Henry knew something terrible was happening after he spat that condensed ball of metal and energy back at Er. He felt loopy and drunk from the power coursing through his body. He was floating, looking down at himself. Er was getting carted off; it seemed his body was riddled with metal shards. It serves him right that trumped-up peacock. Gram Gram was animatedly talking to Fei and Yinglong while pointing at him; she did not look pleased.

The maids were also present. They surrounded him, and it looked like they were concentrating hard. He wanted to give them all hugs, as he missed them.

Fei’s children stood in a line, with Yi at the head. They all stared at him with a mixture of awe and fear. Yi was the exception; she stared at him with a manic smile. That girl was no good.

Gram Gram was approaching him, and she didn’t look too happy. She was chanting something as she gathered ki. He saw her radiate with power. It made him hungry. It made him ravenous. He wanted to consume her to take that power for himself. He charged at her only to smash head-first into a wall of ki. He saw the maids all wince, which made him feel sad, but this stupid wall kept him from eating, which was unacceptable.

He charged repeatedly, sending rippling waves of force through the arena. Gram Gram stared at him with sadness in her wizened eyes. She pitied him, which made him want to eat her even more. She had finished chanting and nodded towards the maids. They all moved back in one motion, and the shield dropped—time for him to eat.

He would eat this little old lady, the maids, everyone in the North, the continent, and finally, everyone in this world, this universe. Gram Gram made a series of complex hand motions that Fei and Yinglong mirrored.

Pain erupted from where Henry assumed his chest was. Something was pushing down on him, condensing him. Gram Gram's hand motions increased speed, and he felt like she was tearing him into bits. He hated this woman for what she was doing to him. He felt smaller and smaller as she continued, and before long, he was just a speck, his existence fading. He would remember, and he would wait and plot his revenge.

Henry felt like he was waking up from a daydream. He had been vaguely aware of what had transpired, like trying to recall a dream and only being able to catch bits and pieces. Henry saw Gram Gram smiling at him with a cup in her hands.

“You just can’t stay out of trouble, can you? Here, drink this; it'll help with the headache.,” she said, handing him the cup full of steaming green fluids.

“What happened, Gram Gram? All I remember is fighting Er, and then a bunch of weird stuff happened, and you and the girls appeared here.”

Henry chugged the cup, fighting to keep it down. Why did medicine always taste so disgusting?

“You were a naughty boy and pushed more than you should have,” she said, taking the cup away and lighting a cigar. Taking a big drag, she continues.

“The thing Yinglong and I sealed away managed to break the constraints and took control of your body. It roughed up Er pretty badly; the poor child was almost killed if not for Fei stepping in.”

She looks at him critically as if weighing her following words.

“Something is inside of you, Hen Ri. We know that it's the same thing that splits your cultivation. I have theorized it might be a demi-god of some sort judging by the power that it exhibited.”

Henry stood up and dusted himself off. He gave himself a quick once-over and found that he felt as good as new, better even.

“ It felt like something was riding my body, Gram Gram, and I was just watching it do whatever it wanted,” Henry said with disgust.

“That's what the seal we put on you was supposed to stop, but in your ignorance, you loosed the creature's bindings.”

Henry knew that it was his fault he had given it consent to take over when Er beat him down. He didn’t realize it would do what it did. Henry felt dirty and used like he was a human condom for this thing.

“So I assume you sealed it back, right?” asked, hoping not to sound ungrateful.

“We did what we could, but it is like putting a vase that has been broken back together; there are cracks that it can now exploit. You have to be careful. Can't rely on old Gram Gram to come and save your ass every time.”

Henry's face reddened in shame; she was right. He was relying too much on luck, and one day, it would come back to bite him in the ass.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

He put both hands together and gave her a deep martial bow.

“This stupid grandson once again begs forgiveness for making Grandmother come to his rescue.”

“Bah, what's the point of having family, dear, if you can’t rely on them? Just don't do it again every time we patch up that seal. We have to take more and more of your soul. Too much, and you cease to exist, and that thing takes over completely.”

“Well, that's terrible to hear. I’m just going to bottle that up and unpack it later. I think I have one more fight to go through, Gram Gram.”

She chuckles at him.

“Yes, Yi has been very vocal about your fight with her after observing you transform. Unfortunately, we will have to raincheck that while your seal settles. We don’t want to agitate it too much, so it is freshly applied.”

She puts an arm out, and he grabs it so she can lean on him. They make an odd sight as they walk over to where the other cultivators are milling.

Fei’s children stood behind him, ramrod straight, not daring to look directly at Gram Gram.

The maids were tittering in excitement as they saw Henry approach. He had missed the girls greatly, even though it had only been a few days.

The girls were probably excited to be able to leave the Dragon Lands if he was being honest with himself.

They all bowed at Gram Gram, minus Yinglong.

“Aww, my sweet little great-grandchildren. It seems I have interrupted your fights with dear Hen Ri here. Gram Gram apologizes for her rude behavior.”

“Mother, you need to rest. Doing that seal twice within such a short period put a massive strain on your cultivation,” Yinglong said, taking over for Henry as designated leaning post.

“Now that you mention it, I feel a little peckish; maybe we can retire your dining hall Fei for dinner.” Gram Gram said.

Yi looked like she was about to say something, but Gram Gram cut her off.

“Oh, don’t worry, dear. You and Hen Ri will still be able to fight. I would never deprive you of some good sport.”

Fei led the way, followed by Yinglong and Gram Gram.

Henry spotted a moment when the adults were absent and ran over to the maids, who gave him a big group hug.

“Master, you scared us there,” Fen, the pink-haired maid, said.

“Yea, you fucked up there, master, but you were pretty strong in that weird ass mouth form, so I guess that's cool,” Hong chimed in. She had taken to cursing and speaking in the vernacular of his world quite well.

“I’m just glad you are safe,” whispered Zi, barely audible.

He had gotten used to her whisper talk and found it endearing.

“Master, we must test the limits of that seal for educational purposes. If we know what you did wrong, we can avoid it in the future.”

Lan wrote furiously in her notebook. He doubted she was even talking to him. More likely, she was thinking out loud.

“Master Fei’s offsprings have been glaring at us for a while now master, shall I go have words with them, I don’t like the look of that girl standing in the front.”

Lu started walking over to Yi, but Henry stopped her with an outstretched arm.

“Let’s not spoil the mood I get to see you girls again and I survived a mind raping, so how about we just play nice for now.”

“For you, I will endeavor to remain civil, but know this: if they step out of line, I will set them straight,” Lu said sternly.

He always found it so hot when she talked like that.

Henry headed inside the keep with the maids in tow. Yi mirrored his movement, and so did her siblings. They were next to each other as they walked. The tension was palpable. The maids glared daggers at the Northerners, who, in turn, glared right back at them.

The only two that seem oblivious to all of this are Henry and Yi. Henry was happy to be himself, and Yi pestered him light-heartedly about how he knew Gram Gram and the maids. She knew not to pry too much with Lu giving her the stinky eye, but that didn't stop her from prattling on.

They entered the dining hall and took seats in flanking Gram Gram.

A horde of servants wheeled in enough food to feed an army or a dozen hungry dragons.

Gram Gram patted at a seat next to her for Henry to sit down on, which placed him next to Fei and Yinglong. Way to paint a giant target on his head, Henry thought. This was not lost on the servants or Fei’s offspring; rumors would swirl throughout the North after tonight.

Gram Gram cleared her throat and got up from her seat.

“ I am overjoyed to be surrounded once again by my family. The new generation is so full of talent, and the older generation is so strong and stalwart that I raise my glass to my brood both near and far.”

Everyone lifted their goblet high. For the Yinglong and Fei, there was a sense of pride for this younger generation. For the maids and the children, it was a role model of the power they could one day attain.

To Henry, as sappy as it sounds, he just liked having friends and family. He didn’t want to admit it, but he hated being alone.

Everyone drank deeply, and there was a contented sigh right before the maids started shouting at Fei’s kids.

Henry hated dragon drama.