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Zenith
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My hand clasps the cold metal of the doorknob. I hesitate to pull open the heavy door in front of me. The massive door is engraved with metal to reinforce the dark wood beneath. I’m stalling. Father’s going to get emotional. That means… hugs.
I pull the door open before I can talk myself out of it. On the other side is my portly father. He’s sitting behind his desk, furiously scribbling on a piece of paper. His brow is furrowed as he stares down at the paperwork like it killed his kid. He doesn’t hear, or at least doesn’t respond to, me entering and closing the door.
I walk up to stand in front of his desk. The scratching noises of his pen continue and he completely ignores my presence. I decide to wait. I glance around for any changes since the last time I’ve been here. The only thing readily apparent is the two new pieces of furniture next to the sofas. They’re low to the ground and cushioned, but curved like bowls. Maybe for the Unraks?
The only other change is the startling amount of bottles missing from the wine rack behind Father’s desk. It was completely full the last time I saw it, and now it's just over a third full. I hope Father didn’t drink all of that. I stop looking around when I hear Father’s pen come to a stop.
Father whips his gaze up to me, his demeanor cold and angry. “Why exactly do you think you can just come in—” His harsh gaze seems to register who I am and melts into a huge smile. “Zenith?” I nod wordlessly at him. So far so good. “What about your other body?” He gets up from his chair and starts to walk around his desk.
“It’s okay, I just have to rest. I think if the woman had used this body for whatever she did to my other self, I would’ve died.” I pick at a scab on the back of my knuckles. “Almost all the magic had been drained out of my body when I woke up.” Father’s eyes are holding back tears as he listens.
The moment comes and Father pulls me into a tight hug. I pat his back a bit, hoping it’ll make the contact shorter. He breaks the hug much quicker than normal, maybe he noticed my discomfort. He quickly motions for me to sit on one of the sofas.
I do so as Father sits on the opposite couch. He starts to reach under the couch for something, but stops. He holds his hand in the air, as if unsure. Eventually he just puts his hand back down.
“So!”he says with a smile. “Long time no see!” His eyes no longer have tears, but they’re a bit red now.
I give him a nod and a smile. “I’m glad to be home, Father.” It’s nice to be back where my family is, where Father is. “Although I don’t think it feels as long for me as it does for you.” Father raises an eyebrow at that, so I continue. “This body never woke up after the carriage accident, it regained consciousness in my bedroom at the same time as my other self.” I look at the spines on Father’s bookshelf behind his head as I speak. “My other self woke up in a cell, with my magic sealed somehow. That woman ranted to me constantly, but nothing made much sense. I’d rather not give all the details, I already told Jet and he said he’d write a report with that, is that fine?” I look at Father pleadingly, I don’t want to remember those things again, not so soon at least.
Father nods in understanding. “Don’t worry Zenith, I can read the report. Continue.” He motions for me to keep going.
“Besides the ranting there were people there in cloaks, they all had glazed eyes and wouldn’t talk to me. Nothing happened until the day she used me in that experiment. I was sedated so I couldn’t move. Next thing I knew I woke up in bed here with both of me.”
Father’s eyes sparkle with fury. “If that witch wasn’t already dead, I’d kill her myself.” He probably could, she didn’t seem very physically adept. His eyes lose the fire as he continues. “As for the cloaked figures you saw, they were brainwashed civilians.” He frowns. “With the rise in strange incidents in the last year we didn’t notice a pattern in disappearances. She kidnapped all of them and then used something to control them, probably a blessing.” He laughs with no amusement behind it. “I never met someone with a blessing outside the king in my entire life, and then in the last year I’ve met, what, ten?” He shakes his head.
“The only thing in common between her captives is that they could all read and do basic math. We found documents and books in the cave systems, but the readable ones only had raw data. There were many that were written in a language no one can identify. Even translation magic fails on it.” He rubs his eyes. “What’s even worse is that there’s still people who have gone missing since she died! I’m starting to worry there were others working with her.”
He lets out a long sigh before standing up with a clap. “However! Today is not the day for this. Today, we celebrate!” His mustache curves along his smile. “My family has all its members together again!” He reaches a hand out to pull me off the couch, which I take as a courtesy.
Father gets a wicked glint in his eyes. “Let's go bother the chefs, Zenith.”
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I follow Father out of the kitchen after his promised harassing of the chefs. Those poor people deserve a raise. I don’t know why Father is so picky with his food, it all tasted fine the moment we entered, but he kept having them make small changes.
While we were fooling around, well, while Father fooled around and I watched, a maid woke my other half. After that I headed towards the kitchen to meet myself and Father. Once I caught up, Father sent a maid to get whichever one of my siblings was awake. I still have no idea what Father told the employees about my siblings, but they never ask questions.
While we wait for the others to arrive Father tells me everything that’s happened. Even though I heard most of it from Coil and Jet, it is interesting to hear Father’s perspective as well. I also apologize for trying to kill him.
Finally the western door opens and a dazed-looking Scarlet walks in covered in a dress-shaped mass of leaves. As she sits down the door opens again, this time filled by a massive brown object. Father jumps out of his chair in shock, but I recognize the thing. Hack slowly squeezes his body through the doorway, his frame just small enough to fit through. …Actually, I see him cheating by moving parts of himself around to make it inside the room. He walks up to the table with his wings folded and pulls a chair away from the table with his tail. He moves into the new empty space next to Scarlet and lays down. His eyes are just above mine when he lays. Father is still standing next to his massive trunk throne, speechless.
Eventually he remembers how to speak and shoots sharp words at Scarlet. “Scarlet Holdings! What in the hells is that?” His eyes are equal parts frightened and angry. I try my best to hold in my amusement as my sister looks completely out of it.
She lazily looks at Father before answering, “Oh, it's my son.” She nods before looking at the wooden table. She tickles it with her index finger and small twigs sprout from it. Father’s face looks like it's about to explode.
“Scarlet, explain!” His command booms out of him, shaking the entirety of the massive room. The gem lights make a small rattle as the magic tinged sound passes by.
Finally, Scarlet comes back to reality and looks up at Father. “Oh! I meant it’s Hack, sorry,” she says guiltily.
Father instantly loses all his steam and flops in his chair. He slowly raises a hand before pointing at the wooden dragon.
“That… is Hack?” He looks towards Scarlet, who nods. “Why in the world did you call him your son?”
The heretofore well-behaved dragon perks up, his petal wings fluttering in excitement. “Oh! Oh! Mommy means that I’m her son, Grandpa!” The small child voice comes out of the massive, unmoving, barked maw of the beast. Scarlet’s gaze drops to her lap as Father’s eyes bulge in their sockets.
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“Mommy? Grandpa?” Father squeaks out as he slips further down in his chair. “He talks.” He looks towards both me’s. “Hack can talk now, and I’m his grandpa.” I just slowly nod both of my heads, unsure what I should do. He closes his eyes and sits in silence.
A few minutes of quiet fall onto the table, smothering everyone but the happy dragon. Eventually Father’s voice cuts through the quiet mood by jumping out of his chair.
“Alright!” Father says with a strange smile. “It’s a family dinner! Only makes sense my grandkid is here, too!” He gives a genuine smile towards Hack before looking at the table. “Food. Yes, food!” He continues to talk a bit too loud. “We need food!” He sits in his chair and begins to mumble to himself. He reaches under the table and then looks at each of us in turn.
Father’s strange enthusiasm is not affecting anyone but the adolescent dragon, who is beside himself with excitement. The large child is wagging his tail wildly, cutting small grooves in the stone pillars behind him.
Eventually the awkward situation is saved by the maids bringing in the plates of food. One of the maids is one I recognize, Emma. The redhead has managed to get the plate with Scarlet’s food on it. I’m sure that's a total coincidence. I give Scarlet some smirks as she turns slightly red on seeing the maid.
No plates are put in front of Hack, who now looks dejected. One of the maids, a shorter woman, walks up to the Count and whispers something. The Count says something back quietly before the servant hussles out of the room.
Father smiles now that the servants have left, specifically at Hack. “Don’t worry, kiddo, they’re bringing you a plate, too.” His words cause the dragon to immediately perk up. Hack tries to imitate a smile, but just ends up bearing his horrible set of thorn teeth at us. Father lets out a chuckle as Scarlet looks horrified.
“Hack, don’t do that when anyone outside the family is around, okay?” Her tone is a perfect example of ‘motherly scorn.’ “You can do it around us, though. You were trying to smile, right?” The dragon nods, almost whacking his head into the table. He’s over-emphasizing gestures. He probably is unsure what people will be able to understand so he’s overcompensating. It’s kind of adorable.
The maids return with a serving plate covered in food, and instead of placing it in the middle or on a stand, put it right in front of Hack. The dragon had put his tail under him to get it out of the way of the maids. Now that he’s excited again his wagging is trapped under him, causing him to wiggle in place instead. An overly sweet smell drifts over the table as what looks like sap drools out of his mouth.
“Hack! Don’t drool at the table!” Scarlet once again scolds the young dragon.
The kid drops his head in shame, like a dog. “Sorry, Mommy.” The dragon uses a sing-songy voice.
Scarlet flinches at Hack saying ‘Mommy.’ “C-can’t you say Mom?” Scarlet’s face starts turning the color of her name again. “Instead of… mommy?” She barely gets the last word out, almost whispering it. Hack apparently heard it anyway.
“Okay, Mommy! I’ll call you Mom!” He gifts us another horrifying grin. Scarlet lets out a sigh.
Now that things have settled down I look at the food given to Hack. His plate is covered with everything that had been served to us, including things I’m unsure are safe for a plant. Fish, fruits, meat, everything is piled on. As I worry about whether he can eat it, his jaw creaks open.
Around twenty to thirty pencil-thick vines simultaneously shoot from his open mouth. They each wrap around a piece of food before snapping back into the gaping maw of wood. After all of the tendrils retreat, Hack closes his mouth with a creak. Almost a quarter of the food on his plate is gone, as much as my entire meal.
I hear metal clatter on ceramic as someone drops their fork. Scarlet is standing up, ignoring her fork that is taking a swim in her soup, and sucks in air to start scolding Hack again.
I crack. It’s too much. I start laughing, hysterically, before Scarlet can even get any words out. Both of my bodies rock in laughter and tears come to my eyes. Soon enough Father starts laughing too, his booming chuckles rattling the tableware. Hack is the last to laugh, and seems to just be imitating us, badly. Which makes me laugh harder.
In the maelstrom of laughing and giggling is Scarlet, who is sitting in her seat, holding herself like someone who’s given up.
】〓〓〓〓【
Scarlet
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My soft bedspread helps me keep calm as I face down the dragon sitting in my room. His large frame is the size of my large bed, and is made of just as much wood. A sigh slips out of me. This is my son.
“What’s wrong, Mommy?” The dragon hops up and thunders over to me. He nuzzles my hair with his rough wooden face. I sigh again, he’s struggling to call me mom. Despite his childish voice and verbiage, Hack’s intelligence level is much higher than I expected. He acts older than Wight, according to Coil, but has the same maturity.
“Hack, how did you get the ability to talk?”
He tilts his head, confused. “Um… what do you mean?” His confused boy voice coming out of the massive body of a dragon is only slightly disconcerting.
“You’re talking out loud, Hack, in Common.” I point to my mouth for emphasis.
“I am?” the dragon asks, surprised. I nod and wait for him to explain. “I didn’t know I could.”
I resist the urge to smack my forehead. “Let’s try this again. How’d you get big, again?”
His sweet-smelling wings perk up at that. “Oh! I know this one, Mommy!” He does a cute little spin in place. “I went to the forest, because I was bored.” I scowl, but say nothing for now. “Then a big, fuzzy creature hit me and I shattered into a bajillion little pieces.” The child informs me of this horrific fact with a totally cheery voice.
“How did you live through that?” I manage to get my question out. He’s so getting a tonguelashing.
“I didn’t!” informs the dragon, proudly. “I died! But then the Mother Tree gave me one of her… ‘brain dead?’ yeah! That’s how she put it. One of her brain dead children’s bodies! It accidently made me get older and learn a bunch of stuff, too!” His twisted tail wags on the floor behind him. “I killed the fuzzy thing and came home, and you were here, Momm— Mom!” Aww, he caught himself. That’s not going to save him.
I hop out of bed and walk over to where my child is sitting. I put my hand against his bark skin, which makes him freeze. Clenching my hand, I grab a hold of a large twisted knot of the vines that make up his body. He yelps out in discomfort.
“So, Hack. You thought it was okay to run off on your own? Haven’t I always told you to stay inside the town?” My voice is… stern. Stern! Not motherly! The dragon tries to wiggle out from my iron grip, but I squeeze harder. He stops trying to escape. “No going outside of the manor grounds without an adult for a month! Understand?” I make sure my tone leaves no room for argument. Hack nods without saying anything, his wings laying against the floor sadly.
I let go of my fistful of son, which immediately snaps back into place, unharmed. “I don’t care what size you are, Hack, but if you wander around the manor in that size everyone is going to be scared of you. At least at first.” My heart squirms as he plays with some leaves on his arm sadly. My tone shifts to be gentler. “Can you change your size, hun?” I rub the back of his head slowly, ruffling the plumage of leaves there.
“I dunno,” Hack says sadly. “I can try, I guess.” He slowly stands up, not making eye contact with me at any point. “So just get smaller?” he asks the wall.
“Yep, just try that at first,” I reassure him. He spaces out for a few minutes before anything happens.
The vines and roots that make up his body lose their skin-like layer of bark, becoming smooth wood. Grinding sounds echo in the large room as the wood starts to shift, the vines pulling inward. Slowly Hack loses his shape, becoming a large almost-sphere of wooden worms. Once the mass shrinks to just a few feet in height it begins to regain shape.
The shape not being a dragon, however. As the changes continue the roots become more and more… humanoid. Eventually the shape is too defined for me to not catch on. He’s turning into a child, a human child. I stay silent, not letting my groan escape, I don’t want to distract him.
The wood slowly starts to grow together, giving the illusion of a continuous surface. The wood becomes smooth and the color of maple as it mimics skin. A large tuft of grass sprouts on top of the newly formed head. His ears form a bit pointed, but with a normal length. At his now stable height he comes up to my stomach.
The now apparently naked boy opens his eyes and looks up at me. His eyes are some kind of translucent fruit that look extremely similar to human eyes. Unlike in his dragon form, the fruits somehow have functioning pupils, with a brownish green iris surrounding them. If it weren’t for the seeds spread throughout his irises you wouldn’t be able to tell they weren’t just eyes.
His eyes focus and lock onto my face. He grins excitedly before hopping in a circle. “I did it!” he cheers. Once he jumps a complete circle he looks at me again. “I’m small like you wanted, Mom!” That’s not exactly… I let out a happy sigh before crouching down.
“I think there’s a bigger thing you haven’t noticed.” I gently flick his nose, surprised to find it gives way a bit like normal flesh. He goes a bit crosseyed trying to look at his nose before he realizes.
“Oh!” He stumbles in place, going nowhere just flailing his limbs. “I’m a human.” He looks up at me with a massive smile. “Like you, Mom!” My heart melts from his unadulterated joy. I reach out and pull him into a hug. He stiffens a bit before relaxing.
I pat the grass on his head soothingly. “Yes you are, hun. But you don’t have to be a human to be my kid, okay?” I hold him out in front of me. “You’re my s-son either way.” I stumble over the word, nervous to admit it. The beam of happiness on his face is worth any strangeness I felt though. He buries his face into my chest, nuzzling against me.
“Now! We need to find you some clothes.”