After everything was settled Tizanta directed Blake Durr to a private tent in which his supposed brothers waited. He still had issues believing it. He wanted to believe it, but at the same time he didn’t want to get his hopes up. He had lived his entire life with them as his standard. While his mother had been displeased with Michael’s lack of motivation towards anything other than his video games, his dad had told him that he was a brilliant strategist because of that. Blight had always been against joining the army, which left his father very disappointed, while his mother liked his chosen field of work as an accountant.

Blake’s hands trembled a bit when he entered the tent, with both Blight and Michael already present. They looked… different. Yet they also looked exactly like the pictures he had seen. „Hello…“, he started, unsure of how to great them. Sitting down he decided to let them set the tone.

„Hello, Blake“, Castaphiel, said with a smile, „You don’t mind me using your first name?“

To be honest Blake was a little unsettled by this changed appearance. Not only did it not match up with the pictures, but it felt unreal, unnatural. While it probably wasn’t in the biological sense, it kind of was in the emotional sense, he supposed.

Blake shook his head, „If you are truly who you claim you are its fine. If not, I’ll punch you in the face later“, he said, trying for humor to get rid of the awkward atmosphere. However, that only had a limited success. The two brothers seem to sense Blakes unease and tension.

Despite that Corellanium, chuckled. „I’d advise against it. Blokes skin is hard enough to withstand bullets. You would just break your fist“, he said with a shrug. „Good to see you, Blake. It’s nice to know that mom and dad did finally get the son they wanted.“

Blake nodded, not sure how to reply to this. He pulled out his phone and pulled up the contacts for his parents. They were old these days, but they would immediately answer their phone for their children. „You ready?“, Blake asked the two men in the tent, and they both nodded.

Blake pressed call. After a few rings his parents picked up. They were in-the-know magic wise, because of their military connections, so they too had a magical phone. Blake placed the phone on the desk, and the holographic interface showed up, showing an elderly woman.

„Hello mom“, Blake greeted her, and she greeted him back with a warm smile.

„Hello son. What can I help you with so late in the night?“

Blake smiled back, „Well. Before I say anything, you should probably get dad on the line“, he said. His mom was older than his dad, nearly ninety now, with his dad being two years younger. After a few minutes of activity on the other end both his mom and dad were visible in the holographic image.

„What is it, son?“, his dad asked. Blake looked at the two men in the tent, who were visibly tense, tears playing on their eyes. A part of Blake was glad that they felt that way. It showed that they cared, which lent some credence to their claims.

„I have… news“, Blake said. Before they could ask what was going on he waved the Holographic image around, to focus the picture on the two men. There was a moment of stunned silence, before her mom took a sharp intake of breath, covering her mouth.

„Is it… Really you?“, his dad asked, unsure.

Castaphiel nodded, „Yeah dad“, he smiled wide, tears now freely running down his face, „We are back.“

It took a few minutes to get the emotional reunion under control. To Blake this was all the proof he needed. His parents would never mistake their children. He didn’t know how they did it, but even when a Shapeshifter friend of his sister turned into her as a joke on his Birthday the two of them immediately knew.

„Now tell me, why do you look so differently?“, their mother asked Castaphiel and Corellanium. They looked at each other, then Corellanium took a deep breath.

„This… is a long and unpleasant story. Before I begin, there is something you need to know“. He paused, unsure, then took another deep breath, „I… We… kind of… died? It’s hard to describe. But we are no longer human. Biologically speaking. When we vanished, we were kidnapped with a summoning spell. It transported us to another world, a world in which all kinds of mythical races and magic exist. When we woke up, we no longer had our old bodies. Sure we still looked the same, but“, he pointed to his hair and eyes, „distinctly different. We are Dragons.“

To proof their word both shifted into their Hybrid form, revealing their horns, wings, and tail. Castaphiel continued, „In the other world we spend a lot of time trying to find a way home. It might be hard for you to believe, but we travelled the world for nearly three thousand years. We met many people, eventually, of course also the others who were reincarnated. And…“, he choked, not sure how to continue. „We… killed… a lot of people. The other world was a harsh one. Slavery was common, one of our friends, Vuthe, had to endure five hundred years of torture and rape. When we first met her, she didn’t even remember her old life, she was that mentally broken. Once she got her feet back under her, we decided to change things. Someone had to stand up to the injustice. So… yeah. In the end“, he ended his explanation with a sad smile, „You got the soldiers you always wanted. Just not in this world.“

There was a long moment of silence. Castaphiel and Corellanium waited anxiously for their reaction. This was it, either they believed them, or they didn’t. Eventually their parents looked at each other, then back at their returned children.

„Son…“, his dad began, then hesitated. It took him a moment to gather his thoughts. „That is… A lot to take in. I’m honestly not sure if I can believe all of it. But I know that you are back. And that is all that matters. If you need help, we are here. And I’m sure your younger sister is also very curious about you“, he said with a smile, „She is rather entranced with the two of you.“

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Both brothers perked up, wide eyed. „We have a sister now?“, Corellanium asked, surprised.

Blake chimed in, „Yeah. I haven’t said much since I wasn’t sure if you were legit, but we have a younger sister. Emily, she’s twenty nine now. Married and with a boy herself“, he explained, „She has taken to dads stories about you with a passion. The mystery brothers she never got to meet.“

Castaphiel laughed, „Oh boy. Now that is a pleasant surprise. I want to meet her.“

Blake nodded. „I can arrange that. She’s in the army too, actually in my division. She should be here in the camp, but I haven’t told her anything yet. I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. What should I say if I told her that her heroes were here and then it turned out you were lying?“

Corellanium chuckled, „That would be quite the complicated family situation indeed. Fred not, we are not lying. We are truly back. In fact, as dragons, we can’t lie. Well, we can, but honor and sincerity is deeply engrained in us. We rather not speak at all, before we lie“, he sighed, „You will see that while we are your brothers, we are very different from you. Life long enough with another body and you will get used to that races behavior.“

Their mom spoke up, „I’m curious about that. Of course I know the stories of dragons in books, but how much of that is actually true?“, she asked, curiosity seeping from her lips. She was always quick to adapt to changes, so nobody was surprised that she accepted this so readily.

Castaphiel shrugged, „Well, before that. I would like for you to call us by our draconic names. Everyone from the people that reincarnated, the lost five, as we jokingly call ourselves, have gotten used to our new identity. And while we still see all of you as family of course, we are no longer the people you know. I am Castaphiel, and he is Corellanium. If you don’t mind, please use those names with us from now on.“

Blake frowned, „Why?“, he asked. He wasn’t about to deny his brothers wish, especially one so small, but it was quite a weird one. He couldn’t help but feel a little suspicious of them again, a part of him not sure if they truly were who they thought they were.

Corellanium sighed. „Blake. We spent three thousand years in a world that was out for our blood, fighting for our survival, then fighting to kill the people who decided to enslave those who couldn’t protect themselves. We all lost a lot in that time. Hell, we aren’t even human anymore. It doesn’t feel right to use those names. Michael was a neet and a nerd, a looser who sat around in his room all day playing video games, instead of doing anything productive. That person died long ago. I am Corellanium, the strategist of the Dragon Queen of Thelvadore. I am responsible for the life of every soldier in her army. They use my strategies to fight. If I fuck up, they die, not me. I lost count on the amount of friends I lost over the years.“

Castaphiel nodded, „It is hard to explain. I guess you could say that the moment our old bodies died, so did we. We did unspeakable things over there, things I still have nightmares off at times. Blight Durr died a long, long time ago. In his place is Castaphiel Umnelma, General of the Thelvadore Liberation Army, but also murderer of enemy soldiers. I know war is hard, I think the both of us are more qualified to make that statement than the entire earthen military. But it still feels wrong to dirty our former names like that. I much rather Blight Durr be remembered as the accountant he was.“

Their mother shrugged, „I don’t care what you name yourselves. You are my sons. And that will always be true.“

„Thanks, mom“, Castaphiel said to her with a warm smile. Blake and their dad didn’t look convinced yet. The two dragon brothers knew it would take time, but they didn’t mind. It was a painful thought, but they literally had all the time in the universe.

„As to your question“, Corellanium chimed in, „I’m not too familiar with how dragons are usually depicted in stories. It’s been way too long since I last read one of this worlds stories“, he made himself more comfortable on his chair, „As to us. Let’s begin with our society.“

The two brothers told their parents and Blake a lot of their time away for a long while. Only when the sun finally rose did they retire for the night. All of them were tired, but nobody wanted to break of this conversation early.

While Castaphiel and Corellanium talked to their parents, Vuthe sat in her tent deep in thought. She had so many things to take care off, so many mysteries to unravel in this new old world. Still, she just couldn’t stop thinking about her own family. After an hour Tizanta stepped in, sitting down next to her, caressing the back of the younger dragon.

„You should tell them. Running away will just make it harder“, she said, her hands dancing around the base of Vuthe’s wings, eliciting a soft moan from the Dragon Queen. She didn’t respond to Tizanta however, still lost in thought. „Vuth… You deserve some care too. Yes, you are our Queen. Yes, you have responsibilities. But that does not mean that you need to shut out your own needs. If you want I can contact them and setup a meeting.“

Vuthe still didn’t reply, curling up on her bed with her arms around her legs, her tail wrapped around her torso. After a long moment, in which Vuthe just stared at the wall, she spoke, „I… I just don’t know. Tiz, I don’t know if I could handle if anyone of them is gone. My parents… They’d nearly be ninety now“. Her voice cracked, and tears began to well up.

Tizanta knew that Vuthe had gone through a lot. She knew that out of all of them Vuthe has had the worst time in the other world. This little, fifteen-year-old girl was thrust into a world of torture and rape for centuries. She was used and abused, betrayed and thrown away. Even when she began to amass her own strength, she was used by others. Only when they finally found her and started to work together did things start going right. But she had led a conquest. Vuthe had stood at the very front when she led people to kill her enemies mercilessly. Tizanta had no illusions that her friend was okay, despite her outwardly seeming like it. Nobody, not human, not dragon, went through what she went through unscathed. She had long noticed that Vuthe got more and more trigger happy with the years. She was strained to the limits. If she wouldn’t get help fast, she’d break. Tizanta had tried her best to help her friend, but she wasn’t an expert on the matter. All she could was to keep her company. She resolved herself to find some professional help as soon as possible.

„Tiz… I don’t know what to do… I’m so tired of everything…“, Vuthe said softly, no longer able to keep away the tears now adorning her face. Vuthe had a determination and mental fortitude Tizanta could only admire. She had been their leader ever since they met her. At first, she was surprised how quickly she had recovered from the broken mental state they had found her in.

Over the years however Tizanta realized that it was all a front. A mask she wore to hide form herself. Vuthe knew that should she ever stray away from that persona she would lose it. She was, quite literally, one bad day away from disaster for the past two and a half millennia. It amazed Tizanta that she hadn’t cracked yet.

But now it was more than obvious that her friend didn’t have much longer. So, the sooner she found someone to help, the better.

„I know, Vuth. We all are. If you want, you can take a few days off and think about it. Cal and I can run things“, Tizanta offered as she pulled Vuthe into her embrace.

They remained like this for a long while, Vuthe silently crying and Tizanta keeping her company. Eventually the younger dragon looked up into the night-sky irises of her friend. „Okay Tiz… Go and see if you can contact them somehow…“, she asked with a soft smile, before leaning in to kiss the other girl, who answered it with a smile of her own.

After a moment they separated, Tizanta pressing a peck on Vuthe’s forehead, „Okay, I will. Now go get some rest.“