Chapter 380: Warmth

Late Afternoon - Late Fall : The Cabinet | Eastern Bahamut

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"Oh my~," Hera spoke with a smile as I finally came in for a landing. "Look who's finally back~."

She noticed my presence from much farther away, but acted as if she only noticed as Mother looked up at me. *Fwooosh* *Fwoooosh-Fwoosh-Thump* "What has you in such a good mood?" I spoke warmly as I shrunk down to about thirty meters, the same size as Hera and Mother.

"Hoho~, how could I not be in a good mood? Just look at yourself~." Looking over at Mom, her grin widened with a hint of greed. "I told you that he would be fine, Zachari."

But she didn't seem to even notice. "W..What did I miss?" With a mix of awe woven into her voice, she never took her eyes off me. "Vasilias?"

Quickly walking over to her, my playful smile turned warm and I lowered my head to place it under her chin before gently laying down. "I'm back, Mom."

The worry instantly drained from her face as relief washed through her eyes. "I.. I thought you died..." But it was quickly drowned in panic. "W-What happened?!" Pulling her head off mine, she looked down my body in a hurry before tapping my horn. "You broke a horn?! Did you get in a fight?! Which bastard dared?!" She spoke through tears as the endless emotions pent up over the last few months were finally released.

-So the connection really did break...- A wave of guilt overtook my mind as I lowered my head to her chest.. but after a moment, a warm smile swept across my face. "I can explain, Mom... I can finally explain..." Looking at the firm, defined soul in her chest, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the endless warmth flowing from it.

It was the familiar warmth of Mother's presence.

A warmth that could thaw anything.. even a soul frozen by the pain of lives long past...

"V..Vasilias?" She paused, pulling up my head to look into my eyes before her panic eased. "You're.. really back?" She firmly gripped my arm as if afraid I would suddenly try and run away.

But there was no place I'd rather be.

With a gentle nod, her tears began flowing like a waterfall, and as I raised my head, she immediately lowered hers to rub her cheek against mine.

It felt good. I was finally back.

But Mother's grip on my arm only tightened. "You better tell me everything this time..." Pulling her head away to wipe her eye with the claw of her wing, an endless joy seeped into her voice. "I want to hear the full story."

My cheeks felt sore from smiling so much. "Okay... I promise I'll tell you everything, but..." I paused as I looked into her eyes. "I think it should wait until I can wake up Dad."

Her expression tensed for a moment. "Wake him.. up?"

I gently nodded. "If you can just give me a month, I'll accelerate his dragon sleep and wake him up."

She seemed shocked as she gave me a hesitant look, but after a moment, her gaze eased. "Okay... Right... All that matters is you're back." *Pat* Firmly pressing her forehead into mine, her tears seemed to stop, and her usual calm but confident demeanor began shining once more. "Hmhm~, but I think you should probably hide in the meantime."

Hearing her suppressed chuckle, I tilted my head. "Huh? What do you mean?" But as I looked up at her, I noticed her head deliberated held back, far away from me, with a nervous smile. -What on earth is she...-

*CRACKLE* -Huh?- Hearing the familiar crackle of hydrogen being ignited, I looked to my side, only to have my vision blocked by a thick white blanket. -Why is Mom holding a blanket...-

But that question was answered in an instant. "YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" *WHAAAAAAM* A furious yell met my ears as the blanket suddenly slammed into my nose with the weight of an entire dragon behind it.

It hit me so hard it knocked my head back, and to play along, I rolled onto my back, making it seem like she knocked me over.

But Mother, even though she seemed to be in on it, exploded. "KRYSTALLO! WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!"

"NO! HE MADE YOU CRY AGAIN! Why don't you ever discipline him like you do me?! Last time I made you worry, you grounded me for a whole week!" *Thump-Thump* She angrily stomped the underside of my head as she pouted at Mom.

But she wasn't having any of it. "You were hanging out with that troublemaker! Of course I grounded you!"

"He's just a friend Mom! What's the prob-"

Cutting her off, my wagging tail stopped sweeping over the ground and I lifted her off my face with my aura. "Excuse me? 'He'?"

But instead of shriveling up, her confidence only grew as if thinking I would take her side. "I made a friend recently, but Mom keeps trying to prevent us from hanging out! It's unfair! You get so much freedom!"

She had a fair point. "But I have that freedom because I'm strong."

Turning her angry gaze to me she shot a railgun bead at my nose, *CRACK* only for it to liquefy without leaving a scratch. "USELESSLY STRONG! But I'm the best in my class, so why can't I have anything..."

Looking over at Mom, she seemed to know what I was going to ask.

"The young boy she wants to hang out with has parents that were involved in the halfie rebellion-"

"HIS PARENTS, BUT NOT HIM!" Krystallo interupted.

But Mother quickly continued. "We suspect he may still have some ties with an.. unsavory group."

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY HE'S AN ORPHAN!"

Looking over at Hera, I found her wearing a shockingly serious expression.

She spoke eerily seriously as well. "It is actually possible. I've had the thunderbirds keeping a close eye on some select individuals recently, and his movements aren't exactly unconvincing."

-For Hera to be that serious...- "What's the group you think he's connected with?" I knew it had to be more serious than Krystallo just making a troublesome relationship.

"It's a cult that popped up about six months ago, when the apostles in Siratha suddenly went silent."

-A cult?- "Who are they worshipping?"

"We aren't sure." She spoke through a sigh. "All we know is that it's not anyone in the Aesir, nor you, Bahamut, or Myles.. although some people worshipping him have popped up."

-A god that isn't any of those?- "Do you have any ideas on who it could be?"

She gently nodded. "Have you heard of the 'God of the Deep'? It's the god of the merfolk."

-What?- "I vaguely know of it... Is that the god you think it is?" Seeing her nod, I tilted my head. "What are they doing for you to treat such an insignificant thing with caution?"

Her gaze instantly stiffened. "Is dragon's worshipping some unknown god out of the blue not.. odd to you?"

-Given the current state of Bahamut...- "Not at all." I spoke bluntly. "But, it may be worth looking into." -If it's a god that's alive, they could turn out to be pretty useful...- Looking up into Hera's eyes, I spoke nonchalantly. "You want to go check things out?"

Her gaze instantly eased as she tilted her head. "Are you going to come with me?" The moment I nodded, her expression lit up like a lightbulb. "Then of course~!"

*Thump* Throwing another metal bead at me, Krystallo tried to get my attention. "You better bring me with you this time..." She was already getting upset thinking I would decline like usual.

But this time... "I planned to bring you with me from the beginning. We'll see if your friend can give us a lead." Finally setting her down on my chest, I rolled my head back to relax. "But let's save that for later. I want to relax some for once..." Closing my eyes, I wanted to simply zone out.

But after just a moment, I felt a series of annoyed stomps on my chest. "Are you not going to tell me what happened? Where is Ilios? And why do you look so different?"

"Hahaha," Letting out a warm laugh, Hera quickly walked over before laying next to me. "Are you really going to pester your brother right after he returns?"

"YES!" *Stomp-Stomp* "He never tells me anything!" She sounded quite upset.

But it was as adorable as ever. "Krystallo, if I said I reincarnated myself, would you believe me?"

Mom instantly tensed up knowing I wouldn't lie like that, but Krystallo just angrily looked at me. "Tell me a more believable lie."

"Hmm.. how about, 'I finally stepped into the realm of godhood'?"

Opening my eyes to peek at her, I immediately found her glaring at me with an unamused look.

But it only made me want to laugh. "Haha, don't worry. I'll tell you everything in due time, I promise."

*Pat-Pat* Finally laying down on my chest, she gave me a dejected look before speaking softly. "That's what you always say..."

But I had nothing else to say. -It's just.. not the right time for you to know...-

To be completely honest, I still wasn't sure how much I was going to tell them. I wanted to tell Mother and Father everything, but at the same time, I wondered if ignorance was something they would prefer. -If I tell them about my previous lives, will they look at me like I was just a god that took the place of their child? Will they think I was acting..?-

At long last, I could finally be confident that I was me.. that my identity belonged to no one else.. but at the same time, thinking about telling Mother and Father the whole story made my chest burn.

"~You should tell them...~"

Hearing a voice, I slowly opened my eyes to find myself beneath the dark night sky, with Krystallo sleeping soundly on my chest, and Mother deep asleep with her head pressed into my side. "~So you know...~" Looking toward the voice, I immediately found myself in Hera's gaze.

"~I know the gist of it...~" She spoke with her divinity while keeping her eyes locked on mine. "~You finally got your memories back, didn't you...~"

"~Some of them...~" I continued as I looked up to the sky. "~A lot is still blurry...~"

As a slightly warm smile came to her face, she paused and lifter her head, following my gaze up to the stars. "~So, who is the person I'm talking to now?~"

"~Vasilias Ragnarok.~" I spoke bluntly. "~The memories I got back were of my past lives... Nothing more...~"

Looking back at me, her grin softened. "~Then what is there to worry about?~" Laying her head back down, she stared straight into my eyes. "~The affection you just showed her was more than enough evidence that you are her son. Unless you were acting, there's nothing to worry about.~"

Finally looking up at the sky again, I felt the need to sigh. "~I hope you're right...~"

But Hera simply nudged my cheek with her snout. *Tap* "~Just don't let it eat at you, okay? You wouldn't be this anxious if you didn't care for them, and I'm certain Zachari recognizes that.~"

"~I just...~" -I don't want to risk losing out on moments like this...- Feeling Krystallo's gentle heartbeat, the memories of standing over my Mother's body in my past life surfaced, and my chest clenched.

But after a moment of staring into my eyes, Hera's gaze softened and she started standing up. "~Since it seems like you want some time with your thoughts, I'll leave you to rest...~"

But I immediately stopped her. "~No...~" I spoke firmly before my tone softened. "~I'd like for you to stay...~"

It made her tone and gaze warm in an instant. "~Okay,~" Gently laying back down, she moved just a pinch closer to me before laying her head right next to mine. "~Then I won't go anywhere...~"

"Huff," I let out a breath as if holding back a chuckle before I turned my warm gaze back up to the sky.

For the first evening in what felt like countless millennia, I was able to rest with the warmth of others' affection and company filling my chest.

And before I knew it, with the melody of nature filling the air, and the gentle thump of Krystallo's heart on my chest, I fell into a sleep so deep that it didn't feel real...

It honestly felt like everything that had happened was part of an elaborate dream.. an endless illusion...

But even if that was the case, and it was all an illusion.. all a dream manifested by my mind's deepest desires.. it was a dream I never wanted to wake from.

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Sorry for all the delays recently! I've been busy with classwork recently, but it should be back to normal now :)

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

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