Chapter 51 – Journey Home

"Make sure to keep an eye on my blade as well as my stance, it's just about keeping focus really"

"Okay dokey"

Before we get to my parents' mountain range, I asked Petra to give me some tips on how to fight while we have one of our pre-planned rest stops. We won't have to make many since me and her can fly and stay awake for quite a long time, I'm still not allowing her to fly though.

We've set up camp in an open meadow and it's late at night, it's been raining since we left the phoenix cave and now that we've gotten a second seeing that the rain has stopped, it's time to have a little sparring session.

I still need to think of something nice I can do for her but haven't come up with anything just yet, this training thing was something else since I've been feeling my sword skills are worse than ever right now.

"Make sure you fully try and hurt me otherwise it won't help you improve"

"Yeah yeah"

Does she seriously think I can purposely hurt her? I don't want to nor do I think I'd be able but I'll at least try and train, that's what this is anyway.

"Ikarus, I'm being serious"

I'm starting to think she might be able to read my mind, this woman knows me too well.

"I'll try but I really don't think I'd be able to hurt you, it's a difficult task trying attack someone you like"

"Wha-?"

Why did she just stop saying what? Wait, did she just take that as a confession? Is that why she looks a little confused? Damn it...

"That's not what I meant! Look, I just don't want to cause you anymore pain"

She takes a second to compose herself again, I knew something like this would prove an issue. At least with the other two trainers I've had before, I could try my best since I couldn't care if I had landed a hit on them, Petra is different. I regret suggesting this a little now.

I've already said I like Petra but I guess this time put her off guard a little, it wasn't meant in that way. Well, I guess it kinda was...

"Anyway... Ikarus, I can take it so you don't need to worry about hurting me"

"It would be easier with something like wooden swords though, I know I don't have any but what about a tree branch instead?"

I know I suggested this training but still, I'd rather spar without having the risk of hurting her, I can't help that since I thought I still had a couple of training swords hidden in storage but must have thrown them out.

We're both holding our human weapons of choice, she has her samurai blade and I have my vampiric dagger I got from the undead dungeon. We've already tested it and her sword will hold up against the enchanted sharpness on mine but still, it's too risky especially if she's only defending. Sometimes I think she's a little arrogant but I think it's a lot more like confidence then anything else, she has lived six hundred years after all.

"Ikarus, haven't received a dangerous sword wound in... can't actually remember, it's been that long. Please, just try"

"*Sighhh*, fine then"

With that, I ready myself and go in for a swing towards her shoulder that very quickly gets blocked by her. I really should do what she says and try properly though.

I go in for another, this time towards her stomach but it gets swiftly blocked with no effort once again.

"Ikarus, please"

Fine, if she's going to be like this, then I'll try but I really don't want too though.

I'll try my hardest to land a hit and go for something sneaky, similar to what I did with the captain that got me told off when I was first learning to use a sword. I swing at her anticipating the block, she blocks once again but I then push my entire body weight against the blade that causes her to step back from the slight surprise.

In that split second of uncertainness, I get carried away and lunge trying to stab my blade into her, this is why I wanted to use something blunt.

"Shit!"

Thankfully, she's more than experienced enough to see through my intentions otherwise that could've ended badly. She very easily managed to dodge just simple by jumping back.

"Heh, that was excellent, try it again but maybe a little quicker next time"

Wait, I'm not getting moaned at for trying that? She's even giving me a smile as well.

"I'd rather not though"

"Don't worry about it then, you are still a lot better than you give yourself credit for"

Urghhh... praise makes me sick, at least it's coming from Petra so maybe I can accept it.

With that, we continued our sparring session for a little while.

__________

"Hey Petra... I know it might be a little weird but can I ask you a personal question?"

"Of course"

We're now sitting down late and night with the moonlight shining down upon us around a small campfire still in the meadow after finishing the sparring session.

She definitely is a lot easier to learn from than the other people I've trained with, she's isn't malicious and gives me constant advice while we fight, it's extremely useful. I've always tried to fight a little dirty with the sword, with Petra's training every now and then, I might be able to cut it down a little.

There's nothing wrong with fighting dirty, it's just that I'm still not perfect with the basics, at least that's how I feel about it anyway.

As for my question, it's something a little personal but I've been curious about it for a while.

"Have you ever been in a relationship before?"

There's been a few things said over the last six months in the dungeon that have made me curious, mainly down to Zeki not knowing when to shut up. From the sounds of it, she's even more inexperienced in this subject than I am.

"Just the once, was a long time ago though"

Oh, I guess she has been with someone before then, didn't expect that.

"What happened?"

She takes a second before answering, then answers in a way that really seems distressing.

"She erm... died. It was slightly my fault really, back in the day I was too careless and arrogant when it came to a lot of things"

Damn, she looks really sad now, I'm unsure how to respond. I could tell her it's not her fault but I don't feel like that is the right thing to say. Should I try making her laugh to cheer her up? No, I don't think it's the right time for that as well, maybe something simpler might help.

I get up where I'm sitting and walk over to her.

"Ikarus, you okay?"

Once over to the side of her, I wrap my arms around her and give her a hug. She seems a little surprised at first but doesn't push me away from it. She's depressed, this seems like the best course of action right now.

"Sorry for asking, you seem distraught now"

"It's fine Ikarus, happened a very long time ago so you really don't need to worry"

"But still"

I hug her for a tiny bit long and then return to where I was sitting, she seems to be smiling now so that helped a bit. I'd rather not be asking her anything like that again, most of her past seems really troubled and I'd rather not see her like that. I think she's become more open with me as well now but seeing her like that makes me feel sad for her.

"What about you then? Have you ever been with anyone?"

Damn, I was hoping she wouldn't ask that, at least my experience isn't as horrible as hers. Still, at least she's not thinking about her past love, if it even was that but I'd rather not know.

"Three relationships, all ended in a trainwreck. If it isn't obvious yet, I'm a little too naïve and dumb for my own good, that is kinda the main reason for all of them ending"

I'd rather not go into specifics, talking about your ex-partners isn't something that's a comfortable experience, Petra also understands that anyway.

"Don't keep putting yourself down like that, you're a lot better than you think"

"I appreciate your kind words but let's be real, it is true and there isn't anything to say that can help"

I guess we're very similar in that sense, we both have experienced heartbreak, just for different reasons. I wonder if that's one of the reasons why we don't mind each other.

...

Ah great, the dreaded uncomfortable silence, this is why talking about this type of stuff is a pain in the arse, at least I'm normally alright at sorting these things out though.

"Erm... you want to do some more training then?"

"Sure then Ikarus, just make sure you try your hardest please"

"Sure sure"

__________

"The second we get to my parents' cave; the weather will clear up. Mark, my, words"

"Heh, that type of thing does seem to happen"

Like with the last time I returned to my parents' mountain range, it is once again raining cats and dogs, heck, there was even a bit of lightning and thunder earlier. The God that controls the weather switch is a right dick at times, it's not as bad when on the ground but it still can get cold flying in the pouring down rain.

We're currently getting flying very close to home cave now, won't be too long before I can see the cave entrance.

"You alright up there anyway? Not too cold or anything?"

I've at least got feather protection from this cold rain; she just has her disciple robes on, must also be soaked now.

"Ikarus, thanks for your concern but a bit of rain won't kill me"

I guess she is a bit of a badass, rain definitely won't kill her. Thinking about it, I should give her a heads up about something.

"When we speak to my family, I feel like I should give you a warning like you did to me about Zeki. My father can sometimes have a bit of a temper but he's normally alright, mother might be a little overbearing and Minos, he'll either try to snuggle up to you or think about eating you"

"Heh, sounds a fun family"

Sometimes I like her sarcasm but then again, I guess my family is fun although a little unorthodox, think that's the right word for it.

"You have no idea... I guess you do actually, you've got Zeki and Ariza"

"Guess so, it was better than the alternative anyway"

Erm, what's she on about?

"What was the alternative?"

"Back in my younger years, had the stupid idea when first hearing about the prophecy from my mother to try and prevent four phoenixes ever happening using bloodshed..."

Wait, is this the reason why she even found those two in the first place? She was planning to kill them as well?

"... It was a stupid thought that very quickly got thrown away when I came across Ariza's egg abandoned in the middle of nowhere, even I'm not that heartless to have done such a thing"

Is that why she raised them then? Out of guilt or was it just because she wanted to help? I could ask but there's something else I'd rather.

"You have any idea what happened to Ariza and Zeki's parents?"

"Not really but I'm thinking the empire had something to do with it, dragon hunting only ever stopped because there were no dragons left to hunt, at least known of"

Oh great, we're back onto the empire's dragon fascination. At the very least, I can now see the opening of the cave so it's on topic for the conversation I need to have with father. He has to cancel that deal if what Petra says is true.

As I'm flying closer to the cave still in the rain, I receive two dragon phone calls inside my brain.

<Ikarus! You're home!>

<Welcome back little one>

'Alright you two, we'll speak in a minute once I land'

I guess both mother and father are home and awake right now, can barely see them laying down inside the cave. I wonder where Minos is though, he might be out hunting.

As I get closer and go to land in the entrance, Petra notices something.

"Looks like you were right Ikarus"

Once I land, the rain fully stops. This is going to start becoming a thing now, I'm not even going to get pissed off this time, well properly pissed. A little bit is fine.

"Remind me to kick the God who controls weather in the crotch"

"Heh, sure"

Petra climbs off my back and we clearly are now both soaked in water, the weather be doing that sometimes. Both my parents have now gotten up and have come to greet us by the entrance but have kept their distance slightly. Unsure if it's down to Petra or if they expect me shake off the water from my body.

<Who's this little one?>

<Dermak, at least say greetings if you're interested in knowing>

My loving parents, meet Petra. I should probably say that out loud but Petra speaks before I get the chance.

"Pleasure to meet you two"

Petra is speaking in a polite manner to them. Before they respond and a conversation starts, need to dry off slightly.

"Petra, you don't have to speak to them right now. You two can both see we're soaked head to toe, at least let me light a fire and dry us out. Unless you want me shaking again"

<Ah, sorry Ikarus>

<You're right little one, we'll have a talk in a second>

Both my parents give us some room by the entrance, it would be difficult to start a fire with two monstrous dragons right next to it. Well, they weren't even that close but I'd still rather them not investigate her while I'm wet like this.

I pull out some firewood from storage and place it down on the ground, then start using fire from my beak and light the wood. Now that's it's started burning, I take a seat next to it.

"Let me help"

Petra sits down alongside me combining her black flame from her hand into my fire also. It turns into a blackish-orange colour and now radiates a lot more heat, this shouldn't take that long to get warm and dry now.

Am I getting a weird look from father though? Mother also has a weird look but hers seems happier like, why do they look weird though? We're just combining our fire, is that a weird thing to dragons?

Now that we've dried up a little and gotten a bit warmer, both parents can ask their questions.

<So then little one, who is this mortal alongside you?>

"She's a friend father, her name is Petra. Petra, meet my parents"

"Nice to meet you"

<Greetings little mortal>

I'm not sure if I can reveal she's a phoenix to these two, they probably can smell her but there's a different issue right now, mother hasn't greeted her. Something seems wrong.

<Look Ikarus, I know you're young and want to experience the world but there is something you need to know...>

Is mother about to moan at me? I've been good with my drinking recently, I'm unsure what this is about.

<... If you wish to keep mating with your friend, I'd ask you wait till you get a little older first>

Wait, what the hell is she on about? Me mating with Petra? This has gotten me worked up and stressed now.

"What the hell are you even on about!? Me and Petra haven't mated, we've literally only hugged and that wasn't even in a weird way!"

Petra has no response to this; I think she's a little confused why my mother thinks such a thing. Father seems to have an idea why she thinks that though.

<Darling, I think your sense of smell might be a little too strong. They smell very similar but there is a tiny difference, I can see why you misunderstood though>

<Ah, my mistake>

Oh, is it because Petra's scent is similar to mine? I guess that would make sense, why does she say mate though? We're two women... why am I focusing on that? Ah, I know what's making me stupid now, it's my parents! Every time I spend time around them, I get progressively stupider! I should probably ask Petra something though, this is about her if she smells the same as me.

I'm a little unsure why mother's nose which is supposed to be extremely strong can't tell the difference but then again, it could work both ways. Her sense of smell is so strong, tiny differences might get overwhelmed, that's the only thing I can think of.

"Petra, can I tell them?"

"Sure, it's fine for them to know"

"Okay dokey, Petra is also a phoenix so that might be why she smells the same although we did hug a few days ago so it could also be from that"

The reaction I get from mother is of pure shock, she didn't expect this.

<You found another phoenix!? You've got to tell me everything Ikarus!>

<Even I'm a bit curious little one>

Looks like I'm going to have to go through everything that's happened with Petra. For some reason, I'm not to fussed about explaining it to them though, maybe because it's about her.

Once that's explained, I'll need to talk with father properly...