With his job nearly completed, the doctor’s hand turned into that of some sort of part of a sea slug and lightened algae was written down on the paper, providing words to make up his medicine for the girl.

That wasn’t the only strange, creature thing that happened, as colors went up the arm of the doctor and his face even showed a color, as though it had shot all the way up his arm and then his neck…

Through this, Duke realized what kind of doctor he was and didn’t think that he would find one of them here!

A Sea Slug was more known for poisons!

No wonder the doctor was able to state that the girl had not been poisoned!

 

Duke looked at the doctor in contemplation, “I thought this place was made nearly entirely of the wolf creatures.”

The doctor smirked, “I am but a traveler, My Lord. I have only been here for two months and was going to move on in another month.”

Duke eyed the doctor and smirked, “Looking for more plants?”

Nodding, the doctor shook his hand and it became normal once again, then he took a bottle from his side and drank quite a decent amount of water.

“Very well.” Duke turned to the girl and did not have the heart to intrude on her space of attempting to try to calm her down…Instead, he spoke to the other in the room, “Food. Bring some food…”

“Yes, My…Lord?” The person stated, unsure upon who this person was, but still wanted to follow the doctor and how he had pronounced this person.

“Go then!” Duke stated, becoming impatient.

Perhaps the girl will feel better after she has eaten…

 

 

As he waited for food to arrive, Duke couldn’t figure out anything about the girl that was slowly looking better.

Her flushed cheeks had slowly disappeared, and her trembling hands no longer trembled but…Her distant look had not been broken.

He didn’t even know how rude he was being, as he watched those eyelashes of hers and any other slight movement elsewhere, like her ears and mouth.

Knowing that he knew nothing of the girl and that it was weird to feel so…Attracted to her, he tried to look away, but had found himself staring at her all over again…

After another short time, his eyes found her bag and he picked it up, not seeing any type of difference in the girl from doing so.

Not wanting to impede upon her personal business, Duke sat there, with the bag on his lap, wondering if it was alright to peek into it.

 

He wanted to know more about her and preferred she speak but…Since she didn’t speak and was looking out to what looked so far from where they were currently, Duke slowly opened the bag.

He didn’t scrummage through it, just peeked in with his eyes and as much as he wanted to put a hand in there and take everything out, he stopped himself.

Seeing some clothes, then a book, with nothing else in sight, but knowing there was more underneath, Duke closed the bag and put it back down.

The book, he wondered, could it be a diary?

The clothes were like the ones she was wearing now, looking like she could hike in them…Perhaps, he thought, this is all she carried on the way here from Questro…

 

Does she eat on the way? Does she have any money?

Since Sharlae was in charge of her, is all she does is say a name and she gets given whatever she needs?

Briefly, he finally wondered about Sharlae and how she had sent someone to find his Phoenix.

Out of everything that she’d ever done, this was probably the nicest thing…

Perhaps he was too hard on her…

It was just, his dragon sense didn’t like her. Whether it was because he knew she wasn’t the Phoenix, or of his intuition to know that Sharlae wasn’t a woman he generally like anyway, he didn’t know.

 

Remembering that Sharlae had just been sick, and was practically thrown out from the room, Duke sighed and thought that he should at least give his thanks for supplying him with someone whom had found something about his Phoenix.

But…Does she know much more? When will this girl jump out of her trance!?

Sighing, Duke sat there…Just like the girl…In his own trance as he stared at her once again…

What was it about her…

A minute later, food came and was set up on top of the table.

Calling the girl didn’t work but as soon as he got into some small distance of her, she flinched and finally looked up at him.

“Food, come and eat!” Duke stated, relieved and upset at the same time. Relieved that she was out of her trance but upset because he wanted the chance to touch her.

He wanted to know why he was attracted to her, why he wanted to put her into a cave…Why he felt like she was a treasure! He also felt that if he could only touch her, perhaps see what that was like, maybe questions might be answered.

If only he could but…If she flinched like this every time, he just couldn’t bare to do something without her consent…Yet, this was the first time that he willingly wanted to touch the opposite sex…

 

Watching the girl sitting across from him again and slowly begin to eat silently, Duke put some of the food into his own mouth as well but wasn’t tasting it at all.

She was only about fifteen…He thought. Fifteen…Give or take, so she wouldn’t have a creature yet. Perhaps I could help her with the Physical Realm, to get her ready for Creature Realm. Three years is plenty of time to get her ready to pull out her creature, and I could help her with it…

She coughed, getting his attention once again and then she had a drink.

Unable to keep his gaze away, he watched her every move and didn’t realize how uncomfortable he was making her.

Perdita looked up and gazed right back at him.

All this time she was trying to handle the new situation. Right now, though, she really wondered what this man was thinking about!

Taking in her eyes…Duke felt like he lost his soul…

 

He had been stuck on Immortal Realm for so long yet…He felt some type of loosening on the seal upon obtaining the Ascension Realm…It wasn’t anything big, but it was noticeable, and Duke blinked to this sudden realization.

He had taken a very long time to find out that Ascension Realm wasn’t something that one could do on their own, no…Ascension Realm was merging, accepting, becoming one with another. It was like all the Realms added up but doing it twice and with someone else.

Connecting through Physical Realm together, knowing each other strengths and be able to sync to the other by knowing how much to rely on each other for certain things. Then, connecting through Creature Realm, where both creatures accept the other, where both creatures also know their gifts and talents and are also able to sync together. Then, with Mental Mind Realm, a bond is made through both minds, and minds of that of the creatures as well, where even speaking out loud may not have to be used. It is said, in quite an old book, that Mental Mind Realm can be quite a challenge because of a person’s mind is known to be complex.

And then, there was Immortal Realm, where all the previous Realms are connected and the bond and link between the two people are everlasting…

 

Duke had seen the implications of Ascension Realm almost straight away, as someone else may be completely different to him, but…Here he was, feeling a slight change, as it was a chance to advance up to Ascension Realm with someone other than his Phoenix…

He wasn’t sure how they had just connected, but they had!

Was it because he and his dragon wanted to hide her away, was it because he liked staring at her? Was it possible, that she too felt a connection? Could she feel anything, even if she wasn’t in Creature Realm, yet alone Mental Mind Realm or Immortal Realm?

How could this be possible!?

Mixed feelings went through him then. He had been waiting for such a long time…Yet he knew, still, that he was very loyal to his Phoenix…Was it wrong for him to feel like he wanted to advance further?

But…Wouldn’t that mean that he was betraying his Phoenix?

Not only did Duke feel like he’s lost his soul to this girl’s eyes, but he was lost in spirit as well…What should he do!?

The loosening of the seal was like type of acknowledgement that this girl…This girl could bring him to Ascension Realm, and he could help her make it there as well…

In all his years, this girl had been the only one to loosen the seal…

 

As Duke stared in a complete daze at Perdita, Perdita cleared her throat and looked away. “Do you want to know more about your Phoenix?”

Duke blinked and took a breath, not having a clue upon how much time went by, “…Yes, tell me!”

His words were a bit strict, as he remembered about his Phoenix, yet doing what he was doing woke him up.

“Edna. Edna had a dolphin creature and she went with your Phoenix when she was born, to another place.”

Duke nodded, it would make more sense if the newly born Phoenix had been taken away.

Going to his books, he put a hand over them and searched for this ‘Edna’, finding her in no time because he also knew of her creature, as well as knowing that she had a connection with Brendon Ball.

So, in no time, this ‘Edna’ was in front of him and he not only noticed that her death had not been written down, but also that she had left Brendon Ball’s residence at a good trusting time to when his Phoenix was first born.

“You’re right, tell me what happened to this Edna. Where is the place that this Edna went?”

 

Duke got out a map and spread it out over the table, moving the food to the side and nearly knocking it over the edge.

He heard a startled gasp and looked at Perdita, who was looking at the food nearly falling, and he fixed it up, so that it wouldn’t fall.

Is she like this always?

Suddenly, he wanted to talk to anyone that knew of this girl and see if they would be able to tell him what was going on with her. It was clear that she has gone through some trauma, just by the way she acted…Perhaps Sharlae had been treating her wrong…

“Here.”

Duke looked down and saw her finger right near water, away from the royal palace in Questro.

He pointed too, at the same spot, and looked up at her, “Here?”

The girl nodded, “Edna went there with your Phoenix.”

Duke wanted to believe it. Not only because the girl spoke like she was stating fact but…Because she was the one that said it…

Perhaps that was the reason on the seal loosening, Duke thought, as he could feel himself trusting her now completely.

 

Duke nodded, “Are you sure? Do you know what happened to Edna? Did she have any children?”

Perdita looked back up to him and shook her head and Duke had the want to pat her, whether it was to because she had done a good job or whether it was because he just wanted to touch her again, he didn’t know.

“Then, do you know anything else?” Duke asked, he hoped she knew, he hoped that he had a reason to keep her by his side.

“Edna…Died. She is buried there.”

The girl looked unexplainably saddened, making Duke narrow his eyes, “If she died, what happened to my Phoenix?”

Perdita looked up and frowned, “What would you have done?”

Duke raised his eyebrows, “What do you mean?”

Perdita sighed and pointed back to the capital, “If I were in the same position, I’d go and find my father!”

Widening his eyes in realization, Duke looked at her finger on the map and nodded, “She went back? She had no one? So, she went back? How do you know?”

Perdita let out a small smile and looked away, “I found traces upon a girl that was taken to work at a residence. A girl was taken around that time and then she had run away later, look up a name of Kendra.”

 

“Kendra?” Duke asked, going to his books once again and doing what he had just done with ‘Edna’.

After a short moment, Duke frowned and looked back at the girl, “There are missing facts about this Kendra!”

Looking back down, to what was written from the search of Kendra, all he got was that she had worked at the Ball’s residence until she was eighteen…And then there was nothing…

Nothing was stated upon where she was born, when she was born and why she had only come to the Ball’s residence when she was already a teenager.

“As I said, she left to go back home but on the way there, she got taken to work at another house. She then ran away, to arrive at the Ball’s residence.”

Duke frowned and finally realized that if this was truth…His Phoenix had already been getting abused before she had become a teenager!

Working!? His Phoenix had…To work…At an age earlier then thirteen!?

 

But…Even so, even if his Phoenix was this Kendra, then what happened to her when she…

Duke widened his eyes, to see that she was eighteen and realized that must have been the time that she had gotten enslaved!

Looking up to Perdita, she then nodded. “The Mosquito King.”

Yes, Duke thought, I remember!

The link between his Phoenix and himself had only lasted for a short amount of time and the one that had enslaved her had been the Mosquito King.

Duke sat back down in a huff and put his head in his hands, “I never thought that she’d already gone through so much before she had gotten her creature out. Then, after she got her creature out, she went through so much and I wouldn’t know how to approach her…”

Perdita looked at the Dragon King and didn’t know how to feel…

 

If she didn’t have a master, if she didn’t have such a horrible couple of lives, would she openly state who she is now?

This man was obviously unhappy and had wanted to help his Phoenix, yet, she had no idea on how he could help her when she had so little likeness towards people in general.

If he had a way to break an enslavement, that would be nice, but who has the power to do that? She thought.

And, even if he has the power to break an enslavement, would he have enough power to do it for a Phoenix?

Hang on…She thought…

Wasn’t there something about the lightning, all that time ago?

When she had died the first time, it had been about two years after being enslaved once again that she had heard that lightning was cutting off connections between a master and slave…So…Is that what she should look for then? Lightning?

 

It all seemed useless to Perdita and she sighed. How was she going to call forth lightning!?

Well, she could at least look into it, then…Perhaps…Perhaps after she knows she can be strong enough on her own, and perhaps like people again, she could come back to this man…

Would he wait? Would he wait for me to do that? She wondered, looking at the Dragon King for a short moment, before looking away.

He’d already waited for so long…

Now, it was only now that he was finding out more about his Phoenix’s first life, and, it’s the Phoenix telling him, how ironic…

 

This was really strange…She was telling him about her life, yet she had no courage to state that she was indeed the Phoenix, which might help, or make things worse.

The woman that had enslaved her was vicious and powerful enough to cage up the Phoenix…If she were to do something that the woman didn’t want her to do…It probably did not look like a good ending.

Even though she doesn’t die, unless it was a knife to the heart, there are more horrible things that Perdita was scared off…And that was torture…

Pain, she hated pain…

Remembering the torture that she had gone through, Perdita shivered. How could she willingly put herself to the chance of having that happen to her again?

 

It might be stupid to not say anything but…Perdita didn’t know if she trusted him anyway.

She didn’t want to trust anyone…There had only been a few people in her life’s that had treated her well and much much more who hadn’t…It was much easier if she didn’t trust anyone and didn’t expect anything, because then if someone was to fail her, she wouldn’t be so surprised. She learnt that lesson enough times already!

All she knew…Was that she wanted to fill in some gaps of the Phoenix for the Dragon King…Perhaps help him see how much she’s endured and well…He wanted to know so badly and perhaps that helped her make her want to tell him!

She didn’t know if she wanted him to feel sorry for her, perhaps it was so though, because she did feel like complaining to him for some reason…

Beyond that though, Perdita didn’t know…After she fills in some gaps on his Phoenix for him, will he not want her anymore?

 

Perhaps she was just waiting for it…Waiting for him to give up or get disgusted…Especially since she had been with other men and had worked so much. She still had the mentality of a slave, even though she did much of what she had pleased in this lifetime, but she still did whatever was asked of her, without ever saying ‘no’ or thinking that she shouldn’t. It’s just that, this wolf clan doesn’t ask her to do too much, which is why she hadn’t felt like such a slave recently.

Perdita was sure that the Dragon King, an Alpha, would not appreciate his other half to feel like this, so…How could she even consider that being by his side right now was going to be ok?