Ep 60. Just Like Before. (4)

 

The moonlight faintly shone through the gap of the wooden walls. The world was as dark and as silent as it possibly could be, and the room of the magicked lodge was nothing short of comfortable.

Everyone should’ve been asleep by now – even the dragonlord who’d entered the lodge much later than others for whatever reason.

“…”

But squirm and shuffle as he might, Patrick couldn’t fall asleep. Troubles were plaguing his mind, and none that he could do much about.

Everything had been so chaotic since his little brother’s entrance exam to the institute.

- ‘If you lived as another entity for a single week, could you become it for the rest of your life?’

The mage snorted as he reflected on the dragonlord’s words.

Serenis was right; after living as Patrick Parma for decades, he couldn’t just ‘become’ someone else over a single week. And to her, his little brother Zion had been that someone.

Weeks prior, Patrick had spent a number of days reviewing his little sibling’s memories, who was now supposedly a dragonlord – and every single word she spoke of her past indicated her extreme age. It was only natural that her identity as ‘Zion’ would be mostly drowned out.

‘I mean, it’s not like I wanted to believe him…or, her.’

In the past, Patrick had taught his little brother Zion almost every aspect of magical theories during their time together. And, to his surprise, they’d found that most of the theories the enforcer had taught the little boy still remained within Serenis’ head. Zion’s memories were definitely inside her.

But his little sibling was no longer just ‘Zion.’ The dragonlord possessed his little brother’s memories, but also so much more – her own memories, her own affinity, and even her own former heart.

‘And now you go around sweeping trouble left and right. Flying to a forest across the country, looking for a literal god. Pft.’

Before they departed Partivine, Patrick hadn’t really been able to articulate why he wanted his little sibling to stay enrolled. Despite recognizing the time waste that it was for the dragonlord, or how the forests may pose no danger to her at all, the mage had still wanted Serenis to stay at the safety of their home and attend school as normal. But as Patrick continued to reflect on the matter, he was slowly beginning to realize why.

‘I just…’

Click.

“…Hm?”

The mage glanced towards the door. He could swear he heard a clicking noise outside just now.

‘Did the front door just open?’

As he listened carefully, he could hear someone’s footsteps shuffling at the doorway before a second click. Silence ensued afterwards.

Patrick slowly rose from his bed, swishing his finger in the air as the tip lit up in bright blue to illuminate the dark room. While he didn’t have a chronometer with him, he could plainly tell how late it was from looking through the window-like gap in his room.

“…”

The mage slid out of his bed, following after the person that had just left the lodge.

 

✧   ✧   ✧

 

“…Hey. Why’re you up so late?”

Serenis turned her head slightly to spot Patrick, exiting the house after her.

“I could say the same to you. Is it not well past your sleeping hours?”

“I’ll live. I need to stay up pretty often when I’m working on cases anyways. But you’re still a kid on the inside, aren’t you? You need sleep. Or you’ll stump your growth.”

Serenis softly smiled at the jest and returned her gaze towards the sky. Unlike indoors, the forest was brightly lit with countless stars. The moon was almost at its full.

Patrick walked up to the dragonlord’s side, also fixing his gaze upwards. The glimmering night sky seemed a lot brighter than what he remembered.

“Patrick.”

“Hm? What’s up?”

“Am I not different from the sibling you remember me to be?”

“…You are. A little too much, to be honest.”

Serenis dropped her gaze back as she faced the mage beside her.

“Then why is it that you still treat me as such?”

“…”

When Patrick’s gaze met the dragonlord’s, he couldn’t bring himself to make another joke. Her expression was inexplicably apprehensive; regretful, even. Something he’d only seen on his job when he met people who deeply regretted their actions. For they, too, knew what their actions had done to others.

To be fair, there were times when Serenis had worn this expression – in fact, she wore this expression quite often. But Patrick had seen the dragonlord doing so in silence, brooding over events past his understanding. It was never in his direct presence.

“Because you’re still my little sibling. You’re family.”

That was the only answer Patrick had to give to the dragon beside him.

Serenis closed her eyes as she reflected on his words.

“…Patrick. Hide it as I might, right now I am unmistakably human. Even the smallest blade could pierce my skin, and the shallowest toxins could still ail me.”

“What’s with you all of a sudden? Don’t tell me you’re scared? In human standards, you’re a walking disaster. If any human’s going to live a knife to the gut, it’s you.”

A small laughter escaped the dragonlord.

“Perhaps. But despite being a human…I still mourn the demonkin’s demise. The loss of my old home. I am a human who wishes for demonkind’s prosperity.”

“…You know, people don’t even think demons exist nowadays.”

“But if they did, could we exist in harmony? Or would we fight until one subjugates the other, just like the past?”

When the dragonlord’s pensive gaze fell towards him, Patrick likewise looked to his side to meet her gaze. And when he did, she’d add:

“If I were to live as a demonlord, would I still be your sibling?”

Even though Serenis had once facilitated the dragonkin’s coexistence with man, the people that resided within the kin’s nest were far and few compared to the rest of mankind. With the infamy of other tribes, demonkind itself had become beings to avoid at all costs for most.

And, somehow, this custom had still persisted into the present; worse, in fact. With no reality to confirm or deny their imagination, mankind were free to depict demons as ideal antagonists of their every tale. Even dragons weren’t free from this rule; for most people, they were entities to be feared and kept far away, lest they accidentally trample the lives of anyone who comes near.

But to rebuild her old home, Serenis couldn’t continue to live as Patrick’s little brother Zion. Given the choice, she’d doubtlessly choose to be Dragonlord Serenis without a moment’s hesitation – and someday, she’d have to make the choice. Surely.

“...Hm.”

Patrick squinted his eyes at the last remark. Something was bothering him about that statement, but it took a few seconds for him to realize why.

“So you’re worried because you’re not totally human? If that’s what’s keeping you up, then you’ve got nothing to worry about. You’re forgetting the most important thing.”

“…Am I?”

“Yeah. You do realize Ilias has been staying at the city with other people just fine, right?”

“…”

“Go be a dragon all you want, you’re still my family – and to Light, so is Ilias. Sure, people are a little careful around her because she’s a dragon, but it’s not like anyone actually hates her. You can grow horns and wings and what have you overnight, you’re still my little brother too.”

“…Is that so?”

“Of course. If you didn’t do anything wrong, then you’re not in the wrong. Who cares if you’re a dragonlord or a student or both at once?”

Serenis couldn’t meet Patrick’s eyes anymore, but a faint smile curved her lips as she thought about what he’d said.

Fifteen years was practically a tiny span of time for the dragonlord. If anything, she should’ve been able to brush off Patrick as a passing stranger still. And she’d been thinking it as an inevitability if she was to choose to her former position as a dragonlord someday.

But clearly, one’s past or future bonds did not have to invalidate the bonds of the present.

Despite having said that there was no distinction between Serenis and Zion herself on multiple occasions, the dragonlord had found herself struggling to choose one of the two – when it shouldn’t have been a worry in the first place. No doubt that it’d be the same for her supposed older brother.

Patrick was grinning at his old, little sibling. Just as he always would.

“So stop worrying and go get some sleep, kiddo. It’s late.”

“…Patrick, my actual age is-”

“Oh shush, I don’t wanna hear how old you ‘were.’”

The mage grinned back, petting the dragonlord on her head. She wasn’t the little boy he knew so well anymore, but Patrick found things no different.

Serenis was still his little sibling. And that was enough for him.