When I wake up Rose is still using me as a pillow as she reads up on current training debriefs. “Do you ever actually sleep?” I ask her as I play with her short hair. She laughs softly “Good morning to you too. To answer your question, yes. I do sleep just not very much, in my line of work. When you’ve seen all that I have and done the things I’ve done, well you don’t sleep very much. Demons are easier to fight in reality, because they aren’t the demons in your head waiting for you to make that fatal mistake. I may survive reality but those fuckers.” She points to her head.
“Those fuckers are more dangerous than any foe I’ve ever faced.” She says and turns the screen of her tablet off. I keep petting her hair softly and we just lay there like that for a few moments before she sits up. “You may want to get dressed, we're about to have company.” She says sitting up. I let out a sigh before getting up and going to the closet to get dressed, I pick a red shirt, a gray zip up jacket and a pair of navy blue sweatpants. When I come out of the closet, I am greeted with Dahlia, Anti, James and Alice all in the room.
“I think it’s time we gave everyone a little break, so the unleashed are going to set up a bonfire tonight. What we need to do to get ready is collect firewood, make sure there is plenty of food and alcohol for everyone. James and Alice you’re tasked with getting the alcohol, Dahlia my beautiful little muffin, do whatever you want. Lastly, Anti, oversee the collecting of firewood. The kitchens are already preparing a feast. Anubis, you and I will make a plan for this weekend and starting the hunt for your mother.” She says.
Dahlia rolls his eyes and the others nod before leaving “Will you ever stop babying me?” Dahlia asks. Rose smiles and gives him a loving pat on the cheek “Not in private my little tortellini! I understand you’re an adult now and I can’t protect you from everything. It’s time for you to be independent and that’s fine. I will not stop you from doing what you think is best. I love you as if you were my own and I don’t know what I’d do if I were to lose you. In front of everyone else, I treat you as a soldier, but in the privacy of those close to us, I’m going to baby you just a little.” she says.
Dahlia tries to fight a smile, he comes over and gives Rose a hug “You’re a good Mom and I’m sorry for being a butt.” Rose laughs and hugs him back. She ruffles his hair as she lets go “Are you sucking up to me?” Rose asks. Dahlia smirks slightly. “Is it working?” he asks and jumps out of the way of Rose swatting at him. “You little brat, just because you know my weakness doesn’t mean YOU GET TO USE IT!!” She yells after him as he dips out of the bedroom with a laugh. She chuckles and turns to me “Come on, let’s go to Poppy’s workshop.” she says.
She starts for the door and I follow and grab her hand “I thought I was your weakness.” I say teasingly. That earns me a laugh as she shakes her head “No, you’re a pain in the ass.” She says playfully. “Maybe in yours.” I say as I smack her butt. She glares at me and I laugh, she eventually laughs too. We reach Poppy’s playroom, the area that used to be a dungeon. Over a month, Poppy really changed the area and it was like no lab I had ever seen. She had light tables to work on, Jeri was now a smaller pillar in the middle of the room, she set up a testing room by using the cells layout to make a reinforced room. Along another wall, there were tables for unloading after missions.
Any tech or gadgets she took and either deconstructed it or made it better. She and Orchid had worked together to make uniforms for everyone, but from the looks of it, she was working on another type of uniform. I walk over to the table and touch everything. “Anubis, I will remove your hands and start my experimenting on prosthetics.” Poppy hisses as she comes over. She smacks me on the arm as I laugh and then tap her on her nose. “I’m not touching anything!” I say innocently.
“Alright, you two flirt behind my back please.” Rose chuckles. Poppy turns and glares at her “I would never flirt with that thing.” She points at me. “He is insufferable.” she says. Causing Rose to laugh even more. She walks over to examine the armor. “Wow, Poppy, you are amazing! This is beautiful.” She says as she runs her hand over the chest piece. “Thank you! It’ll be yours once I finish everything. I just need to work on the helmet. Also, if you’re taking time off this weekend, I need to get some measurements for your dragon form. I need to make sure I’m packing enough nanos in this thing to cover your dragon form.” She says.
Rose turns around and looks at Poppy, “Your parents would be proud of the person you have become, Poppy. I know I am proud of you and of all of this.” She gestures, spinning around the room. “We’d be lost without you and I am eternally grateful that the fates brought you into my life and onto our team.” She comments and then hugs Poppy. Poppy looks like she may cry, but doesn’t. She hugs Rose back tightly. “Thank you for saving me and making me your family.” she whispers before letting go. “But there is no amount of sucking up that is going to stop me from beating him up if he keeps touching things.” She says.
Rose laughs, “And I wouldn’t stop you. Anyways, we’re really here because I need to talk to the stubborn geezer.” she says. Poppy rolls her eyes, “He doesn’t spend all his time down here you know, but he’s in the cage… I grounded him for touching my stuff.” She retorts and looks at me. I shiver slightly as Rose walks over to a rat cage. “Alright old man, you help us and I let you out. You pull any of your shit, I tase you the next time I find you! Deal?” She asks the rat, fiercely. I assume he agreed through the mind link, because Rose opens the cage door.
My father runs up her arm and to her shoulder before jumping off and turning to his human form. “What would you like to know?” He asks. Rose turns and faces him, a slight smile on her face. “I want to know about this meadow, what we are supposed to be sacrificing and to whom.” she says. My father stands there a moment thinking over his answer, Rose sighs and starts bringing chairs over. Poppy sets one down for my father. Rose sets one down for me and herself before sitting. “As you know the meadows are considered to be Daria’s personal garden, Daria is the goddess of the sun. My wife loved the meadow and I believe if you want to find her you should go to the meadows. I would like you to make a sacrifice to the sun goddess for protection and guidance. I also hope that just maybe if you start a fire and my wife is nearby she will return to us.” He says.
“So, we just need to set a fire? What do we need to sacrifice to gain the favor of the goddess? I don’t quite understand how a sacrifice is going to help us at all.” She says looking at him. He takes another moment to think before answering “Each god and goddess has a different requirement for sacrifice. Daria asks for your most valuable possession. I only ask because I believe in the gods and goddesses and so do a lot of our kind. If you do not, that is okay, leave the sacrificing to Anubis. There is a Tome in my private library that will give you information on how to get the favor of all the gods and goddesses known to our kind.” he says.
Rose looks into his eyes, studying the man, like she was looking for something. “There’s still something you aren’t telling us. but I’ll play your game, old man. You owe me big time.” She says with finality. “Oh, and what do you have in mind?” He asks. Rose takes a moment “I need you to help me get in contact with the other four dragon species. You know them and are related to them by lineage. I need your help with negotiations on the three you didn’t task us with visiting.” she states. This was like watching a tennis match and the ball was now in my father’s court.
He gives one of his lopsided grins and nods as he holds out a hand. “Shall we shake on it?” he asks. I watch as Rose extends her hand and with her other hand lets her index finger shift into a claw. She runs the claw over her outstretched palm, slicing it open. My father smiles, amusement dancing in his eyes, as he does the same before gripping Rose's bleeding hand. They shake hands while holding eye contact, a silent conversation happening between them. When they let go, Poppy hands them both cloths to wipe off the blood.
Rose stands and offers me her hand. I take it and stand up. As I stand, so does my father and he pulls us both into a bear hug. “Ugh, get off of me you weird old man.” Rose screams, but her lack of struggling shows she is warming up to him a little. My father laughs and lets us go. “You kids behave yourselves and thank you for taking me out of timeout.” he stammers. I smile at him, despite him being stubborn and cryptic, I really looked up to this man. I loved him and he helped make me the man I am today.
Rose leads me out of Poppy’s lab and then stops. “I have theories but whatever book your father sent us to find might give me some answers. So, lead the way to this secret library.” She mutters and I begin to lead her through the palace. “What kind of theory?” I question which is greeted by silence. I look over and Rose is biting her lip as she is in deep thought. “What if I told you that part of my deal with your father was not to tell you?” she asks. I smile softly and chuckle. “I'd say that it sounds like something my father would do.’” I reply.
She nods her head in consideration “I will hold up my end of the deal with your father to an extent. I believe there is more to the first five that your father isn’t saying and I have a feeling that he may be one of them. WIth your mother, I am not completely sure about my hypothesis, so I’d like to keep that one to myself. I believe the fates want me to fight this war because I have never had such a small team before. We didn’t have powers until after all of us were together as a team. I think we represent the first five and we were given these powers to win the war. I believe this because the real first five aren’t willing to save us, so the fates had to make another.” She explains.
I consider what she says and let myself think over her words as we wind our way through the halls. I stay silent until we get to the door of my father’s personal library. “I don’t know Rose, there is history of other dragons ruling and older dragons have told stories of my grandfather. I don’t think that my father could be one of the first five.” I say and open the door. The room is hidden in one of the back turrets of the castle, so the room is circular. The walls are covered floor to ceiling with bookshelves, and each shelf is filled with father’s personal collection of books. In the middle of the room sat a large desk and by the only window sat a cushioned chair and ottoman.
“I don’t think that was actually your grandfather, I believe that was your brother and with a little finessing your father was able to get the crown back. Then, you happened and he was able to step back again. I think your brother's skull is a helmet and I believe his hide is armor.” She says looking around. I think back to the General’s armor that Rose had stolen on our first mission and a chill runs down my spine. I watch as Rose walks around examining each bookshelf. As she goes, she scuffs her feet over every wooden floor boards she walks over. I watch her curiously before doing my own search starting in the opposite direction she started in.
After a few moments, Rose calls me over to my father’s desk, she is holding one of the wooden floor boards and looking into a hole in the ground. She hands me the board and reaches her arm into the hiding spot. She is able to fit her whole arm into the hole. Rose has a look of total concentration as she strains to reach for whatever is at the bottom. She finally starts pulling her arm out of the hole. When her arm and hand are completely out of the hole, she shows me a very old looking book and a grin is plastered to her face. I replace the floor board as Rose stands up and dusts herself off. Then, she tucks the book under her arm.
“I’ll take this down to Poppy and have Jeri scan the text within. Then we will have answers, but right now, let's focus on getting ready for a bonfire. We have some gods and goddesses to please.” She proclaims as she heads for the door. “You go ahead, I think I’m going to do some more looking around and see if I can find anything else.” I tell her. She stops and looks back at me. She nods and gives me a gentle smile. “Take all the time you need.” she says before disappearing through the door.
