I was hellion; there was no doubt about it. This time, however, it was warranted. "Come on!" I pleaded with Paxxia, my sister and ruler of Dragon King's Most Divine Realm, as she looked at me impassively. No, I will not teach you. Perhaps you will learn to listen to me when you are older." I moved to protest my innocence, but she cut me off. "Upunth told me that you removed your eyepatch," she told me in her voice like death bells.
I turned to look at my bodyguard, a tall and disfigured man with Drakonid features growing out of his body in a clearly unnatural fashion. Black horns sprouted from his right eye, spiraling towards the sky, and the same colored horns grew sideways down his right arm, forcing him to wear a short sleeve while the rest of his body remained heavily covered.
He merely looked down at me with dead eyes, unphased by my pleading gaze. "Now I have work to get to. Go a month without taking off your eyepatch, and I will teach you," she told me, causing my frown to turn upside down as I lunged at her.
"Thank you!" I cried out, causing her to sigh as she let me hug her for a moment; she then gently, but with strength that I would likely never match, peeled me off her.
"We'll also have to teach you how to handle yourself," she said, looking over me with an appraising eye. Upunth, make sure he does not get into too much trouble," she told my bodyguard, who stared at her with glazed-over eyes, his mind a million miles away.
She then walked away, her feet tapping on the ground, her black dress blowing in the faint breeze that swept through the palace. My smile fell slightly as she left, but I kept it up as I turned and headed back to the balcony. Although, it was less of a balcony and more of a small spice tea garden.
As we walked, I fiddled slightly with my eyepatch but resisted the urge to remove it. As usual, my sister was right; I needed to get used to having an eye patch, even if it was annoying. It was a nice eyepatch, simply black and comfortable, but I didn't like it, perhaps something that carried over from my past life.
Here, however, it was needed as the bloodred eye behind that layer of cloth would cause anybody to suffer and die. Chuckling to myself, I shook my head at that thought; it was a bit overdramatic. In reality, both of my eyes were bloodred; in fact, red eyes were a Drakonid trait, along with horns and a tail. As for the suffering and death, it merely caused whoever I looked at to bleed. The closer they got, the faster it happened.
If I stared at somebody's throat for even a minute, they would find themself bleeding profusely and dying. Of course, they would pass out much quicker as the throat was a remarkably fragile place, as I knew.
Arriving at the Spice Tea Garden, I sighed; I loved my sister dearly. She was always in the back of my mind like a warming presence; just knowing she was near and willing to help was soothing. However, she was an authoritative tyrant who, while stripping their racist protections from law, believed that Drakonids were better than everybody else.
Pushing the thoughts from my mind, I stepped into the garden, where Upunth's gaze gained a small fragment of clarity. He was addicted to Spice Tea, something I faintly remembered from my time in the void. However, seeing it in person was an entirely different matter. Whenever he was not drinking the tea, his mind was far away, and while that meant he didn't talk much, he was still a lethal fighter.
Giving a polite nod to the gardener working on the plants, I soon arrived at the table and chairs I dragged out here to the island's edge. This palace was built on the back end of the floating island we called home, allowing me to peer out over the ocean and think.
The mainland was over the horizon, and a massive continent called Doria was nearby. I knew that if you went straight and, upon hitting landfall, followed the coast, you would reach New New York, the capital of The Exarchate and seat of 0^0's power. It was strange knowing how close she was, even if I would have to cross a sea and travel hundreds of miles; the map made it seem so much closer.
"Lord Paxrei, would you like to train?" Upunth asked, his voice breaking me from my thoughts. Turning around, I saw him sitting calmly in the second of three chairs I had pulled out. Held in his left hand was a cup of tea that he was hurting, and for once, his eyes were completely clear.
"Of course!" I chirped, settling down as my tail wiggled behind me. That was something I didn't enjoy all that much. I may have become congenial much earlier than most would due to my past memories and the gifts I had chosen, but being a child still had a profound effect on my mind, one of the main ones being a near-inability to control my emotions.
Upunth smiled faintly as he rose to his feet and removed a small blade from his sleeve. He held it loosely in his right hand, black horns spirling around his fingers and trapping the blade in his grasp.
"Today, we will continue with the trance," he told me softly. I groaned but settled back in my chair. I may have liked most of his lessons, but this was not one of them. It mostly amounted to meditation as he swiped his dagger at me, knicking or just missing me as I attempted to stay in my trace.
However, when he was focused, he would not listen to arguments against his teaching, so I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Breathing in and out, I tried to relax, but it was hard knowing Upunth was standing less than a foot away from me with a dagger in his hand.
As I started to get into a rhythm, I felt a thud as something slammed into the chair right next to my neck, causing me to flinch, "Relax and focus your thoughts on dreams," he said, his tone low as he pulled the dagger free, from the chair.
I attempted to calm back down, but my spine was still stiff. I knew he wouldn't hurt me beyond what could be healed, and as a Drakonid, I was very hardy. That didn't mean I liked pain, and getting stabbed was not fun, even if what he taught was fascinating.
Settling back into that rhythm, tension rose as I kept breathing in and out, always anticipating the next dagger. It was only when I had relaxed somewhat that the dagger slammed into the chair just a few inches from my left side; this time, however, my flinch was minor, and I almost immediately regained my fugue-like focus.
I had achieved this state a few times before, a flow state of sorts that allowed me to work with a single-minded focus. Upunth was teaching me how to keep this state up even when disrupted; this time, when the dagger scraped gently across my cheek, I didn't flinch.
We continued for a time, with him throwing the dagger and me sitting there as if I were asleep, moving my body slightly to avoid the daggers if I managed to guess where they would be thrown.
I was waiting for another dagger when I felt a finger flick my nose, the surprise breaking me out of the trance. "W-What?" I spluttered out as I opened my eyes and looked at Upunth, who merely looked back, his eyes glazed over slightly as he drained the last drops from his cup.
"You need to be able to keep it no matter what. Keep dreaming, and you'll learn," he told me before setting the cup down, and I knew he would be done teaching for the rest of the day.
Spice tea was fairly harmless in small doses, but larger amounts would act like physical, mental, and spiritual painkillers, which could lead to death. My sister had ordered him to have no more than one cup a day as if left to his own devices; Upunth would down them by the gallon, which would either kill him or leave him comatose. That was, of course, assuming he didn't run out of tea first, which, given that I had never seen him sleep or eat, was a real chance.
Standing up, I brushed a finger across my cheek and muttered a letter of God-Script under my breath. Zhivete was the word, and it meant live, so the wound was sealed shut. The God-Script was how one cast spells, and I had both an intuition granted by my choices and a fascination that helped me.
Walking back towards my room, Upunth following me, I thought over magic. It was the main thing I had approached in this life; I had, of course, spent time learning from my sister how to conduct myself and furthered my understanding of the God-Script, attempting to find loopholes in my Destined Death.
However, to accomplish the latter, I needed to understand the letters in and out. Since magic was cast through them, learning the God-Scrpit served both purposes.
Arriving at my room, I pushed open the door and walked inside the opulent room. The bed was massive, plush, and had red curtains that I could draw around it to prevent anybody from looking inside. An enormous window provided light to the room, and directly in front of the window was a desk stuffed to the brim with papers and pens.
One of the benefits of nobility was having the best, and when my sister saw my affinity for more scholarly pursuits, she bought me pens, so I didn't have to use quills. I knew that she was happy. I seemed to have no ambition, as while we were brother and sister, she would absolutely kill me if I attempted to seize the throne. She was a benevolent tyrant but a tyrant nonetheless.
Pushing those thoughts aside, I sat at my desk and retrieved my papers. I wasn't particularly secretive about my desire to cheat death, even if I hadn't revealed just why. Unfolding them, I grabbed my pen and looked over my notes.
This was something I had been tackling ever since I had become cognizant just over a year ago. I may be young, but I didn't want to be caught off guard; I also needed to spread this to my sister, Upunth, and my companion whenever she would arrive.
Buki, meaning alphabet or god, was my Destined Death, which clearly meant I would perish at the hand of a god. I knew from the choices before this life that the Elder Gods were either dead, trapped, or in hiding. That meant 0^0 was the only god who could kill me.
I had a faint sense, granted by my patron SRTR, of how to cheat Destined Death, but I still needed to work for it. As I thought of her, I felt a faint pulse of pain over my heart, which caused me to rub my shirt.
Merely thinking about her would cause her mark to throb, and given that, it was an always open wound that was painful. Not the bad kind of pain but the sort of pain that pushed you forward. The pain you felt after a workout or when your heart was hammering as you ran.
Dismissing the thought and the faint laughter in my ears, I returned to my notes. The other notes were more scattered but reasonably easy to decipher. My sister would escape from hers unharmed; I had spent the potential to ensure that. Upunth would change slowly from living to dead as he was tortured to death. That one was a bit harder but could be tricked by similarly massive changes, perhaps by pushing his mind into a dream.
I scribbled that down under his section before returning to my companion notes: She would die in battle a glory- and legend-worthy death. That was hard to wiggle out of, perhaps only second to mine.
The letter was Zelo, which means Very. It was meant to be chained together with other letters, but when said by itself, it would deteriorate explosively. Rubbing my brow, I sat back and hummed under my breath; I had been granted intuition, but that meant I had a chance, not a guarantee. It was also not helped by the fact that while I was brilliant, I was still only a hair over ten.
That was still hard to comprehend; I was ten, my sister was forty, and Upunth was nearly sixty. Yet all of us looked much younger than our chronological age would suggest. In my case, I looked about six or seven, my sister in her early to late twenties and Upunth mid-thirties. I knew that you would have to have some cut-off so you didn't spend ages as a decrepit old man when you were biologically immortal, but it still was somewhat cushioning to see somebody six times my age walk around looking less than half that.
Shaking my head, I pushed those thoughts aside. I was getting sidetracked. I drummed my fingers on my desk as I turned over the God Script in my head. I then continued working, trying to squeeze out just a bit more understanding.
However, by the time a maid rapped on my door, saying it was time for dinner, I had accomplished nothing. "Coming!" I shouted back as I rubbed my temple while leaving my room, Upunth following me.
Walking through the palace halls, I soon arrived at the dining hall. We had two of them; the first was when important people came that we needed to host or when Paxxia wanted to show off. Most of the time, however, we ate in a smaller but no less lavish room.
"Hello, sister," I said, giving her a nod of respect as I sat next to her. She was sitting at the head of the table with me on her right. I was technically in the line of succession, but for the most part, Drakonid succession was whoever could hold it.
That boiled down to me having the first shot. People would cut me a bit of slack, but if I did mess up, then they would swoop in. "Are you listening to me?" Paxxia asked, a hint of annoyance in her tone. Shaking my head, I gave her a sheepish smile, "I was thinking," I told her as my cheeks flushed a bit red.
"It seems you either have to do much or too little of that," she tells me, and before I can snap back, the doors open. Dragon King's Most Divine realm was a very coastline nation. That did not even count Drachen, our capital, and where I lived, which was a floating island.
That meant fish and a handful of other meats, such as chicken and duck, were a major food source. I had noticed that Drakonids were nearly entirely carnivores, with only a handful eating fruits and vegetables.
However, as far as I could tell, it was more cultural than biology. We occasionally had nonmeat, but given that we were royalty, we could eat what we wanted, so we ate meat.
Digging into the food, I kept an eye on my sister; she knew how to handle forks and the like. On the other hand, I did not, having been focused on other things when the etiquette lessons were given.
I knew the basics, and thankfully, Drakonid dining etiquette was not all that complex—mainly, you work your way in from the outside. However, I knew I would be forced to interact with other nobles at some point, and making a fool of myself was not an option.
"You will be handling a dispute tomorrow," Paxxia said after swallowing a bite. What?" I asked, looking rather wide-eyed. Nothing major; however, the people must see you. Mere word and rumor of a younger brother bring doubt," she continued.
"No, I don't want to be the ruler, so I'll just stay back," I said with a nervous chuckle. I had too much to do, and handling a bunch of nobles was not how I wanted to spend my day. My sister then looked at me with her brilliant crimson eyes, "You will be handling a dispute tomorrow; in the morning, you will go over the dispute, and the nobles will arrive by noon," she said in a tone that brooked no disobedience.
Slumping down into my chair, I huffed, "Fine," I whined; when she got like this, I was never going to get her to change her mind. Besides, maybe taking a break from the God Script would help; I'm not entirely sure, but I hadn't been getting much done on that front, so a day off wouldn't be too bad.
"So, how was your day?" I asked, trying to move past my forced involvement in the nobility. I knew it would have to happen someday, but so soon, it was annoying. "Just a few spats," Paxxia said in the tone of somebody talking about the weather. "The more traditional Drakonid are irritated by my reforms," she continued, this time with a vicious smile on her face.
She had been implementing reforms, the main ones being abolishing slavery and making everybody theoretically equal under the law. Now, she did have her own biases. Still, she was pragmatic enough to know that openly factoring Drakonid was an excellent way to get everybody, not a Drakonid, annoyed at her. While she was extremely powerful, she was not her father.
He had subjugated a small chunk of Mamet through sheer power and charisma. He was then killed by a person only known as The Keter. I knew her to be an Outsider, but beyond that, nothing.
What it boiled down to was that the Dragon King's Most Divine Realm was a shadow of its former self. We still held a good chunk of land, and our exportation of Spice Tea was highly desired, but we no longer had the threat of a near-godlike dragon crushing anyone. So, my sister was making us more palatable for the rest of the world.
That, however, caused problems with a few of the nobles, who were upset about how the nation was going. Paxxia, of course, would kill them if they didn't back down and pick somebody else to become nobility, but she couldn't just kill everybody, which led to what I presume happened today.
A noble got a bit too big for his britches, so she had to smack him down, something she enjoyed doing. "Well, that's good," I replied, giving her my own smile. "I presume you stayed in your room attempting to decipher the God Script?" she said in a tone that showed she knew what to expect when I nodded yes.
"Do keep at it; you are smart enough to pluck something new from it," she told me, and I preened at the compliment. I had been fiddling away for the past year and was aware I had yet to make much progress, but approval was always nice.
The remainder of dinner went by quietly, with only small talk being exchanged. However, before I could leave, my sister spoke, "Remember noon tomorrow. And don't stay up too late," she ordered, and I nodded. "Of course, I'll be up bright and early to prepare," I replied, causing her to smile, but this time, it was a smaller, more relaxed one than the feral grin earlier.
I then left the padding back in my room. This time, Upunth was not with me. He didn't sleep, so I assumed he went on missions for my sister when I was asleep. I did have a guard posted as well as wards of my own, so the chance of somebody sneaking in was very slim.
Arriving at my room, I nodded to the grizzled man standing outside. "Here," I said as I handed him a small meat pie of sorts I had smuggled away from the table. "Thank you, Prince Paxrei," the man said gratefully as he carefully started to eat it.
I had no doubt people had noticed, but getting on the good side of my guards was just a smart move. Even if they ate it and never thought twice, it was still a nice thing to do.
Stepping inside my room, I closed and locked the door behind me. I then did the same for the window as I retrieved the papers stuffed deep in the bottom of my desk drawers.
These were my wards for my room. Was it a bit overkill, maybe? However, I would rather be safe than sorry, and knowing one would be fighting a goddess someday did make me a smidge paranoid. It was also good practice with the God-Script.
Looking down at my notes, I started to speak. "Her'v' Yee Zelo Dobro!" I then finished by pulling the spell from my head into my right hand. The spell then split as I cast it twice in one moment.
The door and window shimmered slightly as my spell took hold. The letters of the God-Script were complex, but the basic meaning of the spell was that nobody of lower birth than mean would be able to enter. They would have to be first in line to a throne or have enough power to overcome the ward.
It was decently strong, but any skilled ward breaker could likely breakthrough. However, once breached, the wards would react explosively, waking me up and likely killing or maiming my would-be intruders.
Buoyed, as always, when I did magic, I got changed. It felt like it should have been strange to have horns and a tail, but it didn't. I had, after all, grown up with them, so when I became aware, they were just a part of me.
Shaking aside that small thought, I put on my underwear and put my notes away before climbing into bed. Snuggled under the covers, I closed my eyes and started to breathe in and out. A side effect of Upunth's training was that I could fall asleep quickly, so in a few minutes, I was fast asleep. However, my dreams were not to be as relaxing as they normally were, as I woke up in a massive golden cube sitting on a golden chair.
"It's good to see you again," SRTR said as she lounged on a golden throne. Her voice was joyful and childlike, even if it held an undercurrent of something I couldn't quite parse.
She looked to be in her early twenties, wearing a well-worn grey dress. It was practically made, and her boots were the same. Her hair was a brilliant orange that faded into yellow as it cascaded down her back. Her eyes looked into mine, and they were a brilliant yellow filled with faint mirth.
"I was getting bored watching you sit around and study all day," she complained as she rolled over her chair and spun around in the air before resting on her stomach, still floating. Her hands held her head up as she grinned at me.
"Is something going on?" I asked as I leaned back in my chair. She had invaded my dreams a few times, mainly to complain about how boring I was or offer a bit of advice, but it was still nice to talk to her, even if she could be annoying sometimes.
"Well," she said, drawing the word out as she drummed her fingers on her cheeks. "Things are going to start heating up! You're going to be taking front stage soon," she continued before smirking at me. "I mean, what protagonist sits around all day and does nothing?" she complained once again.
"Slice of life," I replied; we had both done this song and a dance a few times. She seemed to enjoy having somebody she could talk to, and I was able to pick her mind every so often, which had massively helped my attempt to understand the God-Script.
"Chess?" she asked, and I shrugged. "Sure, we haven't played that before," I commented as a black-and-white flicker of boredom flickered between us. "Well, I thought checkers would better suit you," she said as she spun the board around rapidly, all the species staying on as if the board was not moving.
It spun for a few seconds as I chuckled at her jab before slowing down with her as white and me as black. "Oh, and when you take a piece, flick it; that's how I always played with YRMD," she said, a glint of amusement in her eye as she was clearly getting ready to hit me with them.
So the two of us played chess and talked in this Toybox of hers. Eventually, I would have to wake up, but for now, chatting and getting my ass handed to me in chess would be a good time.
