I kept walking without really knowing where I was going.

The forest thinned gradually, the density of trees giving way to open space. Then a sharp reflection struck my eyes, forcing me to raise a hand to shield them. Sunlight bounced off something ahead, bright and steady. I pushed through the last stretch of bushes and low branches, leaves brushing against my arms as I stepped forward.

A lake.

It spread out before me, vast enough that I couldn’t see the far end clearly, its surface shimmering under the midday sun like a sheet of glass. The water carried a faint green tint from the surrounding landscape, reflecting the trees and hills that encircled it. A few small wooden rafts drifted across the surface in the distance, guided slowly by poles or gentle currents. The entire place felt still, almost untouched, like it existed outside the rest of the world.

I remembered this place.

When I was younger, my father used to bring me here. Back then, everything had felt simple. Time felt endless. I thought I could do anything, experience everything, live without ever worrying about what it would cost.

Now I understood.

Nothing came without a price.

And more often than not, that price wasn’t yours alone to pay.

The wind brushed lightly across the water, sending small ripples outward. It should have felt peaceful. It should have helped.

It didn’t.

Then I heard it.

A faint, rhythmic sound breaking the stillness.

Water… splashing.

I frowned slightly and moved closer, stepping carefully over uneven ground as I approached the edge of the lake. The sound grew clearer with each step, deliberate but not frantic. Someone was there.

I slowed, instinct taking over, and lowered myself slightly as I neared a cluster of bushes along the shoreline. Through the gaps in the leaves, I saw her.

A girl.

She stood waist-deep in the water, her back partially turned toward me. Pale skin caught the sunlight, contrasting with her long black hair, which was loosely tied, strands clinging damply to her shoulders. The surface of the lake shifted gently around her as she moved, lifting water in her hands and letting it fall again in slow, quiet motions.

For a moment, I didn’t move.

Her eyes caught the light when she turned slightly, just enough for me to notice the color. Red.

Not the kind that reflected the sun.

The kind that stood out on its own.

I stayed where I was, half-hidden behind the brush, watching without fully understanding why. Maybe I should have left. Maybe I should have made my presence known.

But I didn’t.

She looked… calm.

Untouched by everything that had happened.

There was something about the way she moved, something controlled and deliberate, like even in something as simple as bathing, she carried a kind of discipline I couldn’t quite place.

And for a brief moment, something inside me loosened.

Not relief.

Not peace.

Just… distance.

Like I had stepped outside of my own thoughts, even if only for a second.

Maybe that was why I stayed.

Not because of her.

But because I needed something, anything, that wasn’t the weight I had been carrying since I woke up.

So I remained there, silent, watching the quiet surface of the lake ripple around her, pretending, just for a moment, that everything else didn’t exist.

Suddenly, I leaned forward, pushing a branch aside to get a clearer look.

It rustled.

A small sound. Barely anything.

But it was enough.

She turned instantly.

No hesitation. No confusion. Just a sharp, precise motion, like a blade snapping into place. Her gaze locked onto mine through the foliage, those red eyes cutting straight through the distance between us.

For a second, I couldn’t move.

There was nothing soft in that look. No surprise. No embarrassment.

Just awareness.

And something beneath it… something dangerous.

My breath caught. I stepped back instinctively, my foot slipping against loose dirt.

“Ah—”

The ground gave way.

I lost my balance completely, sliding down the small incline before I could catch myself. Leaves and soil shifted under me as I tried to grab onto something, anything, but my hand closed on nothing but air.

Then the world dropped.

Cold.

The water swallowed me whole, the impact knocking the air from my lungs as I sank beneath the surface. The shock hit instantly, sharp and overwhelming, dragging me down for a brief, disorienting moment. Sound disappeared, replaced by a dull pressure that pressed in from all sides.

I opened my eyes instinctively, the world turning into a blur of green and light above me.

Move.

My body reacted before my mind did. I kicked, forcing myself upward, arms cutting through the water.

Then, I touched something while ascending.
Something soft and round.

I knew what is was instantly.

I shoudn't have touched it.

I heard a slight cry from above the surface and from within the water, I saw pale arms rise upward, while feet were kicking away.

Of course, she was naked.

And I saw that. 

I guess that was the plan after all. Why else would I be standing there near the lake, looking at her?

I broke the surface with a sharp gasp.

Air rushed back into my lungs as I coughed, pushing wet hair out of my face. Water dripped from my clothes, clinging heavily to me as I tried to steady myself.

I saw her. Covering her chest with her arms. 

Her face was flushed, staring at me. It was kind've cute in a way.

"Idiot." She said.

For a second, I just floated there, breathing hard.

***

I sat there on the edge of the lake, knees pulled up, arms wrapped around them, trying to make myself as small as possible. My face was buried against my arms, partly to hide the burning embarrassment, partly to avoid looking anywhere in her direction. My clothes lay a few feet away on a rock, dripping slowly under the sun like they were mocking me for the whole situation.

Brilliant, Rhys. Truly dignified.

Of all the ways this day could get worse, I somehow managed to fall into a lake in front of a girl. Not just a girl, but that girl. She looks like her. Or… maybe not? I didn’t even know anymore.

I exhaled slowly, trying to calm myself down.

Then I heard footsteps behind me.

Light. Unhurried.

I turned my head just enough to look, and immediately regretted it.

She walked past me and sat down beside me as if nothing had happened, a simple towel wrapped around her body. The fabric clung slightly where it was still damp, outlining just enough to make my brain short-circuit for a second. Her posture was relaxed, composed, like she owned the entire lake and everything around it.

I snapped my head back down so fast my neck almost cracked.

Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look.

From the corner of my vision, I could still see her though. Up close, the details became clearer. Her skin wasn’t entirely human. It looked smooth at first glance, but when the sunlight hit it just right, tiny scales shimmered beneath the surface. Subtle, but unmistakable. Her ears were slightly longer than a human’s, elegant in a way that only made her look even more… other.

And her eyes.

Even without looking directly, I could feel them.

“Want to take a deeper look?” she asked.

My entire body tensed. “Oh no, no, absolutely not,” I said quickly, waving one hand in panic while still refusing to lift my head. “I’m deeply sorry. That was not intentional. I repeat, not intentional.”

Smooth. Very smooth.

She didn’t respond immediately. I risked a glance.

She had already turned her attention back to the lake, as if I wasn’t even worth the effort.

That somehow made it worse.

“Humans are creatures with powerful desires,” she said calmly. “That much I knew. And you just confirmed that.”

I blinked.

Humans?

“What do you mean?” I asked, finally lifting my head slightly, though I still avoided looking at her directly.

“You went straight for the goal. Even in the water.”

“…That was not a goal,” I said flatly. “That was me trying not to drown.”

Her tone didn’t change. “You moved very directly for someone ‘panicking.’”

“I slipped!” I protested, turning toward her now despite myself. “I know how to swim, alright? It’s just—falling into a lake unexpectedly tends to make the body react like it’s about to die. It’s called instinct.”

She tilted her head slightly, considering that.

“It’s interesting,” she said. “You understand that you were not in danger, yet your body ignored that knowledge.”

I frowned. “That’s… normal.”

“For humans, perhaps.”

I paused.

“What?”

She finally turned to look at me fully.

That was a mistake.

Up close, her face was… unfair. There was no other way to put it. Sharp, refined features, those red eyes steady and unwavering, her expression calm to the point of being almost intimidating. There was nothing soft or clumsy about her presence. Everything about her felt controlled, precise.

And then there was me. Sitting in my underwear. Wet. Covered in lake water. Probably leaves too.

Fantastic contrast.

“You are different,” she said. “From the humans I’ve seen.”

I blinked. “That doesn’t sound reassuring.”

“You have an Eidolon at your age,” she continued, as if listing observations. “You had the resolve to act against a predator far stronger than you. And yet…”

Her gaze flicked over me once, briefly.

“…you also carry the impulses of a grown man.”

I coughed. “Okay, that last part was unnecessary.”

Well, she’s not wrong, a voice in my head added helpfully.

I ignored it.

“What do you mean, I saved you?” I asked, narrowing my eyes slightly.

She turned toward me again, her gaze steady.

“In that underground place,” she said. “You stood in front of me. Then… you didn’t.”

I frowned.

“One moment you were there,” she continued. “The next, I was on your back, being carried away. I do not recall you crossing that distance. Nor do I recall how you avoided him. Unless I lost grip of reality for a moment...”

My heartbeat picked up slightly.

It can't be...

“I saw the result,” she replied. “Not the action.”

That made my chest tighten.

“You possess something unusual,” she said quietly. “An ability that bends time, or movement, or both.”

I stayed silent.

She figured it out?

Then her eyes narrowed just slightly.

“…Which means,” she added, “you are the one who took me out of that place.”

I stared at her.

No way.

My gaze moved over her again, properly this time. Her height. Her build. The way she carried herself.

“That doesn’t make sense,” I muttered. “You’re not…”

Not the same.

The girl I carried had been smaller. A child, about my age.

This person in front of me looked nothing like that.

She had form. An adult form. It was easy to see from where I was.

I even touched it underwater.

She caught the shift in my expression immediately.

"I know where you're looking." She said.

I immediately turned away.

“You’re comparing me to what I was,” she said.

I froze.

“…You are,” I said slowly.

She held my gaze.

“My body regenerates,” she said simply.

My stomach dropped slightly.

“…You’re that girl.”

“Yes.”

There was no hesitation in her answer.

I leaned back slightly, processing that.

The same girl I had carried out, half-dead, barely conscious…

…was now sitting next to me like nothing had ever happened.

And calling me out for being a pervert.

I let out a slow breath, dragging a hand down my face.

“…I need a moment,” I muttered.

She said nothing.

Of course she didn’t.

And somehow, that silence felt heavier than anything she’d said so far.

“How?” I asked, still trying to wrap my head around it. “You had no skin. You were barely alive. And now you look like… this.”

I gestured vaguely toward her, then immediately regretted it and looked away again.

She didn’t react to that. Of course she didn’t. Instead, she kept her eyes on the lake, calm as ever.

“You don’t know what Dragonites are,” she said.

She wasn’t wrong. The only thing I knew came from a psychopath who saw people as livestock, which wasn’t exactly a reliable source of education.

“There is a reason we are among the most hunted in this world,” she continued. “Especially by humans.”

There it was again.

Humans.

She said it like it was a separate category entirely. Which, I guess, it was… just not one I was used to being on the other side of.

“Dragonites are a subspecies,” she went on. “Descendants of a union between dragons and humans. That mixture gives us a human appearance… with draconic capabilities.”

I blinked. “So you’re telling me you’re basically… a walking legend?”

She ignored that.

“One of those capabilities is regeneration.”

“Regeneration?” I repeated. “As in… what, you just grow everything back?”

“Yes.”

“That’s it?” I frowned. “No limits? No downside? That sounds completely unfair.”

“There are limits,” she said calmly. “My body reduces itself to preserve energy. It minimizes functions to prioritize recovery. That is how I survived.”

A pause.

“…While I was being skinned alive.”

I winced. “Right. Yeah. That part is still horrifying, by the way.”

She didn’t respond.

I scratched the back of my head, trying to process it. “So basically, you went into some kind of… survival mode, shrank down, and then rebuilt yourself from scratch?”

“Yes.”

“…That’s insane.”

“It is necessary.”

I let out a slow breath. “Still doesn’t explain why anyone would go that far. I mean, yeah, you’re rare, but—”

“Dragonite bodies have value,” she interrupted.

Of course they do.

“Humans use our scales for armor and clothing,” she continued. “Our flesh can be consumed as a physical enhancement. It increases strength and stamina permanently.”

Meat steriods. Great.

I stared at her.

“…So you’re telling me people eat you for buffs?”

She tilted her head slightly. “I don’t know what a ‘buff’ is.”

“Yeah, that tracks.”

I rubbed my face. “That’s… ridiculous. And disturbing. Mostly disturbing.”

“And our blood,” she added, “acts as a healing agent. For humans.”

I let out a dry laugh. “Of course it does. Why wouldn’t it? Might as well complete the set.”

Then it clicked.

“…Seven hundred thousand gold,” I muttered. “Yeah. That makes sense now.”

She turned her head and looked at me.

Really looked at me.

Then, completely seriously, she asked, “Would you like to eat me?”

My brain stopped.

Just… completely shut down.

There was a solid two seconds where I genuinely had no idea how to respond to that.

“Wha— No— I mean— Why would you even ask that?” I said, stumbling over my own words.

“You acknowledged my value,” she replied. “It is a logical question.”

“That is not a logical follow-up!” I shot back. “That’s a concerning follow-up!”

She just kept staring at me, waiting.

I dragged a hand down my face.

“Honestly?” I sighed. “Yeah, I’d like to eat you.”

Silence.

I felt the weight of what I just said hit me a second too late.

“…Not like that,” I added quickly. “Not in the ‘cut you into pieces and make soup’ kind of way. I mean, actually, no, that sounds worse—forget I said anything.”

She didn’t react.

At all.

I groaned and leaned back slightly. “What I meant is—you’re… you know… attractive. That’s all. That’s it. End of sentence. No cannibalism involved.”

Another pause.

“…Humans are complicated,” she said.

“I am not helping that stereotype, am I?”

“No.”

I sighed, staring out at the lake again. “Great.”

After a while, I stared back at her, while she was gazing the lake.

"I'd eat you whole and all for myself. Without leaving anything." I said to myself.

She looked back at me, with that penetrating gaze. I quickly looked away.

"Pervert." She said.

Yeah, she wasn't wrong.