Chapter 90: Fated Paths

    Entering the dream this time is a lot less awkward than the first; the moment she closes her eyes in bed, Jasper’s magic whisks her consciousness away. When she opens them again, she’s standing in a forest, not the one from Meti’s memory but a new one full of smoke trees bearing vibrant red leaves. Their striking hue glimmers under the setting sun as she tries to find her way. From prior experience, she knows she should be feeling a subconscious pull towards where she needs to be for the memory to play out. Her intuition leads to a lone campfire a few feet away from the roots of a giant old tree.
    Seven shadows extend toward the flame: two females and four males, while the last is shrouded in mist like a phantom. The broad Beastman in the group must be Henley, Anya’s father. They both bear the same gray wolf tail and ears. He appears to have a cheerful personality, gesturing wildly while telling jokes to the rest. The other male is turned away from the group, his face hidden by his hood, but she can see a hint of red eyes peeking through; he must be Daymon. She immediately recognizes her father and Jasper, though David looks much thinner than she recalls. The young dragon’s appearance is also different, arrogantly flaunting his red dragon horns, claws, and tail without a care for disguise. The two are seated far apart, distant, yet with a heavy undercurrent of tension rolling between them. If she didn’t already know the full story, she might have mistaken their strange dynamic for mutual dislike.

She expected them to be much closer at the time, but David’s eyes were constantly glued to the fair-skinned elf softly whispering to the other female in the group. She realizes the stunning blonde elf laughing modestly at the joke could only be Folami, Ariellia’s birth mother. There’s no denying the uncanny similarities between them. While the spoilt heiress may have gotten her father’s unique eyes, skin, and curly hair, she certainly took after her mother in everything else.

   “You never did get to see her while she was alive, did you?”

“Uncle Jasper, Rei, you’re here.”

  She turns to see Jasper and Rei emerging from the forest’s depths behind her. She’d been curious about their whereabouts at the beginning, wondering why they couldn’t all appear at the same place and time in the dream. There may be more rules to the spell than she originally thought. Perhaps because this is Jasper’s memory, they don’t have to play the part of an active participant. This memory wasn’t given to him by others, so they can only go with his version of events. It would have been nice if she could see things from Folami’s perspective; perhaps then she might understand what the crazy light elf was thinking, bold enough to steal a dragon lord’s fate in his presence.

“Your mothers were always close during the expedition. It nearly broke Vaiya’s heart to hear of Folami’s death. Daymon told me she cried herself to sleep for several nights.” The older dragon lord watches the scene with a soft fondness in his cool scarlet eyes.

Back then, they were so young and boastful. No one could stop their quest to slay the demon lord and his minions. As they grew in fame and strength, so did their enemies, but that never stopped them. Once their goal was achieved, naturally they all had to part ways. Daymon returned to the capital hand in hand with Vaiya to reclaim his birthright as King. The scandal of his dubious birth washed away by the loud cheers for their new war hero. Henley, ever the loyal knight, sought to stay by Vaiya’s side at the capital, only to mysteriously disappear a year later. David naturally returned to his Fiefdom to rule with Folami…while he wasted his days searching for what had always been right under his nose the entire time.     

“My mother…”

Rei looks lost and a bit upset as his red eyes begin to tear up at the first sight of his mother. This is someone he should know, the person his heart has been longing for all his life. Yet it’s bittersweet that their first meeting would be this way, through a mere shadow of a memory rather than in real life. His heart is pounding in his ears, his hands tremble at his sides, but there is nothing he can do. She can’t even see him.

A modest beauty dressed in white armor, holding a mace, with long raven hair braided like a Valkyrie and flawless fair skin similar to his. Her warm smile is enough to move many stone-cold hearts. The quiet wisdom in her lovely gray-blue eyes is enough to compel any fool to seek guidance. In a group full of demi-humans, she is the sole pure human. She doesn’t appear to be the most outspoken, but it's clear her approval matters to the group. It’s obvious from how she pacifies them, mediating between parties with natural compassion, that she is the glue keeping all the sharp edges together.

“You know, little moonshine, she was there to perform your blessed rites right after you were born. In fact, so were you, Rei. At the time, you were both just babies, of course.”

‘This is news to me; I do not recall this.’ In the seal, the real Ariellia is shocked by this new piece of information. To think their fated paths crossed so many times before.

“Wow.”

Perhaps the oracle Arie met at the capital wasn’t a complete charlatan, bent on scaring little girls into taking reckless action. Eren is starting to believe there might be more to it now.

“Yet there is still one I do not know…a stranger too cowardly to show their face.” Jasper slowly walks towards the seventh member. The others do not react to his presence at all, continuing to talk and laugh amongst themselves. His hand morphs into slender, elongated claws as he reaches into the mist, ready to forcefully rip the other’s glamour apart. Yet his hand is stopped by an invisible barrier inches away; no matter how hard he tries to press down, it’s not enough. Vexed that someone would dare to plant a hex in his mind, the dragon lord throws his head back. Searing flames rise from his lungs, ready to burn through everything if that’s what it takes.

“Uncle Jasper, stop!”

She doesn’t know why, but at that moment, she knows it’s a trap for the dragon lord. Using such offensive force on one’s own memory is bound to leave lasting damage. It’s the perfect way to take down an indomitable being like a dragon from within. In fact, for the enemy, this might be the only way. Admetus managed to survive an ambush by two dragon hunters. It was his own decision that drove him mad in the end. What if this is the same? It’s not a chance Eren’s willing to take. He likes this charitable uncle too much to see him go insane.

“She’s right, something feels off. Why would they make it so obvious? They’re clearly trying to bait you!” Rei agrees. Perhaps he’s just a selfish bastard; even if it’s only a memory shade, he’d rather not see his mother engulfed in dragon flames.

“Even if what you say is true, do you know how unsettling it is to know someone planted a false memory in your mind? To be barred from the truth when it's right here!” The dragon lord’s gold eyes glare into the misty fog where a face should be. His hand is so tightly clenched into a fist that it draws fresh blood. Both Ariellia and Eren can feel the frustration rolling off him; they understand what he means better than most, but they don’t want to risk him running mad like his father. Ariellia walks over to him, gently pulling back his hand until it reverts to that of a normal human.

“I know. I promise we will find another way to uncover the truth. I will search the castle’s entire library for a spell to undo this…trust me.”

“Che fine, it’s not worth it anyway. Why would I want to ruin a perfectly good memory for a lonely weakling too scared to show their face.” His cold gold eyes never leave the foggy silhouette. His deceptive smile might fool others, but Ariellia knows there’s too much teeth to it. He absolutely wants to tear the other to shreds, sanity be damned. He’s only stopping for their sake, to avoid showing them something too graphic that might scare them.  

“Tsk, too bad, I had hoped you’d fall for it with that temper of yours.”