SIDE STORY - FOURTH ACT

In his dreams, he was free and blissful. And most importantly, She was there. She danced amidst the falling leaves and smiled as her hair fluttered in the gentle winds. Her scent when he laid on her lap and she smiled down at him, was that of a grove in spring.

The black dragon slumbered as if it were his first time sleeping. And when he opened his eyes again, he dreaded not finding her there.

However, he had no reason to worry. From the start, she had remained patiently by him. As he was resting, she had waited, and he found her eyes lighting up in delight when they met his.

He began talking. He told her of his enviable life and his fall from grace. He described his greatest Pride, and how he had been powerless when he lost them all. And lastly, he revealed his tremendous shame and greatest guilt. With the passing of the days, her voice soothed his wounds one by one.

In the perennial night of that cave, he was slowly made aware of the chirping of the birds, the flowing of water. He came to know a gentleness that accepted the world in its entirety, so long as you made the effort to do so yourself. And most importantly, he found that that warmth would follow him anywhere, so long as he held it in his heart. He found the bliss in remembering and slowly embraced the aching past.

And as he began relishing in every single, precious memory, what else could he do but smile? As a second smile finally blossomed in the dark cave, their lips eventually met, and they held each other in a deep embrace.

The dragon finally experienced the precious love that his kin had partaken in back then.

He felt the lightness of his own life in the face of that precious passion. Life for Her was the one life that mattered.

He finally understood those smiles, those tiny arms struggling to wrap around their tall beloved even in death. He understood that he would rather be remembered as a source of light, not for the darkness that had extinguished it. And that to their last moment, the Brightfolk had never failed to shine for their love. And at the same time, he recognized how much of that love he had extinguished by his own hand… and how much he'd need to change, and do, in order to right his wrongs, one by one. If only to cleanse himself bit by bit.

Not for any hope of forgiveness. But enough to be able to face the world by her side, and continue to make it better together.

The seasons rapidly changed, and just as the wounds on his body had, those afflicting his soul were also gradually being healed.

The years thus flew.

Until.

After many pleasant days passed by her side, the dragon king sensed something terrible.

…

At some point, with every passing day, the white-robed girl had begun to fade, growing ever ethereal as time stole her, bit by bit.

Finally, one day, she had eventually reached the point where she was on the verge of disappearing completely. Her white-as-jade face had grown sickly and even paler. Her eyes would alternate between periods of mindless blankness and precarious clarity. Finally, when she felt the last of her strength leave her and each breath to potentially be her last, she taught him one last lesson.

She told of a gargantuan oak, and how with its seeds it had birthed life in this land. She narrated how its descendants prospered in a peaceful land blessed by nature, loving creation back just as much. A truly Bright folk. And finally, she told of how long, long ago, one of those many seeds had been caught by the breeze and fell deep into a dark ravine, where the moonlight barely shined.

Nonetheless, the seed struggled. It basked in the moonlight and worked hard to sprout into a majestic albino oak.

Even when a mysterious being had passed by the mouth of the cavern and, without any apparent reason, had cursed the mouth of the grotto to block any light from seeping in, she was never discouraged. She strived to draw breath and live.

Because that, 'just' that, 'all' that, was what was most precious to her.

Life, for a better world to those who'd need it most.

Nonetheless, with nothing to feed on, the albino oak that had been living in the darkness was slowly withering away. Eventually, the worst was approaching. Any longer, and even that fighter that was resisting so fiercely would perish.

It was in those last moments of resignation.

A stream of tears, bursting with the remnant vitality of a Dragon, had soaked her roots.

It allowed the Albino Oak to recover even if only slightly, and her consciousness to manifest.

Taking the form of the white-robed woman, the albino oak's ego had therefore stepped out of the withered tree to finally share her warmth as per her greatest wish, and to do so with a person who appeared to need it most.

As time passed and She felt the enriching preciousness of his affection, She eventually let herself go in his embrace as he shyly leaned in to peck her lips.

Before her time was up, and that would eventually come to pass in the lightless cave, She wished to do her best to help her beloved! She knew first-hand of the gentleness and kindness that had bloomed in his heart: she had kept it for herself all these years she had passed beside him, long before they even became lovers. It took a while, but eventually, his heart had grown increasingly dazzling. Just being by him would wash away the pain of her life draining out.

And when he finally sang to her, with his voice as mellow and warm as a fireplace just before spring comes, that alone spruned her on to live one more day. One more month. One more year.

She felt reassured, in her choice, in him. And for the first time in her life, she experienced jealousy: how blessed was the World, who'll get to experience this man when she would be gone!

As he listened to her story, the dragon was gently clutching the fading consciousness of the albino oak close to his chest; unfortunately, in the end, no matter how tightly he squeezed, he could only watch his beloved slowly turn into fluttering white leaves, slowly carried away by the breeze, back towards the albino tree that had taken root deep within the cave.

The black dragon followed the leaves, long past the furthest he had ever walked with his hand in hers even after all these years.

Once there, he found her; the wilted Albino Oak. A vortex of white leaves accompanying its passing to the next world.

The black dragon in human form watched as he laid his sight upon the withering body of the one he had come to love and cried again. And as he cried, he felt her. He felt her lingering spirit, gently hugging him from the back. The scent of a grove in spring enveloped him, and the rustling of the leaves sang to him,

"You were once my moonlight in the darkness of this dark, gloomy cave. I'm glad I got to be the sun that rekindled the blaze in your heart."

And sure enough, as he heard those words, a feeling of warmth spread in his chest. The dragon smiled as one tear after the next streaked down his cheeks; those tears were extremely sweet, carrying with them all of his gratefulness and affection as they fell. The sound they made as they hit the cave floor turned into the only thing to be heard. During and afterwards, no other sound dared to echo out, unable to interrupt that one moment.

In his thoughts, all his wrath had turned into boundless love.

In his heart, the lands 'He' had once torn and ravaged had turned into a shining world he wished to make right together with her, hand in hand...

In his memories, the canvas of dreadful, inanimate, cold corpses wore their bright smiles. Alas, he finally smiled back. The sight of his countless victims filled out the horizon, looking over his actions with stern, distrustful gazes: he'd carry them the rest of his life as a cherished burden, and he'd gladly prove them wrong. And lastly, all memories of his enemies were drowned in the fog, and whenever he would look back, he knew he could ever only see one thing.

And that would be, a withered, wilted albino oak, that even in its last moments, was bright, beautiful, kind. Matchless.

As soon as the realization hit him, whatever last strand of hate, last lingering thought of revenge, was gone from his heart, the curse that had been binding the Black Dragon King into his human form slowly unravelled and shattered.

And in that silence, 'He' smiled. Bright.

End of the FOURTH ACT