A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale

“Your core!” Mom shouted the moment she saw me, looking down at my chest.

Since I was in my dragonewt form now, I had my clothes on instead of my fur coat. A glow did pierce through my shirt and robes, though, due to [Ruby Star] mutating my core, but even then, I couldn’t understand how Mom deduced that so easily. The glow didn’t look any different from usual, even with the crack.

Oh, right, the solar energy.

“It’s leaking,” I said, prompting Mom to nod.

“I can feel that, yes. What happened to you? Why are you not wearing your rhytilic armor?” Mom came as close to the portal entrance as you could, trying to reach out to me, but immediately jerked back. “Urgh, I did the training to get [Room], but I still can’t do anything. Tsk!”

“Wait, you already have [Room]? T-that’s [Space-Time Magic Lv. 6]! You’re already there?” I asked, flabbergasted at Mom’s rapid improvement.

“Don’t say it like that. You also took over a year to get the spell, and I am someone with more mana than you can imagine, dear. I am able to cast [Haste] the entire day without any risk of [Arcane Fever], and it sure is helpful for my tasks. Speeding up my signing and reading speed makes bureaucracy far more manageable.” Mom nodded with a smile on her face before it vanished as she turned back to me. “Nearly a month has gone by, and you already have such a wound?”

“W-well …”

“Where is your brother? I can’t smell him. In fact, where is Tasianna, Shay? Beth? Where is that little demonkin?” She let out a loud sigh. “Goodness. I expected you to take a while due to the blizzards and occasional avalanches, but getting separated? You are separated, right?”

“Mom, at least, let me tell you that, instead of sleuthing it out.” I lowered my head, scratching my neck as I felt slightly ashamed of how she figured it out so easily. “Yes. We got into a bit of a problem with that ape monster I told you about. The plan failed, we got ambushed by its pack, and then Nong had then blown us away with a storm to get away from those things.”“… Why did he do that? Transform into your humanoid forms and he could fly you away on his back. That boy is the fastest amongst your siblings, and he knows that well. It’s his biggest point of pride, as I would guess from the son of Virrflax.”

I shrugged. “You have to ask him that.”

“Most likely, Prince Nongramos wishes to fight those monsters,” Shay added from the back. “Considering—”

Shay paused as he noticed Sieg behind Mom, remembering that we had lied to him for Rhekk’s sake. This was a mistake we couldn’t take back, as Mom immediately pounced on this fact.

“Speak up, Shayatierus. Nongramos is a smart boy, albeit, a bit too hot-headed at times, so he wouldn’t just send his little sister away for no reason. If he believed it was proper to have Hestia flee, then he would never abandon her like this with her party splintered!” Mom said.

“W-well, Your Maj—”

“Enough.” She turned to Beth. “Bethlieranha, dear, speak for your brother, please.”

“Y-yes, Your Majesty!” The shock of suddenly being addressed by Mom caused Beth to break down immediately, prompting her to tell Mom and Sieg about everything before either Shay, Rhekk, or I could say anything.

“You lied to me?” Sieg glared at Rhekk and me.

“W-well, no!” I protested. “We didn’t tell a lie. We just kept things out of the report, and …”

“Not reporting something as important as this is considered irresponsible, if you want to excuse yourself like this, Princess Hestia! There are four dead true dragonkin, and you decided to not tell me about any of them until now? When you got separated, when I explicitly told you to stay together!” Sieg slapped his forehead, looking enraged. “Rhekkraxus! You told her to keep this to herself, correct? Our Ladyship here isn’t foolish enough to keep something like this from me after everything she showed me during her training. Father’s horns, is your pride truly worth more than the mental anguish of those the dead left behind? You left Hannathala’s body exposed to decomposition!”

“B-Brother, I—” Rhekk cowered.

“Silence! Foolishness, Rhekkraxus. Foolishness!” he snapped over to me. “I do not want to hear anything from you either, Princess Hestia. When I asked you for this favor, I also placed my trust in you. Neither my father nor I could do anything due to being preoccupied with all this fighting—I am supposed to depart to the battlefield the day after—so I asked you to help my incompetent little brother since I believed you would be capable of fulfilling it and, hopefully, be able to repair your relationship with him. I was wrong, it seems.”

“S-Sieg, I’m—”

“I accept your apology,” he cut me off. “You will return to Iceskale. Shayatierus, Bethlieranha, come inside for a moment. I need you to mark the map for me. I’ll send whoever is available to transport the deceased.”

“… Yes, Lord Siegragxus,” the twins said as they entered the subspace, leaving Mom behind as she gave me a frowned look. Rhekk fell on his butt, grinding his teeth for a moment.

“Feeling guilty?” Mom asked and I nodded. “Honestly… why? Why did you keep this from him?”

I looked over at Rhekk, who was staring at the cold ground, without even sitting on the table. “Well, Rhekk’s little speech might have gotten to me. I tried to argue against his whole revenge thing and also how we should keep the information from Sieg, but… I guess I wanted to get on Rhekk’s good side.”

“Your intentions might have been good, but your actions speak differently. Those dragons have a family, Hestia; not telling their relatives and delaying it any longer is not how you should be acting! You of all people should know how much the death of a relative—a child—can hurt others,” Mom scolded, causing me to lower my head. “I wish to speak with Hikari as well.”

“Mom?” I shot my head up before slumping my shoulders as I saw her eyes. Nodding, I gave Hikari control over my body.

After a short delay, I was now looking at the situation from inside my mind as Hikari turned our head up. “Yes, Mom?”

“Tell me exactly what Rhekk told you two to persuade both of you to stay silent from Siegragxus. Word for word, do you understand?”

Hikari and I nodded. Mom was angry.

After some time recalling everything, Mom sighed, looking disappointed at us. Goodness, it stung like alcohol on a wound.

“The boy had expectations for you, my whelplings, and you thought it was wise to follow it when it made no sense to you? Would you jump into the wide ocean without a leviathan ally, just because you want to become friends with somebody? ‘Tis nonsense! This is a mistake you made in your past life, and you did it again! I do not care if he is the son of my most trusted confidant if he expects something this ludicrous of you! You two are your own women, and you have your ideals and standards; stick to them!” Mom shouted. “Expectations can be both an elixir and poison. I respect your decision to make friends with Alextraxus’s young son, but not like this. This isn’t you, Hikari. Hestia. A friend that demeans you for being yourself is a friend not worth having.”

Ahh, the wound was festering now. Gangrene was growing over me as Mom’s words kept slicing like the sharpest razors. I wanted to run away, right now. Just tuck myself under a blanket and eat some ice cream to get my mind off this. With my solar core acting like a secondary heart for me, the heartburn was twice as painful.

“Your human side is equally as valuable as your dragon side. Have I not made it clear enough for you, my whelplings? I love both sides of you, and if it makes you happy, act on your instincts. You don’t embody our culture. And that is nothing to be ashamed of. What does it matter what others think, as long as your family accepts and loves you for it? You don’t look happy keeping an important truth from Siegragxus, and that makes it worse. You didn’t act like a dragon, like Hestia, or like Hikari. You acted out of character just to make Rhekkraxus happy, and that infuriates me,” Mom snapped. “I bet my tail that Kargryxmor and I share this opinion. Tell me, Hikari, was it worth trying to change the way you speak just for some dancing trainees who had their minds set that you’re a spoiled brat?”

“… No. But wasn’t it more of an issue on my side? I didn’t try to get to know them in a way that would help things. I thought and just spoke to myself, instead of others, and that just made me pretentious.”

“Good on you for reflecting on that, and you did the same here, as well. There are better ways to become friends, but if the other side won’t accept that better method, then don’t bother. This isn’t politics; putting on one of your personas will make your friendships inauthentic. A sham!” Mom turned to Rhekk, scowling at him. “If he can’t accept you, then you can only show him your fangs and claws. Expectations can be both an elixir or poison…”—she turned back to me—“My whelplings, I know you hate being cheered for due to racism and historical hatred. That is expectation, though. Our dragon flight and wake despise those from Inferno Nest, and with how long most of us can live, that bias remains strong. Rhekkraxus is right on one thing, and that is the populace still does not know you well. You don’t change expectations by trying to compromise, you do it like you always did! Break the mold! You are no Champion of Aurena; you are an Idol of Aurena!”

“Yes, Mom,” Hikari replied.

“Also, put on your armor! I do not care what your brother says or thinks about it. Dragon pride can melt, for all I care, when the safety of my daughter is at stake. This expedition is to help you and Tasianna grow, not undergo some trial or something!” Mom snarled. “Fledglings do treat the glaciers as a rite of passage after returning home from a pilgrimage, though, but that is more to haze the returnees. To remind them that Altrust cannot be compared to the dangers here. It is worth nothing. Expectations, daughter.”

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“Yes, Mom. Thank you.” Hikari let out a deep sigh as we couldn’t help but feel relieved that we could finally put the armor on as we initially intended.

“Good. Rest a bit, then. Once you can dig yourself out, I want you to call me once again to tell me where you are. I will escort you out of the glaciers after we find you—”

“Wait! Hold on!” Hikari interrupted. “Escort? You want me to do what Sieg wanted?”

“Of course,” she said without blinking an eye. “An expedition towards the glaciers isn’t just about surviving the cold, it is also about defeating the monsters before you. You made it here with the cold, but it doesn’t seem like you are ready, yet, dear. I would like you to return south and get stronger, then return.”

… Dammit. Are you kidding me? Midway into this adventure?

“We can’t though!” Hikari protested for us. “Didn’t you hear about that spear from your mother, Mom? From grandmother, Anaxalanx. Kramps told me you didn’t know about it, but there is a memento left behind, so we can’t just leave it behind! I’ve no idea if Nong defeated the mandrill or not, but considering how the mandrill had anti-dragon blood, I don’t think he would want to risk it with it having a true ice spear. Broken or aged; it is still more true ice than what the twins and Tasianna can make.”

“You can retrieve it on the second trip. That mandril won’t get anywhere.”

“I know this as well, yes, but the point I was trying to make is this is your mom’s memento, Mom. Why do you not want me to retrieve it, like now? In fact, you didn’t show much of a reaction to it when Hestia mentioned it. Do you have something against her?”

Mom frowned, groaning slightly, confirming our suspicion.

“Is this about how they vanished after Kramps ascended?”

She nodded. “I understand it. The moment Kargryxmor gave the order for all elder scales to join him in the divine realm, they couldn’t refuse it. Yet, leaving us all to deal with the civil war… I guess, a part of me can’t forgive them for that. Even if I love them. Miss them.”

“And two mementos from your parents are somewhere in this place, Mom. That mandril has your mom’s spear. Even if it was more-or-less a thrown-away item, I think it would do you good to see it.”

“The civil war was brutal, but it did allow the survivors to unfurl their wings for good. Oh, those little birds, flying away from their nest, all grown from the strife,” Mom replied, unintentionally doing a haiku. “Hmm. I think you are right. Now that you mentioned it, I do feel a bit nostalgic thinking about them. Haa, I’m starting to feel guilty about not inviting my brother to meet you. Your uncle would love you, but scheduling is the hardest part.”

“Haha, Hestia and I will visit him at Altrust’s Loatryx once we become five, so don’t worry. The three uncle retainers are already too much for us to handle, as you saw.”

“True, my dear. The amount of time they took from you would be enough for you to train a bit more. All that paperwork could have waited until after you’re older but, oh well, I can’t say that I do not like it.” Mom sighed, putting a hand on her chin. “All right. I think it would be a good thing to do as early as possible. Before we leave, let us get that—”

“And that is where I have to stop you, again, Mom. Let me unfurl my wings.”

“Pardon?”

“I want to do it myself. I do appreciate you wanting to help me, but this entire expedition is supposed to be a way for me to get stronger, and this doesn’t just involve Kramps’s Questline and your side of my bloodline, but it is also a trip for my friend. I am also here for Tasianna’s sake. Her true ice and the hidden power of her dress might be unlocked here, and I want to be the one to help her with it!” Hikari demanded, resonating with the depths of my own desires. “I want to achieve it! With my own hands! Like my concert, my evolutions, and my own music video! Mistakes happen, so what matters is that I can reflect on them and become better due to them. If you help me with it, you take my chance away to become better, Mom.”

“That’s… quite demanding, dear. Allowing yourself to get help isn’t bad.”

“I know that, and that still haunts me until today, Mom. You don’t need to tell me that,” Hikari snapped a bit as her mind wandered to our human parents. “But that still doesn’t change anything. I don’t want to feel useless. This is Hestia’s and my party, and our friends. Some things have to be handled by you, Mom, otherwise, I have to be the one to fend it off. You lectured me on this when we were on Altrust, how you value my independent adventures.”

“I did it because of our deal, dear.”

“Yet, you were right about it. You knew what would benefit us, even if it was due to the deal. Hestia was able to develop her political acumen from all of it, not to mention, how she wanted to pursue her idol career, and I don’t mean her musical career. You kept advising us while letting us do whatever we wanted.” Hikari unfurled our wings, flapping them, creating a gust. “Let me fly, Mom. Yes, we made a mistake with the mandril, but we also got caught up by that ice stick of his. The ambush wasn’t better and we should have anticipated it. We could have fought it better, and I know it.”

“… That monster is a rank A, no? Last time I checked, you thought you weren’t good enough to defeat a rank A.”

“Hestia and I aren’t. Aurora is,” she stated as she suddenly gave me back command over our body. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “The party I developed. The plans we brainstormed. The strength we trained together to form this five-man core! I can and will defeat that mandril, Mom! I will reach the end of this expedition and reach the glaciers where the elementals gather, and find the artifacts left behind by your parents! I will unlock my Nordor bloodline somehow, and I will finally finish the last step towards [Battle Frenzy (Moderate)]. I can feel it burning in me, and I will not have you or Sieg stop me when I’m on the precipice of it!”

Mom broke in a chortle, clapping with a wide smile that showed her fangs. “My whelpling, I think that fire isn’t burning because of that monster. I think you can’t bear to disappoint me. Well, not you, Hestia.”

Of course she would notice the difference between Hikari and me. We might share the same body, but the way we spoke was still different.

“Ruthal mirsk gafuug’tal,” Mom said, causing Hikari to freeze up for a moment. “‘I wish for others to acknowledge me.’ Hikari, I think I know what your sloth and gluttony are, and why you broke down mentally back on Earth. You wish for your efforts to yield a result, because you crave to be in the limelight more than even Hestia. What would we call this?”

‘She’s the idealized version of myself,’ Hikari answered in my mind as her eyes widened. The fog inside her mind was clearing up, resulting in my own vanishing as well. “… Ruthal mirsk gafuug’tal.”

[Battle Frenzy (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

Mom smiled as I felt power and energy surging through my veins. “I see. Maybe that is why you managed to get along with Neill so quickly, Hestia. In a way, I think you saw a bit of her in you. In your past life as Hikari. ‘A light that shines, but nobody can see. Is that light truly a light?’ Hikari’s ambitions died without even flickering one bit, and that regret caused you, Hestia, to develop a more moderate approach after your experience with Saori and Tasianna in the Belzac forest.”

“The brat was right?” My own eyes widened as I remembered that [Battle Frenzy] talk I had with Hikari in Inferno Nest. “So… the way to awaken her [Battle Frenzy] was to—”

“Look at my flaws and what Hestia managed to hammer away.”

I turned away from Mom and began talking to the wall, imagining Hikari being there. “Right, and I kept myself as sane as possible due to that wish. To become an idol for your sake. For my sake. But, because of my friends, I developed to value them more than my career.”

“Unlike me. With how I threw away Papa’s and Mama’s worry to chase after my dream, because I believed unless I made them proud of my dream, that it would have been all for naught. A waste of their money, time, and love.”

“The version of yourself you wished to become during our last minutes on Earth. You wanted to correct your past, forget about it.”

“‘Hikari had to die, so Hestia could flourish.’”

“If my gluttony is to thrive on my friends, to value you instead of putting them aside, as you did, then my true gluttony is to… I want to make the original Hikari’s dreams come true. My idol life never mattered for me to truly be happy, it was always to make my friends happy. To see Saori, Tasianna, Ellaine, and Grimnir clap their hands, cheering for me as I took to the stage, bringing smiles to others. I wanted them to be happy. That is my gluttony. To preserve those relationships of mine is my sloth, and to assure that, I would overturn rules and … expectations, for that is my lust. Which means my actual greed—what I don’t need but wish to pursue now that I am happy—is your gluttony. Hikari, you are my greed.”

Descendant of the Black Tyrant Kargryxmor, you have continued your path towards the inner peace of your blood. The seven paths of transcendence await you onwards on exalted wings. The path of Greed has been fulfilled. Paths unlocked: 4/7

You are ready to unlock [Battle Frenzy (Moderate)]. However, beware, for your body is not ready to fully contain the emotional rage. Steel yourself and allow the energy to consume you as you break open the second door, descendant of Kargryxmor!

‘Which makes you my greed, Hestia. You are my idealized version—’

“And you are the original me I wanted to rescue.”

“And it pains my heart to see that I have to agree with you, now,” Mom said, prompting me to turn back to her. “You’re right… stopping you now would only harm that fire burning in you. I would stifle your own growth. You want to be acknowledged now that you are happy; you want everybody to acknowledge your party, Aurora, and your efforts as a warrior and idol. I can’t deny you that, however, I will have to warn you, my dear.”

Mom paused for a moment to catch my attention. “I won’t be able to visit the subspace after today. Due to Eltharion’s blatant power display to the leviathans to finally stop this insanity, we were called by Caedrel for a diplomatic meeting to settle this constant interference on their side. As for me, I am tasked to peacefully conclude the battle between our flight and wake against the leviathans. I will be busy, dear, and depending on how long it will take to conclude proper reparations for our side, it might take a month, at least, to finish. If you were to call for help from Sieg or me, it would be delayed. Every moment matters for survival, so are you sure you wish to stay here?”

“Yes, Mom.”

Mom sighed deeply but still managed to force a smile. “Then so be it, dear. However, I have one demand, though. I want you to repair your solar core.”

“That will take at least a month, though.”

“Then it might coincide with when we finish the talks. You will need your core, Hestia, and this will be the perfect time to train your [Battle Frenzy].”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Good girl.” She then turned to Rhekk. “About him… Hestia, I want you to continue to use him. The boy needs a reality check that you are the perfect princess for our home. Not something he imagined a dragon princess should be. Don’t forget, you are your own woman here.”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Haha, stop it with all this ‘Yes, Mom.’ You’re sounding like a yes-woman at this rate. Good girl, though. I will speak with Sieg and try to calm him down, so get ready to remove that core, all right?”

Well, this next month better go by quickly.

***

“We’re fucked, Tasianna,” Vifi said as we stared up at the shadow looming behind this ruthless blizzard.

I shivered as well, unable to believe that this would happen the moment we somehow managed to survive a group of monsters and then this powerful blizzard. The first cave we somehow found was an uninhabited underground cavern, and we thought we would be able to rest and survive for the day.

How could we have known its inhabitants would return so soon?

[“Who are you?”] a man’s voice entered our heads. [“I am Yothmlak Heathlaxmal! Who dares invade my domain!”]

No Prince Nongragmos. No Princess Hestia. No Lord Rhekkraxus.

I have to agree with Vifi. We are fucked.

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