Gadalik wasn't sure how far into the future his vision was, but going by the timeframe of past experiences, he guessed Guinevere's friend would arrive to visit her in roughly twenty minutes. Something about the poison type seemed so familiar, but he couldn't place it, which bothered him even throughout the new game Gretel had started.

The young wind dragoness seemed to notice his mind was elsewhere. “Are you bored? We could do something different, you know.”

“Huh?” He had scarcely heard her. “N-No, it's not the game; I was just thinking about Guinevere's friend.”

“Hm? Why? Who is he?"

“He's a poison type… And I haven't exactly met him, so I don't know who he is.”

“Then what's the problem?”

“I know I've seen him somewhere before. It's at the edge of my mind, but when I try to focus on it, I can't.”

Gretel froze.

He blinked. “What is it…?”

“I don't know,” she answered, her voice wavering between quickening breaths. “It just feels wrong.” Her hot pink eyes darted around as if searching for an escape from something. “Sorry. I… I think I should go.”

“Wait!” the hybrid called before she could flee. “This is what I meant about yesterday. What's upsetting you? You can tell me…”

“I don't know,” the wyvern repeated more urgently than before, but when he remained still and attentive, she took a breath, matching his energy. “But I think I know what you're saying… about not being able to figure out where you met someone. I guess… I felt that way about you.”

“Me? But I've never met you until a few months ago.”

“I know! I haven't even been to this land before then. Nothing makes sense.” She glared at the grassy ground. “Maybe our gut feelings are wrong? Maybe you haven't met her friend before, just like I haven't met you before.”

“But I have seen him…! Well, foreseen him, I should say… It was a long time ago,” Gadalik insisted. “I just can't remember what–”

The memory hit him out of nowhere: his vision of the purple seer dragon–the one Guinevere had described as his parents’ killer after the fact–targeting him, only for the poison type to intervene on the hybrid's behalf. Gadalik remembered being paralyzed by fear, unable to run, while the clawed red wings of the serpentine attacker tore through his rescuer’s back in a lethal strike that caused blood to rain down on the hatchling before the latter was himself killed.

“Gadalik?” Now it was Gretel’s turn to be worried.

He shook his head. The experience had been traumatic for him, despite it being a future he avoided. Until then he had lived happily with Glacia, unaware of outside threats. That was his first encounter with another dragon, too, if visions counted for that. I must have blocked it out after all this time…

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Gretel seemed back to her usual self now that her focus was entirely on making sure her friend was alright. “Did you remember?”

“...Yeah,” he confirmed, doing his best to calm down. “It was from a vision I had last fall. In it, I was attacked, but he saved me… At least, he tried to.”

“He sounds like a good guy, then,” she decided, as if trying to look on the bright side.

“Yeah. I kind of want to thank him now, but I can't… Guinevere said not to go around him since his enemies might discover me–” Gadalik paused. “The purple seer… Was he an enemy? Guinevere didn't mention seeing him after he killed my parents–”

“Slow down! What seer? Your parents were killed?”

“Y-Yeah. Why do you think Glacia adopted me?”

“Hm. I dunno; I figured you were abandoned.”

“What? Why?”

She shrugged. “Happens more often than you think. Especially with solitary types.”

He remembered Gretel mentioning that her parents didn't stick around, and for a moment, he was overcome with sympathy for her.

“So who is this seer and what does he have against you and your parents? Isn't one of your parents also a seer?”

“Yes, my mother was–and you answered your own question. Apparently my mother was worried about being followed when she moved to this land from an island in the tropics. I'm guessing the purple seer has a connection to her, and that's why he sought us out.”

“Man… I had no idea. Sorry all that has happened to you,” Gretel murmured.

“But that's besides the point,” he said, not wanting her pity. “I told Glacia about the poison type dragon after we got to safety and prevented that vision from happening. But I haven't mentioned him to Guinevere… Do you think I should?”

“Well the vision was avoided, right? To everyone else, including her friend, none of that ever happened.”

“True… I just…” The winged earth dragon sat down, defeated. “I don't know what to do with this knowledge.”

“If you want to tell her, it's your choice. It might even help you get answers about the seer if her friend is his enemy.”

“But then she'd know I spied on her…”

“You mean your vision just now was intentional? It sounded like you were surprised by it!”

“I didn't intend to foresee anything, but that doesn't change the fact that it happened,” he pointed out.

“Well what did you see that would make her mad?”

“It's hard to tell; visions don't have sound or smells or taste. They talked, and then he left.”

“So-o-o, let me get this straight: you foresaw them by accident, didn't hear anything they talked about, and you think someone as nice as Guinevere would get mad at you for it?”

Gadalik couldn't think of what to say. When she puts it that way, maybe I am overthinking it…

The wyvern laughed genuinely. “You're worrying for nothing. Go on–go tell her. I'll even come too, if you want.”

He considered it. “Alright. But maybe I should go alone. I'll wait until her friend leaves, too; he should just be getting here.”

“What should we do in the meantime?”

“Well, we could…” The sentence trailed off. His striped blue eyes studied the white-and-purple striped wind type.

Gretel tilted her head. “What?”

She's not upset anymore, the green hybrid realized. He reflected on everything she had said before the topic had shifted toward visions. “Maybe you should come with me after all.”

“Oka-a-ay…? And?”

“I'm not really in the mood to keep playing… But if you could wait with me at the den for Guinevere to come back, I'd appreciate it. Glacia has been on good terms with you since yesterday, too, so don't worry about her.”

“Oh. Um, sure,” she agreed, the least bit disappointed that their playtime had been cut short. “Wait–I could help you think of what to say, like last time! We can talk on the way.”

He smiled. “Thanks…! I want to make it clear I wasn't spying…”

“That's easy: just tell her the truth. She knows you don't have full control over your foresight, so it happens on its own sometimes. I'll back you up!”

The two continued their conversation as they walked side-by-side into the forest.