Even though her face is unable to show expressions, it is clear that she is surprised. Unsure of what to do, Dregana blinks and looks around herself, then returns her golden gaze to mine. Her massive jaw, filled with sharp teeth grown to rend flesh and grind bones, opens and closes without speaking a word. Her breathing is fast due to the physical exertion of flying through the sky despite the fact that she is not suited for it, though she is slowly calming down. Heated squalls of air are blown towards me, but there are no flames visible between her teeth.
"... please, Miss Hestia-" She begins, but I interrupt her.
"No, returning to the Fatas Triarchy is not an option." I am well aware of the fact that if she wanted to, she could easily catch me, now that we are such a short distance away from each other. And if she has the order to kill me if I refuse to cooperate, then a fiery breath could burn me without leaving a trace. There is no hint of my cursed eyes activating, and without them, I stand no chance of defeating her. This is the moment of truth; does she care enough about me to ignore my father's orders, or will she carry out her duty and use force - maybe even lethally so? "Join me or fight me."
Staring at me silently, Dregana does not move a single muscle. A blanket of silence lays itself over us and only the wind rustling the trees can be heard in our surroundings. We remain like this for what feels like a very long time, during which I can clearly see the conflict within her eyes, as she works her mind and heart to understand the implications of the choice presented to her. But I know that after hesitating for so long, she has basically made her decision, and is only trying to come to terms with it.
Bursting out in flames, her dragon form vanishes in a blaze and all that remains in its place is her naked human body, sitting on the ground gasping for air. Whenever she undoes her dragon transformation, she is practically incapacitated for a while due to the strain it puts on her body. While she can remain a pure dragon for a long time, the repercussions simply add up to become entire days of weakness and lethargy. For now, she should not be able to transform again.
"... I can't make such a choice, Miss Hestia..." She mutters, looking up to me with tears in her eyes. "I can't betray your father, but... I can't kill you!" Her shoulders shake as she suppresses her sobbing. Apparently the pressure was enough to paralyze her completely, to the point that she would simply choose to make no choice at all. So I was right, my father ordered for her to bring me back or, should I refuse, kill me. Her loyalty is commendable, albeit misplaced.
"My father is undeserving of your loyalty." I state coldly as I approach her, glaive in hand.
"He saved me from a miserable life of slavery!" Sitting down on her bottoms, Dregana musters her strength to retort. "He gave me a home, treated me like a person..."
"And that man ordered you to kill his own daughter." I come to a stop before her and let my words rain down mercilessly from above. She looks up at me with a despairing expression. "That is not treating you like a person, but using you as a weapon."
I am reminded of the relationship between Onee-sama and Kamii. Onee-sama is treating her like family - or a lover - even though she used to be a slave. In fact, Onee-sama is giving her all to protect that little dark elf, and she expects nothing in return for it. She looked so desperate when they were separated after the battle in the dorm room. I feel a twinge in my chest. Would Onee-sama feel the same for me?
"No, that..." Dregana lowers her gaze, unable to argue my point.
"Do you think that you should be devoting yourself to someone despicable enough to give the slave he freed and provided with a new life the order to murder his own daughter?" My tone remains harsh, and she flinches at my words. I understand that her loyalty is not so easily broken, but the seed of doubts are sown and a visible crack has formed. The fact that she cannot refute me is proof of that.
I kneel down before the naked dragonkin and put a hand on her tear-stained cheek. She looks up to me questioningly and I show her a warm smile, pouring my love for Onee-sama into it, knowing that it will be the best expression I can show. This should succeed in endearing myself to her more.
"I would never make you do something like that, Dregana." Dropping the glaive on the ground next to me, I hug her to my chest. Now that she cannot see it, my face distorts in anger, remembering that she stood against Onee-sama in the last battle; but I hold myself back. This is for gaining a powerful potential ally, so I keep myself from simply strangling her right now. I could kill her easily in her weakened state, but I feel that it would be a waste to do so. She can become useful for Onee-sama, even if only as her food. "If you follow me, you can live in honor, with your head held high."
"... but..." She separates from me and mutters, glancing at my black wings. I cannot suppress my eyebrow from twitching once at that, but luckily she does not notice it. These are the proof of the depth of my relationship with Onee-sama, how dare she imply that they are something negative!
"The color of my wings is evidence for the lie that the council of elders has been spinning for centuries." I need to instill more doubts into Dregana. "My father is the council leader, so he must know about the fact that we Fatas do not die when our wings turn completely black. I am alive, and I have never felt as good as I do now. It is as if I have been freed from all fetters that were binding my spirit."
"But your purity..." This utterance irritates me, but I do not let it show on my face and instead focus my mind on Onee-sama; thinking about her allows me to have joyful thoughts.
"That is something I gave away willingly, to the person I love." Yes, Onee-sama is my world, and everything I do, I do for her sake. My feelings for her surpass the mere concept of love by far, but in lack of better words, it is all I can use to express them. "I believe it is the most wonderful thing, if you are able to do that." Dregana's cheeks turn red at my unhesitating honesty, and I realize that maybe she did not mean my virginity but the perceived purity that wings the color of fresh snow represent.
"Miss Hestia..." Her eyes are swimming and she is unable to look at me directly. Lifting her chin, I force her to return my gaze.
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"You are still a virgin?" I ask her frankly and she stares at me in surprise. Her entire face flushes red and her lips tremble, making a verbal response wholly unnecessary.
"Wh-what are you saying, Miss Hestia?" She backs away from my grasp and averts her eyes, covering her nakedness with her arms and legs. Apparently she has become conscious of her lack of clothes now, even though she seemed to be fine before. I believe that Onee-sama would find this endearing and if she had been present, she might have used this situation to its fullest. I am not interested in anyone besides Onee-sama, so I will abstain from doing so.
"... do you think you can still carry out your orders?" I ask, my expression a serious one. Upon seeing it, the red in Dregana's cheeks fades away quickly and she lowers her gaze once more, contemplating the question. Of course, the very fact that she needs to think about it means that she is unable to kill me. And that would be the only other option, if I do not go back to the Fatas Triarchy with her willingly. "Come with me."
I extend my hand to the dragonkin in both a practical and symbolical gesture. She looks at it, then at my expression - I wear a smile conjured by the power of my love for Onee-sama - before hesitatingly stretching out her hand, like an animal scared to trust a human. Finally, she takes hold of it and for the first time since our journey together, she shows me a smile. For her entire tenure as a teacher at the academy, she has maintained her professionalism and refrained from expressing any friendliness towards anyone, including me. But now that I see it again, I can tell that it is as unexpectedly and innocently cute as it is charming.
I am sure Onee-sama will like this gift.
"Alright, now I need to ask..." Senka says when she sees me approaching the agreed on meeting place with Dregana in tow, who is visibly naked under my cloak. She was unexpectedly meek and embarrassed along the way, when I carried her through the air, as she is not able to transform into her dragon form, yet. "How did this happen?"
"Huh?!" The dragonkin stares at the stitched girl with wide eyes. "I heard she was an automaton, but isn't this more than just clever construction?" Then she notices Vitalis, who looks at her with apprehension and a hint of hostility. According to the slime girl's report, Dregana was not present when she was nearly destroyed by Master Thorvadis, so she does not understand the meaning of her gaze.
"I see that she's not your prisoner, so please explain." Ignoring Dregana's question, Senka looks at me. I do not know how to do so the best way, without giving away anything about Asoko's existence and the fact that we all believe that Onee-sama will most definitely return. She is not under my influence enough to let that slide, yet. But I will show her that Onee-sama is not the evil demon she is seeing her as, and just how wonderful she really is.
"Dregana has decided that she cannot carry out my father's order to kill me." I say, trying to make it sound like it was her own choice rather than a decision forced onto her through my coercive persuasion. "Therefore, she will remain with us."
"Fair enough... I guess you know what you're doing." With a shrug, Senka accepts the situation for what it is. She sits down on a half-buried barrel and looks around. We are inside an abandoned barn, which Vitalis has scouted out as one of several hideouts for when we have to leave the Lost Tombs. Apparently she had been tasked with it long before it was brought up before me, which is why everything has gone so smoothly. This level of foresight and planning is expected of the person whom Onee-sama seems to put the most trust in. "For now, we need to set up our new home."
Compared to the underground, this place has fresh air and I will be able to see sunlight during the day. However, the roof of the barn has several large holes and the interior is very dirty. This is not a place to stay in for a long time, but my unmistakable appearance is the reason for why we cannot go to any populated regions in the kingdom. If Onee-sama did not praise my wings and called them beautiful, I would wish that I could just shed them, to better blend in with the people.
Dregana will be considered a fugitive, too, if she does not return to the academy. But I do not want to let her leave my side until I can be assured of her loyalty to me. In fact, if she comes to be treated as an enemy by the academy, she will have nobody but me to turn to. This would make my work to influence her much easier.
"We'll be staying here for the next few days. Can I ask you to continue your observations in the capital?" Senka turns to Vitalis, who nods with a determined expression, but shoots her former instructor a sideways glance. She cannot trust Dregana, and fears that the information about her infiltrating the academy may be revealed. But knowing the stitched girl, she will be able to keep an eye on her all the time, since she does not require sleep, so there will not be any opportunities to pass along messages. And I doubt that she will do such a thing at this point.
I look up into the sky once again, staring at the full moon, wondering where in these vast skies Onee-sama has gone to.
At dawn I realize that I have really been missing the light while in the Lost Tombs. Basking in the sun's radiance, I spread my black wings and twirl in an unrestrained dance, all worries forgotten for the time being. Dregana is watching silently, her eyes fixated on me as her thoughtful frown slowly changes into a resigning smile. It seems she has come to terms with something, and I believe I know what that something is; she must have accepted the fact that I am now in this form that the Fatas call corrupted, and understood that if I do not feel bad about it, neither should she.
I turn to her and return the smile, upon which she looks at me in surprise. Then her expression fills with warmth, as she shows me the face of a caring older sister. This is how we were during our journey from the Fatas Triarchy to the Royal Academy, and returning to that time might not be too bad, after all.
However, all I do, I do for Onee-sama. I am only getting along with Dregana now, because she can become an asset to us, and in doing so, it is a loss for the academy's combat potential. Without her, they will be unable to stand against Onee-sama's full strength - although I think that even with her, they would be hard-pressed to muster any significant resistance. From Vitalis' report, it seemed that they were barely able to only exile her, even while the most powerful people in the kingdom worked together with all their might. If any one of them had made a single mistake, Onee-sama would have killed Thorvadis and then dealt with them one after the other.
"What do you intend to do now, Miss Hestia?" Dregana asks, when I walk towards her, intending to return inside the barn. While this may be an abandoned farm, it is still on the edge of a wide open plains, meaning that I could be spotted from afar. It is very early in the morning, but due to the proximity to Kongenssoevn there are many villages nearby, and during this time of the day many travelers move busily to and from the capital. I would rather not jeopardize our current safety and peace for indulging in sunbathing.
"I do not know." I lie. She cannot learn about our plans, yet. Although, in a sense, it is the truth; when Onee-sama returns, she will be the one to decide what we do. Of course, finding Kamii will be her main priority. But what will we do beyond that, now that we do not have a place to live in? I suppose going to the Demon Continent is the best option, considering the fact that none of us here are humans. As the daughter of the demon queen, Onee-sama will have plenty of influence there. "But I believe that things will get better from here on out."
Because I believe that Onee-sama will return. And being a member of a long-lived people, I can wait for centuries, if I have to.