14 / 05 / 2018 – Japan, Tateyama Mountain Range.
Beneath the great tree, its leaves whispering faintly in the wind. Aldean leaned against the trunk, eyes half-closed, while Alicia stood a few steps away, her gaze distant, her hands clasped.
"What do you want to talk about?" Aldean asked lazily, his voice carried by the breeze.
"I'm worried about the children," Alicia said, her voice trembling slightly. "Especially Akane and Ayato. If what you said is true, then that thing you gave them… will it change who they are?"
He tilted his head, studying her face. Long whitish hair, blue eyes, as clear as the sky. Russian descent, wasn't it? Always beautiful… my ancestors really had a type. He mused absently. And here I am, still unable to escape it.
Alicia frowned, puffing her cheeks. "You're not listening again, are you?"
Aldean chuckled under his breath, caught red-handed. "I am, I am… You worry too much, Alicia." He straightened and took her hands gently. "There shouldn't be any problem for now, the ritual worked, after all."
"That's not the same as saying it's safe," she snapped. "Why are you so stubborn that you'd put something like that inside the children?"
The leaves stirred. Aldean's smile faded.
"You have to understand, Alicia… It's in their blood. No matter how hard they pretend to be ordinary, their nature as dragons will never fade."
Alicia blinked, confusion furrowing her brow. "What are you talking about?"
"You've carried a dragon inside you all this time," he said calmly. "I've told you before, I'm not human. Naturally, our children wouldn't be either. Isn't that obvious?"
"But they look human," Alicia protested, glancing aside as the thought sank in. "How could they possibly be dragons?"
Aldean's smile turned weary. "Form means nothing to a dragon. Some are born through other races, shaped by their mothers' bodies. When they grow strong enough, they shed that shape and awaken to their true selves."
He paused, his gaze drifting to the horizon. "But the transition comes with a price. A body too fragile, a soul too vast, it's not uncommon for them to die before they ever remember what they are."
Alicia said nothing, only watching his distant eyes.
Aldean's tone softened. "Still… having a talent at all is rare. And the three of them carry something even older, a near-complete inheritance. The first ancient dragon… the one who ruled not by strength, but by understanding. A mind that made existence itself bow afraid of his wisdom."
He smiled faintly, almost to himself. "And the other two carry my own lineage, hands that reach into space, and perception that touches time."
"In short," he continued, turning back to her, "you don't need to worry too much. Knowing too much can be a burden; sometimes, ignorance is also a kind of weapon."
He raised his hand toward the air. The breeze stirred, leaves rustling softly. A faint, glowing diagram appeared above his palm, shifting lines, like a constellation half-remembered. "Even I don't know everything," he admitted. "Unless I can reach my home again… but sending any signal beyond this universe is far too risky."
The diagram broke apart, the light bleeding into green before vanishing. Silence followed.
"Even so," Alicia said, her voice breaking, "they're still our children. Why burden them with more? That thing you gave them, why not keep it sealed? Why divide it among them?"
He looked up at the drifting clouds. For a long while, he didn't speak. When he did, his voice had grown quieter, heavier.
"Because it wouldn't stay sealed," Aldean said. "You can't cage something at that level. You only choose where it sleeps, or if it can even be consumed."
Alicia's breath caught. "What did you bring back, Aldean?"
Haaah… she worries too much, but it's understandable. Aldean tilted his gaze skyward, eyes closing. That existence… no joke. Who would've thought such a small plane could conceal something capable of reshaping the universe? A shiver of fear ran through him.
A mere speck of a world, yet it held a power that could affect everything beyond. And yet… he had won. Its corpses were within him, though he couldn't use them. Enough was enough; overindulgence would be fatal. A strict lesson learned from wandering the cosmos, he mused inwardly, though his expression betrayed a faint smugness.
Alicia watched silently, curious and cautious, as Aldean dozed, lost in thought. Suddenly, he opened his eyes, flashing a sly, knowing smile. She tilted her head, trying to read him. Hmph… what is he thinking now?
After a long pause, Aldean's gaze returned to seriousness. "That being possesses a power called Resentment… and it is as ominous as its name implies: a pure despair, a hatred over all living things."
Alicia stepped back instinctively. "That's… that's not power, Aldean. That's corruption."
"Maybe." His smile was faint, unreadable. "But even corruption carries lessons. Power isn't inherently good or evil; it simply is. What it does depends on the hand that wields it."
He spread his hands slightly, a gesture almost like embracing the world. "Even a single butterfly can stir storms, Alicia. Now imagine the child of a dragon."
"So that's why…" Alicia frowned, but before she could continue, Aldean's expression turned still. "The discussion ends here," he said softly. "Any further and we might draw attention from the dark."
His gaze shifted to the distance, and then, at the edge of perception, a shadow imploded silently, twisting space apart. The last thing that shadow saw was a cheeky smile, wild, unrestrained, and free.
Alicia gasped, eyes wide. The air around them trembled.
Aldean turned his head casually, kimono swaying in the breeze, smiling as if nothing unusual had happened.
"Do you have anything else to ask before we go back to the children?" he asked lightly.
"What was that?!" Alicia exclaimed, darting closer. "Don't tell me you actually, you really did that?!" She waved her hands in front of his face like a child unable to contain excitement, her earlier tension gone as easily as it had come…
He chuckled inwardly, his gaze softening at her noisy persistence. Ahh… I also love this side of yours too… It's quite commendable that you've never been afraid of me and still pursue this dangerous thing with me, even after all this; she never fears me… still chasing after danger by my side. Truly commendable.
"Alright, you can't learn it even if you wanted to… maybe you can later… it depends on what this world can offer though.", he said with a smile.
"Ah, yes, now I thought about it? Where is the extraordinary power of this world going? Do they even still exist?", forgetting her previous behaviour, now she remembers something, and is pondering seriously.
"Of course they do," Aldean said with a lazy smile. "And divinity as well. This world only seems ordinary. But ever since… certain things began moving, it's been changing quietly."
His tone dropped slightly, and he raised a hand toward the horizon. The air shimmered like heat over sand, a veil of mirage rippling into existence.
Within it, distant visions flickered: an ancient battlefield drowned in echoes of war; an eternal glacier gleaming under a dead sun; a burning wasteland that would not die; and at last, a radiant kingdom of light upheld by countless pillars.
"They've hidden themselves for ages," Aldean murmured. "Some say they crossed to the far side of truth, others call it the inner world. Whatever name you choose, it's not gone… only concealed."
Alicia's eyes reflected the mirage, glowing softly. "Then… there are still wonders waiting, right? Doesn't that excite you?"
Her words lingered in the air. Aldean smiled faintly, but his gaze drifted to his open hand.
Those creatures, no 'that' being is very well might be still waiting outside… There is not much time left for me; the minions of that being have also recovered their power after all these years.
I also need to prepare myself, in case there is a need to escape, as he shifts his eyes towards his children in the distance and the woman at his side, his eyes flickering.