"Welcome everybody to Kraken News! The only news service for deep sea delinquents. We've got some bad news, some worsening news, a strange report, gooder news, and relatively neutral news, coming up on Kraken News!"

Kraken News is sponsored by Gesmo's General Gemstones, the only place that has every gem known (and some yet to be revealed). Catalogs can be found at Nuvil riptides near you.

"Hello wave watchers and twilight hiders. I'm your host, Kevin the Kraken, and I'm here with Sarah the Scylla-" "tthatt'ss mmee!" "-and guest geek, Charlie the Capricorn-" "oh uh hi..." "And today, things are as bad as Zonlin's last barbecue." ("um are we allowed to say that?" "ddarling we ccann ssay whatever we wwantt~" "B-but offending a dragon..." "We aint sponsored by dragons. Therefore we don't cater to them.")

"Let's start off with the best piece of news (in our opinion); the population of dragons continues to decline, with 4 more deaths within a month!" "That's a good thing?" "Yepp! One sstep ccloser to extinctionn!" "Hey now, it's much too early to celebrate. There's still 682 dragons al- hm? they miscounted? how the fuck do you miscount 18 dragons? There's still 664 dragons alive. And statistically speaking, the rate of decrease will slow down eventually."

"Now, on a related note, thanks to some lucky events, two dragon corpses made their way into the ocean! Which means that some lucky fish got to have a taste of pure dragon meat. And it just so happens that Sarah was one of those lucky enough to have two bites! So how was it?" "wwellll firstt it ttasted a llot llike a hydra wrap, bbut the ttexture wwass as ggood as sslow-melted blue bear. But thenn itt rreached the bback of mmy throatt, and itt wwent ffrom ssavory to ssweet andd sour~ There wwass alsoo a softt, ffluffy aftertaste." "Erm... fluffy taste?" "ffluffy, you know, llike cclouded eggss orr horsereedd ppollenn." "I... still don't get it"

"That sounds absolutely delightful! If I wasn't in the ocean I would've drooled a lake already. Next up, some neutral news, or at least according to Charlie. Go ahead and share it with us." "oh ok. Alchemists at riverside observatory have improved on the boom powder (or rapid ignition powder, you nerds). This new powder is much more volatile, capable of igniting spontaneously at lake temperatures. As a by-product, they made yet another white powder. This powder is only mildly explosive at high temperatures and is otherwise unremarkable. On a related note, another group of alchemists have successfully transmuted lead pitchblende into a green dust that glows non-magically! I theorize that it can be mixed into glass to make non-magical lamps th..." "Dude you're rambling again." "s-sorry. Ah... anyways, the last related discovery is a more efficient method of gold mining using mercury. That's it from me."

"Thanks for the scientifically interesting news Charlie." "Itt wass only hhalf boring thiss ttime!" "Next up, the beginnings of some bad news. The dragon slayer has once again disappeared, with no trace of even their existence." "There wwere only rrumorss after allll~" "th-there was no um evidence at all?" "Well, there's no 'confirmed' evidence, just hearsay. Unfortunately, that means that tragic idiot won't get their revenge." ("A sshame. I wwass rrooting ffor themm~" "Huh? Really?" "Nott the idiott, I mmeant the sslayer.")

"Coming up, even more bad news. And after that, worse news." "How ddepressing~" "but only after the break!"

Kraken News is sponsored by Percy Pirates, the most reliable sea thieves still alive. Don't bother looking for them, they'll find you if you need them.

"Welcome back moss mowers and reef reapers. From here on out things are sinking further from grace. We're starting off with an update to the dragon's war. With the confirmed deaths of three and the disappearance of one, both sides have escalated to more destructive spells, which sucks for anyone caught in the arguably excessive area of effects." "hhey Charlie, ccan I sstay ffor a llittle llonger?" "Well, uh, sure?" "But wait, there's more! Over a dozen more dragons are joining the fight, making an already massive conflict even bigger. At this rate it'll be even bigger than the war in the wastes!"

("Hey um, sorry for bringing it up, but due to what happened in that war, we don't actually know how many dragons were involved..." "Wellll itt wwass ddefinitely mmore thann 36.")

"And the final, rock bottom news is the death of the peaceful king Bamehat. In case you don't know, which to be honest is a majority of you, Bamehat is the king of the Leutrim empire. Yep, that Leutrim empire that tried to conquer the seas a century ago. With the death of the peaceful king, the chances of a oceanic invasion has re-risen. The only thing preventing an invasion from happening next year is their stupid sports competition." "Hey! Don't look down on sports!" "Yeah! Itt iss vvery impressive whatt they ccan ddo with their ttiny bodiess."

"Anyways, that's it for the news. Next up is the continuation of the Q&A from last time, along with some bonus insights from Charlie. The first question is 'why does Sarah talk like that?'" "Wellll you ssee, I have ssix headss. They aren'tt perfectly inn ssync. Iff I ffocus, I cann talkk through only one, bbut itt hurtss my throatt tto ddo that." ("Wait, um, what if you just, y'know, move the other heads away from the recorder?" "...I nnever thought of that.")

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

----------------------------------------

26th of Ab, 226 years since megados eruption

I realize I have a habit of mining in order to ignore my problems. Maybe it's because everything is dark while mining. Every sound is predictable. Everything is controlled. I have little to worry about while mining, especially now that the Esmos can alert me to anything important. It sort of scares me, how disconnecting mining is from the outside world. I used to be apathetic to this disconnect. But now that I'm a little older, I'm a little wiser to the impacts this disconnect has on me.

I'd like to pretend that Liberos' words didn't affect me. Unfortunately, I'm still bothered by it. By all of it. I'm writing this after thinking about it for a while. Tomorrow, after I wake up, I'll go down and mine, and let myself ignore the thoughts plaguing me. By the time I come back, I'll have better answers.

First off, Liberos hates all dragons. The only exceptions are my mom, and me (sort of). I didn't know why, and I guess that shows my naivety. I never considered why anyone would hate a dragon, at least nothing more than 'they are thieves, murderers, and destroyers'. Liberos doesn't care about that. She hates dragons because they don't value literature. I still struggle to understand why that leads to hate. I wish mom could give an explanation I can understand.

Next is what I see the Esmos as. They all see me as a matriarch of sorts, but that's mainly because I helped make them who they are (accidentally, at that). But what are they to me? Pets? No, they have their own agency. A pet is kept on a leash. Maybe friends? I've never had friends, so it's hard to say. But I don't think friends wait a hundred years for you. Family? No, you can't leave a family, but all of us can leave if we want. They're choosing to stay with me. So then what are they?

...Why do I keep the Esmos around? It'd be so easy to get rid of them. But why should I? Fuck, is that why!? Because I have no reason to get rid of them? Because there's no reason to abandon them?

Rephantasia is telling me not to overthink it. She's probably right.

I realize something. I'm a complete failure of a dragon. No desires, almost never used magic, killed more dragons than non-dragons. Maybe I wasn't supposed to be a dragon. At this rate, I'm closer to being a demon than a dragon. Maybe I was supposed to be a demon, but they got wiped out before I was born. (This was supposed to be a joke. It didn't make me laugh.)

Fuck it, I'm going mining. Aesmo, I know you read this, don't worry about me. I just need to figure myself out. And also figure out what you are to me.

27th of Ab, 226 years since megados eruption

Woke up to everyone hugging me. None of us are dragons, but the message was still the same. 'Don't die. Please don't die.' I think I figured it out. They are the ones who will not let me die. They are my family.

I'm still going to mine though. To be honest, I like doing it. It's a nice hobby.

11th of Alm, 226 years since megados eruption

Mom left me a note. It's filled with advice for various things. There's a recipe for cheesy basilisk, not that I have any cheese. There's also some more... relevant advice. Like 'love is when you do not have a reason' and 'Liberos hates dragons because they don't respect books and writings, allowing them to get destroyed. This is in turn because literature is not the desire of dragons, knowledge is. They're willing to let a book rot, so long as the knowledge within is already preserved in any way, such as in their own head.'

Now, the more important thing is that I got a note from mom! She's still alive! I'm going to Liberos to tell her this later, but the mystery still remains. Where is she? Well, to be honest, I'm far less motivated to find her; as long as she's still alive. Aw fuck, my sympathy is showing.

The weirdest part of the note though was that on the back, there was just the word 'aphantasia'. And no, that is not Rephantasia's cousin or anything, it's just the inability to form a mental image. No idea why that was important enough to take up a whole side though. I'll just remember it in case it shows up later.

I'm going to have the Esmos process all the ores I dug up, and then sell it off for... actually, I don't really need anything. I'll let them spend it however they want. Ha, yet another way I'm not a dragon. Sharing wealth. I guess I was doing it long ago, but I never considered it until now.

----------------------------------------

Interlude; Rephantasia's Deals

Aunt Anastasia always said that fate was bullshit. I'd like to argue that fate does exist, and that they're a bastard child of luck. Why else would the only three dragons I bring into my mind palace all be part of the same family? Only fate would spit in the face of impossibility.

Alright, now that I got that rant out of the way, I guess I have to fulfill my side of the deal. It's a bit hard, but with so many test subjects dragons, I won't have to worry about fucking up.

Let's start with... you, the one with the broken shoulder. First, I just need to take a sample. Put your arm into that eye. Yes, your entire arm. Thanks, now... oh, stop screaming you scaredy rat. You're in a mind palace. Physical injuries are meaningless. Hm? Pain? What's that?

Anyways, let's try and... nope, you're too weak. Looks like your muscles can't handle my pure mana. I guess I won't be needing you anymore. Hey, Tildra, what do you want me to do with the ones I don't need? Annihilate? Alright then. Just step into the eye and... hey, no running. You know it's useless. After all, I'm everywhere. Oops, they ran into the wrong eye. That one was 'eternal burning', not 'annihilate'. Well that's on them.

Next... you, the one with the beard. It's not a beard? Meh, doesn't matter. Just like the previous, stick your arm into that eye. Ugh, again with the screaming. Seriously, it's only an arm. I swear, it's as if dragons these days don't amputate infected limbs.

Now let's see... nope, you're too weak as well. This time it broke at the bone. Welp, guess you're also- did you try to punch an eye? The eye that cut off your arm when you put it in? Good job genius, you gave me an extra sample that I don't need. Hell, why don't you just send your whole body in as well, see what happens. No? Coward. At least he correctly chose the 'annihilate' eye.

Next up, let's go with... you with the yellow scales. Gold? That's not a color. Oh good, you know what to- I swear you're screaming on purpose. Alright, additional rule, every time you scream I take an eye. You won't be needing eyes to be useful after all.

Now, third time's the... complete failure. I swear, you dragons have just been getting weaker and weaker. Lapis didn't even flinch when I barraged her with spells. Hm? Vildra? Oh, you want to see me test her? Sure, I have her left arm right here. Yeah, I know right? Took me forever to find it in the ice. Anyways, here's what happens when I shoot it.

Nothing. This is what I expected from all of you. Hm? 'Unfair'? 'She's part of a strong family'? Bullshit. Demons made all dragons equal. You only have yourselves to blame for your weakening.

Oh? You're all trying to run away now? I swear, they don't realize the position they're in. 'Chains of Hadon' See, I gave you all a chance to do this voluntarily, but I guess I don't have a choice now, do I? Just remember, no screaming.

...really? I literally just said no screaming.