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Explaining her previous life as well as her current title took less time than she expected, especially since the first time she'd done it had been filled with a lot of teasing afterwards. In fact Grampa Mor was so accepting she suspected that he already knew a lot of the things she was telling him, although she had no idea why he would know.
[So what you're telling me is you think my son may have thought that you were similar to a... summoned hero rather than a dragon?] - Grampa Mor
Nodding glumly at his thinly veiled anger I jumped slightly when the sound of grating rocks similar to his earlier sound when he'd been laughing at my reaction to him. Maybe he was laughing again? My guess was thrown out the window immediately a second later however when I realized that the sound was a growl rather than one of mirth.
[That imbecile! I told him he wasn't ready for children yet! Not even reached his first molting and he thinks he knows enough to try and raise a hatchling! Damn younglings and their lack of self-control!] - Grampa Mor
[......u-umm?] - Rose
[Hmm? Oh I wasn't blaming you my darling granddaughter. You're the one thing he did correctly out of this mess caused by his youthful dalliances. Although I would have hoped he had learned enough to teach you all that was required I see that was too much to entrust him with.] - Grampa Mor
[P-Papa is young? But he and Mama are the same age?] - Rose
[Hah... Exactly so young one, Dragon's age much slower than other races and while our body may grow to look mature by other races standard our minds tend to lag behind somewhat. If I were to use the human standard my son is similar to a teenager, unable to control himself around the opposite sex and eager to spread his seed. Oh the Folly of Youth...] - Grampa Mor
Sighing as he explained what he viewed as my father's mistake I found my face heating up when he mentioned sex. Quickly attempting to change the subject away from that embarrassing topic I decided to ask him more about my race.
[U-Umm so how long exactly does adulthood take in Dragons? You called it... molting?] - Rose
[Hum hum... well it varies depending on your family line but our prestigious family tends to go through their first molting at around 50 years old. You are not generally considered an adult or taken seriously in our society until that point. In fact the act of having children is generally forbidden before that point as well, although that's more of a social stigma than a punishable one so don't put that face on. My son won't be punished.] - Grampa Mor
Nodding along to my grampa's explanation of what he called "the folly of youth" and the social stigma behind having children before your first molting it reminded me of the laws behind children having "relations" with each other on my old world. Noticing my upset face at the idea that my father was more or less a teenager my grampa misinterpreted it as worry for him being punished.
[Okay so I'm considered basically a toddler then? How exactly does that work?] - Rose
[Well if you end up making it to Dragon Society you'll need a guardian for any decisions and will be treated like the child you are. Can't allow you to make a decision that may hurt you accidently afterall... Speaking of you said that Gilgamesh sent you to the Place Between correct?] - Grampa Mor
[Y-Yes? He used some kind of machine to send me into my subconscious...] - Rose
[Grrrrrrr! That damn meddling fool! Does he realize how dangerous the mind of a dragon can be?!? You should not even be here until you have gained complete control of your mind in the first place!] - Grampa Mor
[I-I don't think he sent me in here to hurt me... M-Maybe he didn't know? P-Plus it's was my decision to come here for training anyway!] - Rose
[THAT'S EVEN WORSE, YOU ARE FAR TOO YOUNG TO KNOW WHAT'S BEST FOR YOU! How can I leave my precious granddaughter in the care of one who obviously doesn't know what is and isn't dangerous for a young dragon!?!] - Grampa Mor
[I-I can make my own decisions! Plus so far nothing in here has been able to actually hurt me anyways!] - Rose
Flinching at the sudden return of his anger I shakily stood my ground only to be yelled at like I was a child that didn't know any better. Granted, that might be the case, but I was also starting to get angry at being treated like I was stupid so I stood my ground regardless. The look on the old dragon's face said everything however as he looked at me with a patronizing eyes filled with pity.
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[Child. I love that you think that you are old enough to make your own decisions but I can't have you endangering yourself by making the wrong ones. Plus this place is far more dangerous to a young dragon than to anything else. If you make the wrong step you could lose your mind completely.] - Grampa Mor
[Wha..?!? You...] - Rose
[I've decided. I'm coming to take you back to Dragon Society right now as I can't trust my son to raise you correctly. I'll keep a portion of me here if you need to contact me so finish up your... training and I'll see you soon little one.] - Grampa Mor
Waving me off so I could finish what I came here for I got the feeling that he was still keeping an eye on me regardless as I angrily started following the mental directions again.
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[Thinks I can't make my own decisions! Hmph! I'll show him!] - Rose
Hitting a skeleton so hard with my tail that it disintegrated I didn't even notice that the physical attack had worked in my anger. In fact since I'd left my "grampa" a light aura of flames had completely covered my body, black sparks igniting along it every once in a while. Ever since I'd left him behind I'd been stewing in irritation and general grumbling.
For some reason being treated as a child when being doted on was enjoyable to me now but the opposite was true when it came to being treated as a child by not being allowed to make my own decisions.
[I mean I "already" have the mind of an adult from my previous life dammit. What gives treating me like a 4 year old?!?] - Rose
Blasting another undead into dust with a punch I failed to notice that they were now avoiding me, in fact some of them had even started to turn tail and run. Noticing that I was no longer getting attacked I pulled myself out of my moping and realized that I was now completely alone.
[What where did all the enemies... what the hell is this!?!] - Rose
Looking around at the barren, white-washed passageway in either directly I noticed a flicker of black in the corner of my eyes and turned to see where it was coming from only to be presented with what looked like my own body smoldering slightly with black flames. Panicking at the light dusting of flames covering my body I realized that I wasn't in any pain and calmed down enough to examine said sparks.
[Hmm... doesn't seem to be hurting me? Are these from that old bastard?] - Rose
[This power has nothing to do with me child, your own abilities are awakening with exposure to this place. Also I don't appreciate being called a bastard...] - Grampa Mor
[Huh? Where are you?] - Rose
Looking around once more only to be greeted by silence I wasn't able to find where the voice was coming from only for it to echo in my head a second later.
[I'm keeping an eye on you young one, can't have you stumbling into actual danger afterall. Oh and call me Grampa.] - Grampa Mor
[Grrrr! Over my dead body! And stop bothering me!] - Rose
[....] - Grampa Mor
Finally silencing my grampa's voice I decided to try to figure out once again where the flames were coming from only to realize that they had disappeared while I was arguing with the old dragon.
[What the hell!?! Fine whatever... I guess I'll figure it out later.] - Rose
Still grumbling to myself I resumed what was becoming a far too long journey towards the "source" of my power.
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Unfortunately after scaring off all of the Undead the rest of my journey was once more a long and boring slog similar to the first maze. No enemies showed themselves and each path was exactly the same as any other one. The silence gave me time to think about my situation as well as all the things no one had bothered to tell me about. The fact that my Dragonblood came with a lot of things to learn that I simply had no idea about. Whatever the "molting" was and the fact that my father was technically a teenager. And whatever the Place Between actually was.
According to what I could pick up from my Grampa I assumed that the Place Between was some sort of in-between mindscape of some kind. He'd mentioned it having something to do with Dragon's so maybe it was like a telekinetic connection? Taking a chance that the old dragon was listening I decided to ask him rather than figure it out myself.
[Hey Old Man! You listening?] - Rose
[........] - Grampa Mor
[Hey! You there?] - Rose
[.......] - Grampa Mor
[Hah... Grampa Mor, my favorite grandfather in the world, will you please answer my question?] - Rose
[What do you want to know sweetie?] - Grampa Mor
Calling out to the old dragon I somehow felt like he heard me but despite that he refused to answer and after the second time when silence still followed I suddenly had the idea to stroke his ego a little bit and see if it worked. It did.
[Took you long enough! Hah... Whatever, anyway I wanted to ask about this Place Between thing. What exactly is it? And how did you find me here anyway?] - Rose
[Hmmm... I suppose there is no harm in telling you. The Place Between is a pocket dimension that all Dragon's and God's connect to. Their minds forming... world's, for lack of a better term, within the ever growing expanse. The reason I was surprised to see you here was because young Dragon's that have yet to reach their molting are usually incapable of entering this realm. Actually my son, your father, was the only other Dragon in history to form a Mind Palace before he reached his molting.] - Grampa Mor
[R-Really? Is it that rare?] - Rose
[Yes. Honestly that you have followed in his footsteps and done the same makes me proud to have you as my grandchild! When I was your age I was barely able to take care of myself! Oh the trouble I got into when I antagonize that Mind Flayer! It very nearly brought the world under it's heel before my own father and mother were able to banish it. Come to think of it they never did tell me what exactly they did with it... You know I...] - Grampa Mor
[Grampa! Grampa, I get the idea. Anyways so you mentioned something about a Mind Palace, what's that?] - Rose
[Oh! Did I mention that? Well it's where you are now actually. A Mind Palace is the domain that forms when one truly Understands the Universe and their place in it. Usually only Dragon's and God's form one but I've also heard that Summoned Heroes have made small domain's of their own. Nowhere near the size of a true world but the fact that they can do so at all is surprising. I remember this one hero that...] - Grampa Mor
Tuning the rambling old dragon out as she thought over what he had told her she realized that Master Gil probably had sent her in through that device because he had suspected that she had this Mind Palace thing. If it had anything to do with her third title then chances were that he also had something similar inside his own mind but given what Grampa Mor had said it was mostly likely very small so he might not have expected her to face real difficulties. For all she knew he was still waiting for her and wondering why it was taking so long.
Making up her mind to finish up here as quickly as possible she sped up while her Grampa talked her "ear" off inside her head, rambling about some hero he once knew. She needed to find the end and gain control of her power and maybe even convince the old dragon to let her stay where she was, from how powerful just a small fragment of his mind was she knew the only way to keep him from forcing her back with him was to convince him that she could take care of herself.
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