Chapter 395: Living the End

Mid Evening - Late Fall : The Library of Eternity, Atlas | Bahamut

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*Fwip* *Fwip* *Fwip* Turning blank page after blank page, Hera and I could do nothing but stare at the book in silence.

Bahamut's final work, a recollection of his life and his mistakes, recalling what he came to learn in his life as the god of the dragons. While it certainly answered countless questions, it also filled us with an uncomfortable mix of understanding and bitterness.

"What a fool..." Finally breaking the silence, Hera spoke with scorn. "Instead of conforming to his new life and its environment, he did everything in his power to conform it to him..."

He was someone who fell victim to letting their past lives lead them. -Had I not disconnected myself from a human mindset when I was young.. I wonder if I would've been the same as him...-

I could understand the decisions he made, and I could understand why, but there was no redeeming his solutions to the problems raised, like grouping the dragons to nurture a society and trigger a population boom before deciding it was enough and destroying their ability to reproduce, taking the route of separation and isolation over the route of assimilation.

It was a tragic foolishness that would lead to the destruction of the draconic race if it wasn't corrected. "When he died, he started a clock. The moment another catastrophe struck the draconic race, we would go extinct..." Without the ability to reproduce much more than at the rate of replacement, it made sense why dragons had learned to isolate their children from the world for so long. To just maintain replacement, the survival rate had to be incredible. -But if disaster strikes like another attack from the Acardi and the population is culled, dragons would never be able to grow back or regain their former glory...-

"I don't know whether to be mad at his terrible decision-making, or be grateful I'm alive to fix it..." Speaking while falling into thought, Hera had already begun trying to come up with a plan forward. "The only thing I'm not sure how we can fix on a large scale is female reproduction."

Nodding, I was quick to close the book. "Just focus on taking things one step at a time. Restoring the mana wells is the easiest thing, so let's start with that. Fixing the reproductive issues with dragons is going to take time to figure out, and will probably need to be approached on a dragon-to-dragon basis. We can forcefully create another clutch, but the problem will still persist until we figure out how to properly alter their genetics." -The soul lilies as well will be.. more troublesome to fix. I'll have to come up with a better way to cultivate them...-

Pausing for a moment, Hera turned and gave me a confused look. "Are you.. trying to take responsibility for what Bahamut did?"

My expression quickly darkened. "As the one who absorbed his soul, it's my burden to bear, is it not?" Giving the book one more glance, I finally stood up. "Plus, if it's not me, who else is going to things like create a bunch of mana wells around Bahamut? Who can?"

Quickly getting up and walking over to me, Hera shoved her face into mine. "Be selfish, Vasilias! You made it clear to me that you weren't Bahamut, so why you can't make that clear to yourself?" Pulling herself away, her expression washed with a mix of confusion and annoyance. "Just stop letting guilt from things you cannot change linger. You've already learned the lesson to be learned from these things, so stop letting them burden you."

"But they are still issues that must be addressed, and I am the only one able to fix them-"

"But that doesn't mean it has to be fixed now! You're anxious because you're trying to take Bahamut's responsibility, you're trying to fill the shoes he left because you haven't convinced yourself that you aren't him." Stepping in my tail and I stood up, she forced me to stay put. "Bahamut is gone, so focus on yourself! You aren't the god of the draconic race, so stop trying to take upon the responsibility of that position!" Looking me in the eyes, her expression and tone began to soften. "Look, you have much more important things on your plate, so put your mind at ease and go address them. When the time comes, we can face these matters, but for now, just focus on yourself, okay?" Standing up, she quickly walked over to me before pressing her cheek into mine. "You aren't alone in this war, so share some of your burdens with me... I know I wasn't of much help with getting the laboratories online, but I want to learn.. I want to help..."

Feeling a warmth build in my chest, my expression finally started easing. "I know.. I'm sorry..." Pressing my cheek back into hers, I felt her whole body ease. "But that goes for you too, okay?" We were in it together, whether the fate of the world landed on our shoulders or not.

And even though she knew that, as she gently pulled herself away, she looked me in the eyes and smiled. "That's fine with me~!"

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Late Evening - Late Fall : The Cabinet | Bahamut

- Krystallo Ragnarok ~

*Tip-Tap* *Tip-Tap* Making haste down a long stone pathway between the different branches of the Cabinet, I found my way to a smaller building that was made for humanoids and dragons to share meetings in, or more namely, for whenever Leif, or one of the other apostles would inevitably visit Bahamut for diplomatic matters.

However that day it was to be used to officiate the meeting of two children.

-What is Mom thinking with these questions...- Looking over the sheet of interrogative questions I was going to have to ask someone I believed to be a friend, I felt a mix of guilt and determination.

On one side of the coin, I was going to free him from the eyes of the Cabinet, but on the other, I felt like I was betraying his trust. -But.. it's not like I'm the one who needs reassurance from these questions...-

Letting out a deep breath as I finally made it to the building's door, I folded the paper with my aura and walked inside, finding my way down a rather short hallway before turning into another, smaller room where Myalo sat in silence.

"Krystallo?" As soon as he noticed me though, his expression lit up, and his mix of silver, white and grey scales glimmered in the light of the single artifact at the center of the room.

"Y..Yeah, hey... I'm sorry we have to meet like this, my Mother-"

"Don't blame her." Quickly sitting up on the other side of the table, a joyful sway found its way into the tip of his tail. "I know many people have their eyes on me.. but that's okay. I can understand why." Speaking softly, he never broke eye contact.

"You knew you were being watched?"

He quickly nodded with a warm, comfortable smile. "Of course... I've been watched like a hawk from the moment I hatched... After meeting you the number of eyes grew, but I don't mind as long as they don't take away from the view."

Feeling a little awkward, I continued into the room before sitting on the opposite side of the table from him. "So, you know why I'm here.. don't you."

He was quick to nod. "Ask whatever can bring you all solace."

Pausing, I pulled out the paper that listed the questions I was to ask. "Then.. let's get started..." Somewhat nervously, I continued with questions, following the list from top to bottom.

At the beginning, I mainly asked more blunt questions, seeing if he recognized names, or appearances, and as expected he answered them all with a simple, comfortable no. -Mom hasn't tagged me with her aura either, meaning she believes he's not lying.-

But as the questions continued, they slowly became more and more obscure, asking what he thinks of specific terms like Priest, or deity, some of which elicited a response from Mother, having her use her wind magic to give me follow-up questions.

For the most part though, it went well. His responses were clear, and while it did sound like he had some run-ins with cult members, they sounded like wild happenstance.

But that was before I reached the last set of questions, ones Mom said Brother wanted to ask.

"Next... Do you ever feel like you have two voices in your head?" To me, it sounded like a stupid question, but I felt my whole body tense when he nodded.

"There are always two others. We share the same mind, but we always disagree..."

*Vwoom* Mother was quick to chime in with a cold tone. "Ask him what they disagree on."

Not knowing what else to say, I did. "What do the voices disagree on?"

"Many things." Averting his eyes, he looked almost pained. "How I act, what I think about, and the visions I have from time to time... The same ones I've mentioned several times today..."

"The visions people believe are of the future?"

He quickly nodded. "But I'm not so sure that's the case... Even the other voices disagree on it... Some believe it's a memory, and others believe it's a vision of fate."

Deciding to ask my own question, I spoke quickly. "What are the kinds of things you see in those visions?"

His expression quickly started to darken. "Death..." The atmosphere of the entire room suddenly darkened as his expression shifted. "Every time I get a vision, it's of a disaster... Visions of the world collapsing, or visions of war..."

-Could they be.. of the Great War?- As Mom quickly interjected, I asked the question she wanted to ask. "Are there any commonalities between all the visions?"

Nodding, he finally looked up at me, this time lacking the typical warmth in his gaze. "A huge silver creature.. like a serpent but so large it seems like it could wrap itself around the world... The World Serpent.. I think it was called..." After going silent for a moment, his tone suddenly went cold, as if I was suddenly talking to someone else. "It's a monster we cannot fight... It's a monster that will bring the end of our race if we try to resist it..." Staring off into the distance, he spoke with a hint of craze. "The only way we can survive is if we treat it as our god."

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