(Zeki) “Erk, bloody hell orangey! The cold up here is turning me British, what the fuck is this?”

(Ariza) “Uh huh… it’s really cold”

(Asmodeus) “Heh, you two really don’t handle extreme weather conditions well it seems. This is nothing compared to the winters back in hell”

(Petra) “Have to agree with them a little Ikarus. Heh, this is bad as that time you teleported us to Penelope’s tower in the middle of the ice age”

“Look at all you lot being the moaners today, it’s not that bad!”

[<Is Ikarus forgetting we have a cold resistance ability and the others do not?>]

‘No Aesa, I’m just trying to be positive for a change. It’s only going to get worse the further north we go’

Having just teleported to one of the earliest dungeons we ever completed, that being way back with the empire couple ever so long ago, we arrive inside that little building housed with the magical fount- ah! I swear I’ve got some empty potion bottles in storage somewhere; I’m definitely bottling some of this up. Sure, having magic reserves this high makes needing them useless but doesn’t hurt to have a load in storage just in case.

“Remind us Asmdoeus, what was the plan if things hadn’t changed?”

While I’m doing that, Petra’s having quick words with the abusive father about getting more info. She’s always been more curious to garner and plan way in advance way compared to me, or pretty much any of us really. Eh, planning is for shmucks when your comparable to a God. That’s not a brag, my numbers literally say so.

“This part always appears blurrier than others dark one but I’ll try to say what I’ve seen. It mostly just consists of a lot of snow and ice, finding a cave within the ice fields, then battling with Leviathan until he drops dead. Obviously, things are a little different now”

Oh, the snow and ice thing kinda reminds me of what we’ve got on. The preparation in this trip involved dressing up like yetis really, we all have warm fluffy winter coats on and even then, it still won’t be enough. We also agreed that only one of us should fly at a time so that we could stick closer together, guess who gets that duty? Only one of us is big enough to carry everyone at once so it’s time for a little bit of dragon action.

“Erk, is that seriously it dickhead? Or am I going to end up naked, covered in muck again?”

For once, Zeki has a point. When this demon is purposely vague, just look at the situation the kid nearly ended up in. Ria got a sight and a memory that’ll last forever, but all of us are now mentally scarred seeing Zeki’s busty body…

“Heh, calm yourself red one, just ask ‘orangey’ if you don’t believe my words. If you end up in a situation like that again, I’ll have no clue on it”

“He is right kid… don’t be mocking him with that orangey thing though Asmodeus”

Hearing that said from someone else’s mouth other than Zeki gives me goosebumps. It says a lot that I actually like the stupid nickname Mr Obnoxious has given me.

‘You know… me and Petra still need to come up with some cute pet names for each other. but with her, you know I’ll end up with something terrible. Imagine it would be like cutie pie or tweety bird, it’s guaranteed they’d be fluster inducing…’

__________

<Hey, erm… I don’t want to alarm you lot or anything, but damn, I’m getting really tired. We really should’ve planned this out better… status>

[Name: Ikarus   |   Species: Phoenix   |   Level: 999^]

[Health    166,666*/166,666*]

[Stamina 91,232*/166,666*]

[Magicka 141,259*/166,666*]

[You currently have 149501 unassigned points]

<Oh, SP isn’t that low… I’m still tired though>

After roughly three days of continues flying across the ocean, not once stopping due to the fact sleeping on the ocean sounds like a death trap waiting to happen, I’m really starting to feel the strain in my wings doing this. Sure, I’m basically gliding for the most part, but you open up your arms for three days nonstop and see how that feels!

Fuck, it’s not even like we can rotate because the magic we’re all injecting just above my back is keeping everyone warm, think my scales help a little too. Not sure what the colour even looks like considering we have red, orange, black, blue and wind added into the mix. Basically, just a mess like how supernova normally blooms.

I do get breaks to be fair but said breaks mostly consist of Petra leaning over to chuck food in my mouth. Guess I’ve just got to power through this but damn, I’m going to have bulging muscular wings when this is over. I’ve always been more into abs rather than bulging arms or wings, eww…

“Heh, shouldn’t be that long left Ikarus so I believe in you. If the load starts becoming too heavy, we can always throw off Zeki anytime”

Motivation and Zeki abuse from the wife equals, a much more motivated Ikarus. Gosh, I love her so much.

“Hey! That was hella uncalled for sis!”

“Heh, I’m in agreement with the dark one. Sometimes, sacrifices have to be made”

“Uh huh, sorry Zeki but the truth is the truth”

That gets a hella big scoff out of the kid, just be our punching bag Zeki because this flight is really starting to become a nuisance. This is clearly a matter of me being unfit rather than not having the stats for constant flight, know for a fact my parents both flew for at least a week straight when my ol’curse was lifted and I passed out. Just need to stop complaining for a little while, impossible for me, I know…

“Heh, remember when you came across a dragon over here Ikarus?”

<Yup Petra, know I told you that ages ago… also happened when you were in your stalker phase as well. Why bring it up now?>

Talk about tempting fate, there should be no dragons, other than me over here right now. Ah, the parents did tell me once where all the dragon fam live across the world but can’t remember it for the most part. If you exclude the obvious ones like my close family and Esmerelda, Mute is the only one I remember but that’s because she’s a freelance. Similar to Petra in that regard, she’s likes to travel around lot so she’s technically homeless, or caveless.

“Heh, because Ikarus, it looks like we’re all about to come across another one. If you ask nice enough, maybe Mute will lighten the load”

<…!>

Coming into view pretty quickly after Petra’s spidey sense stops tingling, Mute the navy-coloured dragon has a face of pure joy when seeing us, and almost looks to want a hug. She reminds me of Charlotte in some ways but unfortunately fellow dragon, we can’t be doing that right now.

Instead, Mute settles for nuzzling her head into me making me feel awkward as hell. Is this actually okay? Petra doesn’t seem to mind but this feels way too intimate, even if we’re both unable to hug. Eh, I think I’ve seen her do it to Petra once or twice so it’s probably more of an animal thing. Freaking adorable though…

<Alright Mute, what brings you out here in the middle of the freezing cold ocean?>

Mute responds by shaking her head at me, then pointing one of her wings in the direction we were going. I really need better perception because I still can’t understand what she says most of the time, or shows. Mute equals mute, that’s basically her entire deal… and being Petra’s sister… and being quite puppy like. She’s actually got way more going on for her than I give credit for.

“Heh, I think she’s saying land is close by Ikarus?”

That gets a happy confirmation nod, thankfully translator Petra is on the scene. She knows her sister best.

<…?>

Next, she decides to tilt her head to us, similar to how a dog asks for a treat or something? I’m not trying to compare Mute to a pup but damn, she really is too damn cute with how she puts words into actions. That one was easy to get, it’s obviously some sort of questioning.

“Heh, we’re here for hunting purposes Mute. There hopefully should be someone over here we’re needing to attack”

<…!>

All of sudden, the dragon sparks up, then settles back down as if she understands our reasoning? Eh, I’m just going to let Petra get through this.

Next, it appears she may be telling us to follow by flapping her wing, like you might do with your fingers if telling someone to come hither. It honestly looks a little dopey but hey, this is the only way we can ‘talk’ right now. I think that’s what she’s implying.

‘Guess we’re following her for now then…

__________

<Land ahoy… brilliant, finally I can rest these poxy wings>

“Heh, gotta be making those gains, right Ikarus? That trip will make your wings even stronger”

<That fact you continually remember my stupid lingo… I love you so much>

…

“Erk, thanks for the flight orangey… it’s fucking freezing now”

“Uh huh… at least it’s beautiful Zeki. Even during the ice age, it was never this nice to look at”

“Heh, majin lands used to get like this a lot blue one so it’s not that impressive. It’s just snow and ice really”

<…!>

The land ahead of us is what you might describe as a winter wonderland, almost like we’re looking at a painting perfect for Christmas. Not sure if it’s an actual landmass or just huge floating chunks of ice but damn, this mountains in this place literally might be made from ice.

Not a single tree in sight and cold that rattles your skeleton, this place clearly needs a little of that globing warming DLC because fuck this! Even I can feel it so I’m going into fluffy phoenix for a bit once everyone is off my back. The others birds, excluding Petra, will probably do the same.

The second I find a spot to land, it’s obvious the others are desperately struggling with the cold now so we all start injecting some more magic into another raging fire on the snowy ground. It’s a damn good thing we’ve all got insane pools of magicka and potions to refill it if needed.

Anyways, Mute starts to use a single claw to draw in the snow and quickly finishes off what she’s started, no idea how well she’s handling the temperature but can’t see any signs of shivering or anything like that. She’s clearly just built differently to the rest of us.

What the drawing looks like is hard to describe, mostly because Mute clearly is as creative as I when it comes to drawing. Simplistic is always the way to go so I’m not being rude or anything like that, it’s exactly how I would go about trying to describe something if I couldn’t talk or write down words. She does know how to write, I think, but obviously isn’t this time around.

To the left, we have a dozen or so stickmen, most holding weapons and what looks to be a dragon receiving a stabbing from one of them. Judging by the wound I’ve just seen on Mute’s hip, that dragon was obviously her.

Ariza immediately picks up on that and starts to inject healing magic into her, seems unneeded as the dragon is already healed but it’s the though that counts. At least that will help for the scar I suppose.

The middle drawing consists of a round entrance, maybe a cave perhaps? That also is surrounded by armed stickmen. The third one is definitely a building with a different rounded entrance though, this one has her name written underneath it though.

“So Mute… the story is, there’s bad people around that keep on stabbing you, there’s a noteworthy cave being guarded by them, and… that place is your home up here?”

That gets a happy nod in response to all of my questioning, making me happy in return, guess I can kinda understand her more if drawings are involved. You know what they say, great minds think alike. In this case, she draws as bad as me so it’s like the language of the uncreative minds!

“Heh, you mind showing us your home Mute? It’s already starting to get late and the cold is only getting worse”

Petra asks that to Mute who happily keeps nodding along, guess we’ll figure out how to deal with her attackers tomorrow as it’s only going to get colder once night settles in. We’ve already dealt with it for a couple of nights but if we can potentially avoid another, then what’s the problem? We’ll definitely help her with the attackers regardless.

“Before we set off, I must have a look at the silent one’s neck. There’s something bugging me”

Asmodeus leaves our little warming fire and precedes to go up to Mute, almost looking like her wants to pet her or something. Instead, he just injects some magic into her and puts his ear right up against her neck.

“That’s odd… huh, silent one, are you okay? Mentally I mean, not physically”

<…?>

Mute looks just as confused as the rest of us from his questioning, when did Asmdoeus become a therapist or something?

“Hmm… there’s definitely nothing there. I was thinking your refusal to speak was a brain cloud, but it appears you just simply don’t wish to speak. Those injuries would’ve healed up by themselves… your dragon tongue is definitely working it seems”

Hang on, hang on… what is Asmdoeus getting at? I always assumed her brain wouldn’t allow her to make words or that it might be similar to how a curse works. Is it something completely different then? Will we be able to help her out?

“What do you mean Asmodeus? Are you saying she’s forgotten how to speak or something?”

“Heh, not that dark one. She just simply doesn’t want to speak anymore, it’s that simple really. I can’t sense no pain, alterations or restrictions. It just seems like after her injury, she’d rather not make any more noise”

<…!>

Mute responds to him nodding her head, smiling and shrugging her dragon shoulders. It still seems unsure whether trauma is the main factor in stopping her from speaking but if Mute doesn’t want to speak even if she can, then we’re not exactly going to force her. As long as she’s happy, I guess? That feels like a cop out for a potential arc we could’ve gone though healing her voice…

‘This guy has basically been neglecting his daughters for long enough and now he’s checking up on her speech? What’s the bet there’s a hidden agenda in play here? Can never truly trust what’s in this guy’s head…’

__________

“Blood hell Mute! How long have you been up here for!? This is amazing!”

“Heh, your own little slice of heaven in the north, isn’t it Mute?”

“Uh huh, this place is so nice and cosy”

“Erk… orangery, sis and brother have a point. It’s pretty cool”

“Heh, you built this yourself silent one? Well done”

“…!”

Having just arrived at Mute’s home in the north, please take back what I ever said about Mute being uncreative because damn, she’s an architect in the making! Seriously though, she’s somehow managed to construct an igloo fit for housing a dragon up here! It’s freaking dope!

Of course, there’s no really need for a dragon to decorate things but we do have a few things to get through. First off, the entire floor is lined in what looks to be walrus furs, we have a gigantic fish rack clearly used for storing her dinner and even fluffy cushions made from other animals all over the place! Sure, I have no idea what’s in them, and some are clearly made from polar bears and penguins, but it’s not like any of us are vegan. Even Ariza knows how to hunt despite hating to hurt animals, think she’s feeling a little sad for the creatures turned pillows though.

Very quickly, the dragon finds a nice spot to curl up into and clearly just wants to sleep for the rest of the day and night now. We have to be in human form for good reason since there isn’t enough room for phoenixes, but who cares about all that! This place is still epic, I guess even she likes a little home for herself, the dragons were wrong on that.

Anyways, all of us find a comfortable spot to sit at together, probably not the best of ideas to be lighting a fire inside here but it’s not exactly needed. It’s nice and snug inside this igloo already.

While I’m snuggling up to Petra getting myself comfortable and the others are getting food out, there’s something that’s been on my mind for a little while now. All this thing about parents and all that, we still have unanswered questions a know it all may know the answer to…

“Asmdoeus… do you happen to know if Zeki and Ariza’s parents are still around? Presumably, they’re not but at least it would be kinda nice to know names at least”

I’m always the best at asking these hard-hitting questions and with this demon lord, he’ll probably know this as well, right? Judging by that grin upon his face, I’m assuming I’m right…

With Zeki and Ariza, they both were found inside their eggs more than two hundred years apart by Petra who still has no idea on why they were there. Her phoenix tracking just happened to spark up and she came across them in the middle of nowhere. Apparently, she got the same thing happen when I first hatched. She was planning on visiting my parents eventually but with everything going on with the empire, her stalking would have to wait a while.

“Heh, you really want to know orange one? I do warn you; it may blind your entire perception on just how small this world really is”

‘Of course, he freaking knows and has to overplay the scene, this guy definitely was a dragon show maker or something in his previous life’

“Erk, just get on with it already dickhead! Orangey asks a good question, dragons may suck balls but it doesn’t seem like the worst thing to know what idiots decided to create us”

“Uh huh… although it would be nice if some of them are still alive”

Such two contrasting personalities. Zeki just wants to know so he can be a right tsundere about it to even more family while Ariza, just wants to be friendly to more people.

“Heh, create is a strong word red one. Technically, you were all created by Gods, mashed into the feathery form you live with. If you’re looking for family out there in the world, one should look closer to home with your colours and blend them into one”

…

‘So wait, that confirms Gods were involved in us coming here then, right? Also, read between the lines Ikarus, blue and red make… purple!?!’

“Asmdoeus, you’re saying they have connections with Esmerelda?”

“Yes dark one, all three come from the late dragon Gyselzar who unfortunately passed a while back. Although, I’m not certain on who the fathers are or how she died, all three should at least originate from her. Recall she was the brightest of purples and really was surprisingly timid for a dragon, boring but in a good way, I must say”

At least that kinda solves the other’s two phoenixes past since Petra beats me to the punch, they’re actually related by blood and to Esmerelda no less… Ha! That makes Demond, brother-in-law to Zeki, that’s how that works, right? Pretty sure he used to call him dragon fucker or something like that.

Zeki really isn’t focusing on that though…

“Me and brother are actually blood related siblings then? Erk, fuck! That fucking perverts dungeon has just gotten worse!”

“Uh, Zeki? Why are you still on that? Nothing else could’ve been done”

“Just because you have a thing for me brother, doesn’t mean I’ll ever like you back in that way. It’s just gross really, even now considering we actually are related”

“Uh huh… that’s another month on the calendar Zeki. Want to say something stupid like that again?”

“E-Erk… no…”

Can’t help myself but chuckle at Zeki’s misfortune, why would he even say Ariza has a thing for him? She should’ve been nastier and added even more months to his gender bending sentencing, at least it’s good he hates sweet home Alabama.

Why am I not surprised about them two actually being siblings though? Guess nothing changes at all on that front, just might need to ask Esmerelda a question or two next time we meet.

“How is that possible though Asmodeus? The circumstances of both of them being abandoned in the woods though, what were the reasons for it?”

Everyone except the sleeping Mute perks up from Petra’s question, there must be a reason for two dragon eggs being left in the middle of nowhere, right? I’ve got a sneaky suspicion this is going to go full circle…

“The chances are dark one, the oracle had a part to play in this as well. The likelihood is, the purple one grew up the same exact way. Dragon mothers normally wouldn’t leave their offspring unless it’s for a very good reason”

‘And yet, Petra experienced hell and Mute was tortured by their mother. I really am lucky considering the loveable world ender I have, could’ve been abandoned in the same exact way’

…

A little time passes with the atmosphere inside the igloo getting pretty gloomy after that conversation, would normally do or say something stupid but, making a parent leaving to get milk joke would be the most insensitive thing I might ever say. Best just try and ask something else.

“Wait… what was that previous thing about Gods making us Asmdoeus? I’m betting, you know exactly who’s responsible for the summoning, don’t ya?”

It honestly sounds stupider every time it gets mentioned but being summoned from our world, into dragon eggs, and then forming into phoenixes? Our background lore makes me feel so incredibly stupid at times.

“Heh, I’ll let the fates decide when that secret is ready to show orange one. I think you’ll be less surprised than you realize, they are much closer to home than you might expect”

Closer to home than we might expect? If this guy is being literal, then there’s only one God currently living at our home, our islands to be specific…

“Is that your way of saying Dio is involved then? He always seemed alright considering everything with Charlotte”

“Heh, already said I’m not saying orange one. For now, just try and forget I ever said anything. We’ve got a long day tomorrow and if what the silent one draws is correct, we may be fighting a fair bit…”