Early Evening - Early Winter : Western Sirathan Space Rune

*Vwoop* *Splash-crash* We were met with the nostalgic sounds of waves crashing on the beach as we finally popped out of the space rune in the mountains of Siratha.

It had only been a few hours since I initially spoke with Grandmother, but things had quickly escalated to get us here. "So, basically, what you're telling me is that Leif thinks you are Nott's reincarnation and is now your subordinate?" She continued our conversation normally, as if the half-hour of silence I experienced in the void never happened.

But my mind was elsewhere. -I probably shouldn't mention that I killed two of the other apostles...- "Y-yeah, that sounds about right." -But is she really on a first-name-basis with Leif?- I idly thought to myself as I glanced around to check the sky's condition before eventually turning back to Grandmother. "Anyway, go ahead and change to your humanoid form, it'll be quicker if I fly."

She paused to look at me for a moment before finally complying. "I remember your father saying you were quite fast. Do you think you're faster than me?"

"Absolutely."

She was slightly taken aback by my immediate response. "A..alright, then." Finally climbing into my paw, she used some of her aura to hold herself in place, but I was a bit worried it wasn't enough.

-She's an elder... She can probably handle a few Gs, right?- But after some thought, I decided not to risk it and used my aura as well. "My aura should hold you, but you might want to brace yourself."

She quickly looked up at me with a naïve smile. "I will be alright, sweetie."

-Alright...- "Suit yourself." Finally spreading and flapping my wings, I hurled us into the sky, not hesitating to blast my thruster magic in the process. *psh-FWOOOSH*

Grandmother went wide-eyed and gripped one of my claws with white knuckles like a child on a roller coaster.

It was quite a funny sight, but she quickly eased back up once she got used to the acceleration. -I wonder why that felt so good...- With a satisfied smile, I turned back to the horizon and continued accelerating.

But it was only a few minutes after that that the fog-covered canopy of the Tree of Prayer could finally be seen cresting the horizon.

I didn't think much of it at first, but eventually, I noticed a massive, bony tail sticking out of the top of its canopy, with a few dragons hovering around it.

-Right.. I almost forgot about that...- Slowing down slightly, I thinned the vacuum barrier around us and gave us a bit of still air to talk in. "Grandmother, I have a quick question."

"What is it, sweetie?" Her voice was filled with awe as she looked toward the horizon.

-Did she notice it already?- "The name Lernaean. Does it ring a bell?"

Her eyes went wide with surprise immediately. "Where did you hear that?"

I spoke casually as I motioned toward the horizon. "The dragon with its tail sticking out of the canopy over there, it had a gold band around one of its horns with that name on it."

But instead of simply answering, her expression turned panicked. "You went into the fog?!"

-Ah... I forgot about that...- "Y..yeah, I went in before I realized how deadly it was.. sorry..." Seeing her more worried about me than learning of the existence of such a colossal dragon, I quickly started making assumptions. -She must have already known about it...-

"You seem alright, so I won't pester you about it, but you shouldn't mention that to your Mother..." She sounded like she was joking but her voice carried a deep worry.

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"R-right..." -Duly noted...- "In any case, that dragon down there was big enough to eat me like a snack. Do you know anything about it?"

"Hooh... Of course I do." She paused as she took a moment to shake off her worry. "Since you probably won't ever go to the academy, I will try my best to explain." Going 'teacher mode' she put on a serious expression and looked up at me. "Lernaean was a hydra, a long-extinct draconic race with multiple heads, and was known for his generally 'friendly' rivalry with Bahamut before the Great War."

-Is she really going to just gloss over that?- "Did something kill the hydras off?"

She immediately started clamming up. "That's.. a bit complicated to get into right now..." She quickly averted her eyes before promptly continuing. "In any case, Lernaean was one of the only other dragons besides Bahamut ever known to survive the 'last sleep' and actually enter what is generally known as 'The Demigod stage', but recently people have started calling it 'the Stage Beyond Mortality'."

My eyes went wide instantly. -So.. they do know about the stage beyond ancient...- Ever since I found Lernaean's body, I had wondered if they knew about it, but hearing that they did, made me feel more conflicted than I expected. -How have I not heard of it...- "Mother never told me about that stage... Is it-"

"It's generally considered impossible to attain, so most families don't mention it to their children until they grow up, or simply wait for the academy to teach them in their 30s... She just wanted to protect you from setting a goal you could never reach, even if that sounds like a stupid statement now..." A proud but conflicted smile slowly came to her face as she looked back down at the tree.

"So.. about Lernaean."

"Ah.. right..." Quickly shaking her head, she tried to speak a bit more enthusiastically. "With him being the oldest Demigod stage dragon by a significant margin, many believed he would come out and fight with Bahamut during the Great War, but to the surprise of many, Bahamut never even called for his help."

-What?- "Why would he do that?" -Did he not think he needed it?-

"Everyone else wondered that too back then, but at the time they assumed it was because of Bahamut's confidence... But a few hundred years later, once the dust started to settle, we dragon's started to fly throughout the world again, and..." Her expression quickly darkened.

-So he was already dead...-

She continued with a slightly resentful tone. "Many actually couldn't come to terms with his death... For a long time, people chose to believe that he found the key to achieving godhood within the tree and entered a dragon sleep.. but, over time.. that tail remained cold and unmoving... And eventually, reality became undeniable..." She described the event as if it were a bad memory. "To this day, there are a few noble families who still remember him, but they resent him for not assisting Bahamut before his disappearance." She paused as her voice grew quieter. "But I.. think the way things turned out was fate..."

Giving her a curious look, I wanted to ask what she meant by that but ended up keeping my mouth shut.

The next several minutes were wrapped in silence as we flew over countless treants and worked our way toward a larger treant not far from the Tree of Prayer. -This should be it...-

Finally cloaking us, I flew down to the top of the canopy and changed to my humanoid form. "Stay close to me so I can keep you hidden, and don't talk since I'm not masking much more than our footsteps."

She immediately nodded as we landed and started sliding down several huge leaves until eventually landing on a fairly big branch hanging over Leif's colossal estate. -Things seem to have calmed down a bit... I wonder how things are going...-

Immediately thinking of how to get in, I looked around and noticed a carriage led by a perky-eared panther-like creature being let through the gate. -What perfect timing...- Quickly running through my few other options, I quickly settled on what to do. "We'll go through the main entrance when it opens for the people in that carriage, remember to stick close to me." After waiting for her nod, I finally stood up and ran to the trunk of the tree, where I carefully climbed down the tree and the estate, eventually making it to the main entrance.

We actually got there just as the carriage was opening.

*Click* The first to exit was a knightly elf, who immediately turned around and held up his hand. "Please be careful, my lady."

I expected a beautiful noblewoman to exit, but instead, a ghastly pale hand reached out, quickly revealing a disheveled and insane-looking young woman.

-She looks terrible...- It was the fearful apostle that ran away after my fight with Magni, but she was barely familiar.

Her body and skin condition were simply perfect, but she was so pale she barely looked alive, and her expression looked as if she was worried she would be killed at any moment.

-She must be coming to meet with Leif...-

A few moments passed as she stood in front of the door with her knight until a familiar young maid came out. "Welcome, Miss Alva Aetla. Please follow me; I will lead you to the Missus' office."

With the apostle's lethargic nod, they finally turned to the door and made their way inside, with Ilios, Grandmother, and I quickly slipping in behind them.

But as we made our way through the halls, I slowly started questioning if I should change plans slightly. -I wonder what they'll talk about...-