Simo

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With my father gone, I was left behind with my grandmother whose mood seemed to sour. She didn't say anything for a while and I didn't dare speak either. The strength she showcased when my father was here was still fresh in my mind causing me to subconsciously tense up in her presence. 

The silence prevailed for what seemed to be a few minutes, with grandmother seemingly lost in thought before she finally sighed and turned her gaze towards me. I unconsciously raised my head to meet her gentle eyes as she looked to be smiling while looking at me. 

'Maybe she's not that bad after all?' I inwardly mumbled. From her conversation with my father, I could at least have a rough guess about her stance and personality. She seemed to be a firm believer in the freedom of choice and did not like the trial that my father decided for me since It was meant for me to develop a hostile stance against the humans. 

'What she doesn't like seems to be only that, the fact that my father is trying to influence my opinion of the humans due to some grudge he and grandfather had against them. Still, I can't believe Amanita is involved in all of this, what a small world,' I inwardly noted as I recalled that ancient battlefield with countless gigantic corpses surrounding that enormous dragon skeleton. 

'I wonder how he's doing?' I mumbled, It had been a while since I last visited the poison dragon who only had his soul space left. 'Does father and grandfather know that? Or do they think he's already dead completely?' I wondered. 

It was then that grandmother's voice carried over, bringing me out of my chain of thought. "What are you thinking so hard about, little Aether?" She asked with a chuckle. Hearing that, I hesitated for a second before ultimately deciding to ask. "Grandmother, Is Amanita you and father mentioned a poison dragon?" 

Hearing my question, grandmother's eyes flashed for a second before she nodded in confirmation. "You would be correct, he 'was' a powerful poison dragon," She corrected me to which I nodded In understanding before I carefully asked, "So he died?" 

To that, grandmother sighed as she turned her gaze to glance at the distance with a glossy look in her eyes before she replied. "Physically, yes he is dead," Hearing that, my eyes sparkled as I quickly asked. "Only physically? So he's not completely dead, right?" 

Bringing her gaze back to me, grandmother's mouth curved upwards in a smile as she asked. "So you met the old dragon?", I was momentarily surprised by her question before I carefully nodded choosing not to hide anything from her. "Yes, I was sucked into his soul space when I stepped inside his skeleton," 

Hearing that, a sad expression made its way to grandmother's face as she removed her wing from around me and slowly made her way upstream. She turned to glance at me, ushering me to follow with her head, to which I swiftly did. We continued our walk in silence, the mood heavy as we followed the stream. 

Not long after, we quickly reached its source. "Woah," I gasped softly as I glanced at the beautiful scenery that extended before my eyes. A whirring aquarium-blue waterfall was drizzling onto the rocks below forming a varnish clear bliss-pool at the bottom. Fronds of forest-green plants waved gently in the depths. The sweet smell of the flowers perked up my spirits as I stood there in silence taking In the picture-perfect scenery. 

Grandmother didn't say anything and instead continued her walk as there appeared to be a cave under the arch of the waterfall. I watched in surprise as she plunged into it before I quickly followed behind her. The watery slide we passed through was cold yet refreshing causing a tingle to run down my scales as I entered the cave. 

The abyssal curtain of darkness that greeted me at first caused me to pause before my senses were fully attuned. The air was moldy and rank, probably due to the hundreds of fish bones that littered the cave. Grandmother didn't stop as she continued making her way towards the somewhat soothing darkness at the back of the cave. 

'Sidus would definitely love this place,' I inwardly noted as I followed after her. We continued walking for what seemed like a few minutes at the very least, leaving the swollen noise of the waterfall behind. Not long after, a light appeared in the distance which surprised me. 'An exit?' I mumbled. 

Walking through It, I was forced to squint my eyes as the sun rays assaulted my eyes, followed by the sounds of birds chirping, once I adjusted to the sudden glare of the sun, I found out that we stumbled upon an umber-brown primitive forest. The grass cracked beneath my feet as I felt in awe of the size and majesty of the trees. 

Even with my relatively large frame, the trees seemed to rise upwards as far as my head could lift. It was then that the orchestra of birdsong we could hear suddenly stopped as we made our way through the forest. 

I felt as If I was being watched, every sprawling tree we passed under felt like a silent sentinel, a watchful guardian as we made our way through the old forest. The further we went the more mystical and magical It became. Thick foliage formed an arch of fairytale-green above our heads.   

We soon arrived at a wide glade where the trees fell, revealing the clear blue sky above. A large obsidian rock that looked almost like a throne stood in the middle. Grandmother leisurely made her way towards It and settled on top before she turned her gaze towards me. 

"Welcome to my home, little Aether," She said, causing me to bow in respect before I replied. "It is my honor, grandmother," She chuckled sweetly at my response before she answered. "No need to be so stiff around me dear," She said, yet I dared not act rashly, I still remembered her burying father's face in the ground because he lacked respect when talking to her, and I wasn't going to test her limits. 

"So, you met Amanita, how was he?" She suddenly asked, changing the subject. I didn't quite know how to reply to that as a strange expression made Its way to my face, "He was, different?" I said to which grandmother laughed out loud. 

"True, he was always a weird one," She added with a distant look on her face before she continued with a sad smile. "Amanita was my brother, little Aether," My mind momentarily blanked as I did not know how to respond to the sudden revelation. 

"And he was your grandfather's best friend," She added with a sigh.