before giving you my blessing, I would prefer an oblivious lizard like you compared to some dunderheaded jock or something.” This time, Evelyn lands her mark, knocking her to the ground and hitting her with a breadstick she got from somewhere. I don't really register the attack sandwich going on, just thinking over Rosaline's words.

  Do I like her? Would it be wrong if I like her? Is it wrong if she likes me? I don't have the slightest intention to date her at the moment. I don't want to get into that until I'm 18. She's nice, but I also want to avoid any pedo allegations on her. Plus the whole “I'm not ready” part. I'm 16, almost 17.

  “Oh…” I look up and realize I must have sait some of that aloud. Rosaline was nodding and Evelyn looks disappointed.

  “Oh, sorry.” I say sheepishly.

  “No, no, it's fine. I get it.” She fidgets a bit.

  “I expected as much.” Rosaline nods, a half teasing smile cresting her lips. “Don’t worry about the separate species part. You're at the least half human. Also, as long as a species is sentient and capable of love, I don't see the problem.”

  “Can we talk about something else?” Evelyn asks sheepishly. I nod.

  “Oh yeah, what's your soul weapon?” I ask her curiously.

  “These.” In her hand, 2 wickedly curved daggers form, oozing with poison and darkness.

  “Sick.” I run a claw along the blade, the blade unable to penetrate my skin. Don't touch sharp objects kids. “What's your class?” I ask curiously.

  “Dark moon assassin.” She grins. “Never imagined I'd take the route of speed and stamina, but after taking some tough hits I learned it’s my preferred path. I prefer my ribcage not being dust, you know?”

  “Perfectly reasonable.” I nod. “I walk more the direction of endurance in battle. I can take a good hit and keep stabbing, you know?”

  “I am an archer, though my class is called Evergreen Archery Queen.” Rosaline explains, her compound bow forming in her hands

  “Well, don’t shoot me, your majesty.” I say in a mock-begging tone.

  “Don’t tempt me.” She rolls her eyes. “In all seriousness, my empowered arrow just bounced off your scales. What is the gods names is your durability?”

  “150.”

  “What?”

  “150-”

  “I heard you the first time!”

  “Then why did you say “What?””

  “I- you brickhead.” She sighs, then looks back up at me. “Seriously, though, I must ask. How have you obtained such power? I am a mid-tier 3 individual, while you have the aura of someone low-tier 2. Yet when I fought you, I felt there was no chance I could win. How is that?”

  “I… do you know what essence is?” I ask her, turning over my thoughts. I don’t 100% trust her, even if I like her. Should I tell her about my powers? Maybe… turning to Evelyn, she just gives me a nod. I guess I can trust her enough for that.

  “I don't. What is that?” She asks me.

  “I think it was explained to me as worldly energy of sorts. Its basically divine power. Gods have their mana intertwined with it, and mortals can convert it into stat increases. In special cases, some people can use it to empower skills and mutations. I used a buttload of it to empower all my stats to the maximum possible amount. Make sense?” I wave my clawed hand around as I explain and realize that my tail was wagging around as I talked. It's something I tend to do when lost in my thoughts. It's not like a dog wagging their tail when they are happy. Rosaline didn't seem to notice it, but Evelyn did. She is staring at my tail, seeming almost… hungry? No, that can’t be right. I need to practice human facial expressions more, because looking at my tail with hunger seems weird.

  “You… are a cheater.” Rosaline sighs. “Can all dragons do this?”

  “No, only people who are under gods.” I explain.

  “So you can do it because of aftermath?” She asks.

  “No. I could channel essence before I even met him. I think you should talk with him though. His blessing would be good for you.” I poke one of the flowers in her hair, and she bats my hand away.

  “Thats a good idea.” Evelyn nods, looking away from my tail. “How is your essence right now?”

  “I have well over 3000.” I say.

  “Is that a lot or a little?” Rosaline asks me, confused.

  “Not much.” I respond simply. “It was in tier 1. I could bring all my stats up to 50. But in this tier, it costed me thousands for 1 stat to go up to 150. I need more to get the expensive stuff.”

  “So the cost for things scales with your power?” She asks curiously. “That sounds balanced at least, though still totally unfair.” She sighs.

  “That's basically just who he is at this point.” Evelyn chuckles. She tosses a piece of jerky at me which I catch between 2 fingers and eat.

  “I think thats all good for now.” I stand up and stretch. “Stay with Snowstorm. I’m going down to the dark.

  “Ooh, can I come with you?” Evelyn jumps up from her seat.

  “Uh, sure.” I shrug. And that, kids, is how I met your mother.

  I'm joking.