Poking The Bear (Dragon)

A large, grey, sleeping dragon is roused from the realm of dreams.

One eye literally cracks open, causing blockage to come down from it's previously crust caked eyelid. A large, slit, vertical black pupil within a yellow sclera with specks of impurities is exposed, ever so slightly- though it would still be considered quite the large opening to those among the races of humanity. It would not wake-up just because it had no more actual need for sleep. At it's age, sleeping was the thing that granted it the most comfort. The reason it woke was because it felt a strange disturbance.

It sensed an annoyance in it's future. Not danger, or foreboding, just general exasperation.

In confusion over it's first premonition in quite some time being one that seemed quite benign, the dragon begrudgingly went back to it's slumber, continuing from where it's mystical trip through the realm of dreams left off.

After all, it had it's own arrangements to ward off annoyances.

****

"Neat place. Not too damp, and evenly lit. Proficient use of magic." Ace remarks out loud, as he walks forward into what seemed at first to be the dark, menacing mouth of the cave; it instead turned out to be a nice path of smooth stone in a straight line forward, though unadorned. At the roof of the cave, floating mystic lights seem to provide a comfortable warmth that evenly lights the entire large space, leaving nearly zero shadow to comment on.

[Don't pretend to be a hotshot on magic all of a sudden. What you use is nothing more than parlor tricks in comparison to this- you completely lack the knowledge required. You'll see when we check back up on Arthur what little you know,] Joker's text says with a mocking tone.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. It'll take some time for him to be worth looking at."

[Words of an amateur.]

As they bickered back in forth, they kept walking, losing track of time. Then they kept walking.

And walking.

...And walking.

Before suddenly, Ace stops.

"...Hey Joker." He says out loud in a strange tone.

[...Hey yourself.] Joker's text comes out in a stilted manner.

"How many days has it been?"

[Probably ten, judging from the level of distortion here. I wasn't aware of the exact extent of this old guy's magical abilities- I'll admit I miscalculated. This is very proficient use of time and space. I doubt it came with just age- even if another dragon lived as long as this one, they couldn't emulate this without massive investment and talent in this field.]

That's right, they were stuck in a looping path. This was a dual function arcane formation.

The problem with a formation like this was that it affected space as well as time.

The utilization of space was actually amazing- it took a very long time for it to seem to repeat on itself. The nigh perfection in the even terrain, smoother than silk on the curved roof as well as flat floor, made things seem to just blend together. Joker was the first to notice this discrepancy.

Meanwhile, Ace was the one to notice the time acceleration.

Even the most accomplished human being on the border of godhood would not notice the very, very slight dip in "speed"- in mental processing, bodily response time, and so on. This was because this zone touched on the very secrets of time- the absolute relativity of it meant that the passage of time can become truly unique to each person. The only reason Ace noticed it was once again a result of his prodigious luck. He simply had a feeling of wanting to scratch his cheek, before he saw a slight "fold" in space over his hand as it moved upwards- the very point in which time seemed to resume acceleration. The bodies of those trapped here wouldn't even notice their body's failing systems- since, in reality, they were never moving in the first place.

As soon as this realization between Ace and Joker came together, the world around them seemed to melt-

Exposing the ominous mouth of the cave before them yet again.

This was a dragon who was non-hostile- the consequences of it actually wishing to harm Ace and Joker made them inwardly shudder.

Against overwhelming power, luck can only do so much.

Ace took a deep breath, and discarded his flippant attitude. Joker and Ace did not say another thing to each other, before once again entering the depths of the cave, no different than it appeared in the prior illusion.

****

Quickly, they found themselves in what seemed to be a throne room after going through that familiar entrance area, but without the distorted formation.

A large bed resembling that of a dog's lay on the other side of the giant throne room. Leading up to it was a large, grey carpeted walkway on what seemed to be a substance resembling a more glittering marble making up the floor. There were murals over every inch of wall and ceiling, with the ceiling in question resembling that of the Sistine Chapel. Yet, in contrast to the awe-inspiring biblical imagery, various scenes of the gruesome end of the world in many different forms took up every inch of the area besides the floor.

However, Ace and Joker saw none of this, at least not at first.

Their eyes were instead glued onto the being lying on the large, grey dog bed (that despite looking like a dog bed still exuded a bizarre aura)-

A dragon.

Just as grey as the carpeted walkway and plush dog bed, a dragon slept. It seemed to release no presence whatsoever, but the duo before it had no intentions of underestimating it any further. At this point, Ace whispered to Joker in his head.

"Hey."

[What?] The text box's words were in italics.

"So... why was I supposed to go here?"

[Well, the plan was to talk to the dragon... but it seems to be asleep.]

Ace blinks.

"Yeah, I can see that. So, should I just wait for it to wake up?"

[I don't recommend that.]

"Why? Will it not like me being in it's room?"

[Probably that... as well as the fact that it probably won't wake up ever again if something doesn't psychically wake it up. So... that's your job.]

Ace has a mortified look on his face in response to reading the text box.

"You want me to wake up a DRAGON? Look, I'm lucky, and not that dissuaded by pain or death, but I don't want to die in an anti-anticlimactic way again. It was super lame. And how is someone like me supposed to wake it up!?"

The text box shakes up and down as if it to shrug.

[Dunno. You could always poke it or something.]

"...You are suggesting I poke a dragon awake?"

[Would you rather throw cards at it? If you yell at it, it likely won't hear you. Come on, you'll be fine.]

"I will find a way to get you back for this."

[You could always just die. I'd die too.]

"Ha ha."