“Let's get the harder questions out of the way first,” the electric type said. “What abilities do revealer dragons have?”

“Well, reveals, for one. Then there's our wings, our gemstones, and, um…” Efron hesitated.

“Conceals?”

He tensed. “Who told you about those?”

“I did…” Gretel admitted guiltily. “I noticed Grace was using them, so I asked Gavin about it, but he didn't know what they were.”

“She was using conceals…? This young?” Efron’s voice was suddenly meek. He gazed sympathetically at the one-month-old who was sitting by the firepit now, though she remained watching the strangers. Her red eyes looked intently at whomever was speaking, despite having little understanding of what was said.

“Are conceals a bad thing?” Gavin pressed quietly. “I’m assuming they're an ability that revealer dragons have, alongside reveals, but both you and your friend are avoiding that topic.”

The violet two-year-old sighed. “We revealers don't like letting the world know our weaknesses. But since it's just us here, I'll let you know that reveals aren't just threats toward other dragon types. Reveals can affect other revealers, too. That's very likely why Grace was exiled; hatchlings don't have any control of their abilities until four months old.”

“So conceals are abilities that protect revealer dragons against reveals?”

“Yeah. But it's not as simple as that…”

Gavin’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Gretel couldn't tell if he was thoughtful or annoyed by this news. Then she remembered his body language was different from hers; the wyvern looked at his tail instead, seeing it was still, but had closed the wide gap around him into a full circle. He’s actually sad?

“From what I understand, reveals will make others act on impulses,” Gavin continued. “Am I wrong?”

“You're right, but again, there's more to it than that,” Efron explained, the tip of his Z-shaped tail twitching nervously. “If it's an impulse that isn't suppressed, the reveal won't have an effect. If it's an impulse suppressed because it's undesired, then the reveal won't have an effect. If it's a desire that's suppressed, then that's the only time a reveal can work. And even then, if the one suppressing it has good enough self-control, the reveal will fail.”

“Interesting. How would suppressing a desire work differently from suppressing something undesired?”

Efron opened his mouth to answer, then blinked, puzzled. His pale green eyes squinted at the ground as if trying to come up with a response.

“I can answer that,” Gretel chimed in. “I pretty much rely on my instincts to keep me alive most of the time. When I was fighting a revealer yesterday, my instincts kept telling me to flee, but I didn't want to, so I suppressed my instincts. Their reveal didn't make me flee, even though I suppressed my instincts to, all because I didn't have any desire to flee.”

“I see,” Gavin replied. He turned back to Efron. “By that logic, conceals can suppress desires too deeply for reveals to affect them?”

“Yes, but… not just desires,” the violet revealer dragon admitted. “Just like Gretel had suppressed her undesired instincts to flee, a revealer can suppress their undesired instincts or emotions, too, by using conceals. If your skilled enough, you can even suppress bad memories to avoid being reminded of them… But a conceal is only temporary, regardless of what it's used for.”

The turquoise adult visibly tensed. He immediately shifted his focus to Grace. The hatchling met his gaze and tilted her head slightly with curious confusion.

Gretel once again checked his tail, seeing it was still aside from the tufted tip, which was quivering slightly. He's upset…?

Grace seemed to notice it too. The tangerine revealer got up and let herself fall against his flank, where she hugged him.

Gavin tensed up even more from that, scarcely breathing.

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I can tell from his breaths that he's worried about her, and maybe even guilty that she's the one trying to comfort him after he just learned she's been suppressing her own fears all this time…

“I-I’m sorry… Grace is still so little. It's hard to even imagine that she'd be consciously suppressing anything at her age,” Efron murmured.

“Maybe it's repression,” Gavin said, regaining his composure and giving Grace a gentle pat on the head as if to assure her that he was okay.

“Uh, what's the difference between suppression and repression?” Gretel asked.

“Well, both are affected by reveals,” her companion answered, “but suppression is conscious choice; repression is not.” He looked away slightly. “What happened with my mom yesterday… I hadn't suppressed that. I didn't conceal it, either. I had actually repressed the whole event without even knowing.”

The purple-striped wyvern winced sympathetically.

“Let’s talk about basic needs, now,” the turquoise dragon said as if to change the topic. “Diet. Revealers can eat meat and plants, correct? Do they require both?”

“Yes, we can eat both. But we don't need plants to survive. We do need meat, though.”

“Noted. Now, rainwater dries revealers’ scales out, yes? Twice, when she had played in the water, Grace had developed rashes after drying. Is it from the water alone, or an underlying reason?”

Efron nodded. “Yeah, it's water in general. Revealers usually live in dry environments. A bit of humidity won't hurt us, but if we're drenched or swimming for too long, then that can damage our scales.”

“I see.”

Is that why Grace was abandoned in the wetlands here? To make sure she'd die? Gretel frowned. That's so messed up…

“Now what about flight?” Gavin gestured to the tangerine hatching’s orange wings. “Water- and electric-type dragons do not have wings. I do not know how to teach her to fly, nor at what age revealers learn to.”

“Our wings aren't natural. They kind of go through their own evolution during the first two years of our lives in order to be strong enough to fly with.”

“Hm. If their wings aren't natural, then that could only mean revealers have gained the respect of a chrono dragon.”

“Chrono dragon?” Gretel echoed. “You mean, the mythical twelfth dragon type?”

The maned male glanced at the juvenile wind dragoness. “Yes. Rumor has it they can not only foresee true futures, but they can also see alternate timelines that are true futures in their respective realities. It's said that they may be able to even copy genetic traits–like wings–from a dragon species in one timeline, and give them to that same species in a branching timeline.”

She gaped at him. “That can't be true…! So much power for an entire species of dragon to have? That's insanity!”

Gavin gave a single-shouldered shrug of indifference. “Whether you believe in it or not, that's the mythology of chrono dragons.”

“It’s not a myth,” Efron muttered almost indignantly. “Revealers are living proof that it's real.”

“Efron…” Gretel stopped herself from arguing; she didn't want to upset him further.

He shook his head. “But I agree that it is too much power to have. And, honestly, I think chrono dragons giving us natural gemstones was a mistake.”

That got Gavin's attention. “How would natural gemstones be a mistake? Obtained gemstones are beneficial.”

“Natural gemstones can be beneficial, but only when we're old enough to figure out how to utilize them.” Efron met the other male’s gaze. “You've seen it yourself, haven't you? The way Grace uses her reveals at random. That wouldn't happen at all if her gemstones weren't natural.”

Gavin gave a quiet, considerate hum in response. “Is there any way to stop her from unknowingly drawing from hers?”

Efron shook his head. “No, and that's exactly why I feel it was a curse more than a gift to have permanent gemstones as hatchlings. The amount of chaos stirred up from the unpredictability of it all… from someone too young to even be aware that they're the cause of it. To punish a hatchling for something they have no control over is just… unfair…”

Gavin gave a somber, knowing nod of agreement. “I assume conceals were developed as a defense against uncontrollable reveals like that.”

“Yes, exactly. But if the one revealing is stronger than the one concealing, then the stronger one will win. The same can be said about reveals needing to be stronger than the one suppressing a desire in order to work. If the one suppressing it has stronger willpower, they'll overpower the reveal.”

“I noticed that,” the electric type admitted, and for once Gretel could detect a bitterness in his quiet tone. “So many will blame Grace for revealing them, but if they only learned better self-control, her reveals wouldn't be an issue.”

Huh. He has a point… Gretel silently agreed.

“And not only that, but it's their own fault for suppressing their desires instead of being honest.”

There's that bitterness again. Maybe he's not as emotionless as I first thought.

“Honesty isn't always the best policy, though,” Efron pointed out. “Sometimes the truth can hurt. Sometimes others can be in denial of the truth. It's… not really our place to judge them…”

Gavin blinked with a hint of astonishment, as if that wasn't a perspective he'd heard before. Then his eyes narrowed again.

Gretel looked to his tail, trying to determine if he was upset again, but it remained still. So he's just mulling it over right now… When the silence dragged on for several seconds, she spoke up. “Uh, you said that Grace saved you. Did her reveals have anything to do with that?”

Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “Yeah.”

The wind type eyed him expectantly, but when he didn't elaborate, she let out an impatient huff.

Efron placed a clawed hand on her shoulder as if to calm her down. Then he turned to Gavin. “Is that everything you wanted to know about revealers?”

“For now, yes,” he replied. “If something else comes up, may I ask you about it?”

“Of course.”