Chp.32: A difficult decision

Haku was looking up at the sky, where the sun was setting in the distance. The clouds from the night before had moved away and so the light from the celestial body was now much more clearly seen, but there were still some clouds surrounding it as it descended over the mountains, and which appeared black in contact with its very strong light. Haku had always wondered why something so bright caused something else to darken, but he knew too little about how the sun worked to be able to draw any conclusions.

As soon as the appointed time came, he would go to the tower of the God of Knowledge and make a deal with the king. That night he would have his brother back, and this time he would not allow any exceptions. If the king had tried to increase the time for negotiations again, he would have refused, at the cost of forcing him to speed things up. He'd had enough and didn't want to be separated from his brother a minute longer than necessary.

As he waited, he heard footsteps behind him, and when he turned around he saw Maldor approaching. With her was Kotaru. Haku wondered why they were coming to talk to him; maybe his sister had changed her mind? "What happens?" he asked as soon as they were close enough.

Kotaru spoke first: "We wanted to let you know a few things" she said. "First of all, I want you to know that I intend to go with Maldor. Two will be safer. After all, they already know me as hersmaid, reappearing with that identity will be easy"

Haku fully understood his sister's intentions; in fact, it wasn't a bad idea. Though Maldor would be away with only her avatar, for a long time her consciousness would reside within it; sooner or later she would begin to feel the loneliness due to being away from her family. Having a sister with her would help keep her comfortable. Not to mention that technically Maldor would have to periodically return in her real body to sleep and eat, so it was better that there was someone who watched over the avatar during this time and thus avoided revealing it.

Haku cleared his throat. "Well, I can't say I enjoy sending two of my sisters away for a few months, but after all you won't be in any real risk, and in fact having a mate would be smarter than going alone... so, If Kotaru agrees, I don't see why I should object"

After concluding that maybe Maldor's proposal wasn't so bad, and that he was wrong to refuse it so vehemently, Haku had decided to try to be more malleable; therefore, even if the prospect of spending as little time as possible with his sisters for a few months didn't thrill him, logically speaking, this method was still more convenient than sending Maldor alone. Deep down she wouldn't have anyone to hang out with, so for the sake of her sanity it was best to let her go with someone.

Kotaru let out a smile, but it wasn't a satisfied smile. "I'm glad you're so open to conversation today, because we're just getting started" she advised him.

Haku sighed. It had all seemed too good to be true. "Okay. What else do you have to tell me?"

"It's about the time we'll spend in our avatars" Maldor said in a shy voice. "It won't be quite what you expect..."

Haku was confused. "What do you mean? You always have to come back at least once a day to eat and sleep..."

"No, I won't" Maldor replied. "I don't know how to explain it to you, but... among the many experiments I've done with magic, there was one that concerned our avatars. I was trying to improve our chances with them. I didn't succeed... but I discovered a small quibble. Our ability to hibernate"

Haku narrowed his eyes slightly. The only time one of them, in this case he, had gone into hibernation was to save his life in the fight with the hydra. It was only then that they discovered that possibility. And Haku didn't have a good memory of it, since he was able to activate it instinctively after he was almost killed. "Can you explain better?"

"Here... as you well know, when we are in our avatar our body ceases its functions momentarily. It is as if we were sleeping. Even our brain slows down, and in fact our experience inside the avatar is like a dream, even if much more intense.But in this state we still consume large quantities of energy, and therefore our bodies must periodically wake up to eat and drink, as well as to sleep for a few hours since in any case the brain isn't completely asleep even if it is not even completely awake" Maldor explained to him, repeating what they all knew about how avatars worked. "However... if instead of just plugging in, we activate the link while we are going into hibernation, then our bodily functions slow down enormously, to the point that energy consumption is minimal. The brain remains active, but it is the only part of the body going on; everything else stops. In this state, we could be inside an avatar for months without suffering any harm from malnutrition or lack of real sleep"

It took Haku a short time to understand where his sister was going with this. "Let me guess: Are you telling me that you'd rather use this hibernation trick so you can spend more time inside your avatars, without having to worry about coming back to eat, drink, and sleep?"

He didn't need an answer: his sisters' faces spoke for themselves. He took a deep breath and tried to evaluate the matter from a logical perspective. In fact, that method was preferable to the classic one: not only it guaranteed less risk of being discovered, since the avatar would never have been abandoned, but it also allowed you to spend more time inside it and therefore to be able to access more information or to spend more time exploring a certain place or talking to a certain person. "Are you two sure?" he asked Maldor and Kotaru.

The two nodded. "We've thought about it and yes, we're sure about it" Kotaru answered. "You can carry our bodies on an amphitrite, and we can move more freely. While I can't say I like the prospect, it's fine. It will also help make food supplies last longer"

Haku nodded. "Your arguments are logical, but don't forget that you will have to spend a lot of time in a body that isn't yours. I don't want you to start having an... identity crisis"

Kotaru understood perfectly what Haku meant: even if they could spend more time in the bodies of human beings, they would never be real human. Their real body would always be that of a dragon. Both she and Maldor knew this well, but there was a strong possibility that staying so long in a foreign body and environment would make them forget this concept. Kotaru remembered the outburst Maldor had when they were at the Magic Academy, and that was the main reason he wanted to go with her. "For this we will go in two. In this way if one starts to have doubts, the other can bring it back to reality"

Haku sighed. He didn't like that idea at all, but after all it was his sisters' choice and besides, acting like that would help them a lot. Even though he had many doubts, therefore, he decided that he might as well settle them. "Okay, I get it. I'll set up a transportation system for your bodies and make sure..."

"There's one more thing" Kotaru interrupted him.

Haku let out a deep breath. Of course, why wasn't he expecting that!? "Tell me" he said in a voice so tired he sounded half asleep.

"Well, considering that Maldor and I will be spending some time in human society, and thus will have access to a lot of information…we would like to take advantage of that" Kotaru explained. "Think about it: we will be able to acquire a lot of information not only about this country or this corner of the continent, but about the whole world! With Maldor's fame, it will be easy to travel... which could mean that it may take a little longer a few months"

Haku was silent for a second, then he closed his eyes and rubbed them with his fingers. "Let me get this straight. You two would like to take advantage of the fact that you will be spending a lot of time in human society gathering information, actions that will in all likelihood put you at great risk and may even give humans a chance to discover our secret, but not only that, do you also want to travel and visit other nations, maybe even go overseas, continually exposing yourselves to the possibility of being discovered, and in addition you would like to spend more time than the one set in your avatars taking advantage of the hibernation, which you should remember that we still don't know exactly how long it can last and which effects it will have on the body in the long run, all this without even mentioning the psychological stress of spending several months and perhaps years in a foreign body and then returning to the real one? Have I summed it all up correctly?"

Kotaru and Maldor looked at each other. "More or less"

Haku glared at them a lot. "Sisters, I'll ask you just once: what the fuck is your problem!? Do you have a vague idea of ​​the situation you will get yourself into? Not only will it be a huge risk for you and for all of us, but it could cause you serious mental problems! And that's not even mentioning the fact that we know very little about this world and other nations, and we don't know if some of them have a way to track the original body or even control it remotely! It's a huge risk and it's an high chance that it will be more harmful than beneficial. I can't allow this"

"We know it's risky, but we want to do it. If we continue to be too cautious we'll find out too little about this world, and that's not good" Kotaru said. "Brother, all of us are going to do this whether you want to or not. But we'd appreciate it if you give us your support"

Haku narrowed his eyes. "All of you? Aren't there just you two?"

Kotaru realized in that moment that she gave herself away unintentionally. "Well… not really" she replied, and she let out a quick whistle. An instant later, not far away, the heads of Sisna and Malchia appeared.

Haku slapped a paw on his face. "Still with this trend of coming one at a time? Am I really that intractable for you?"

"Do you really want an answer?" Sisna asked him, then she cut straight to the point: "Brother, when Maldor told me about hibernation, I thought maybe I could do more as the leader of 'The spider'. Instead of short and occasional meetings with their bosses, I can take full control and make myself known, and I could expand the organization elsewhere. We could create a spy network and at the same time have an army ready that only awaits our order to throw entire nations into chaos. Also, instead of feigning my death, I could use the control I have over the whole kingdom to deal with the king and in the future perhaps also other rulers, and have access to numerous treasures, information and magic that we could not obtain simply by hunting around. It is a profitable opportunity"

Haku let out another exasperated huff. "And you?" he asked Malchia.

"There will be a need for someone to make sure Sisna doesn't have an identity crisis. Just like Maldor will have Kotaru and Kotaru will have Maldor, Sisna will have me and I will have her. After all I don't dislike working in the criminal underworld" his sister answered with a smile.

Haku felt almost drained. He didn't want to make up for a sibling by losing four. Even though technically none of their lives would be in danger anymore, they would still have to stay away for a long time. Which meant he couldn't talk for a long time. But she knew when her sisters were determined to do something. Now he could agree with them and back them up, or yell at them knowing he wouldn't be heard. The choice wasn't difficult. "Fine. You have my approval. But I have conditions" he said. "I'm not going to ask you to be careful, because I know it's not really in your nature... so I'm simply asking you to avoid conflicts with any nation as much as possible. Use any means to have a dialogue first or to hide. Don't become public enemies. And if you have to make an important decision that could affect us, either directly or indirectly, inform me immediately. And even if you discover something dangerous. Promise me this and you will have my support"

"Okay, okay, we promise" Sisna said. "There is no need to tell us these things, we know how to survive. We are no longer children"

"You are two years old"

"You too"

Haku rolled his eyes. In fact it was true. "Isaac will go with you, I assume. It would be his chance to return to human society" he said looking at Maldor. In fact, Isaac was probably suspected of being an accomplice in the uprising in the capital, but with this excuse he could have cleared his criminal record.

But to his surprise Maldor shook his head. "I already asked him and he said no"

This was unusual. It wasn't like Isaac to refuse a request from Maldor, much less one this advantageous. Why had he done it? Haku decided that he would talk to him as soon as possible. "Is there anything else I need to know before going to meet the king?"

"No, brother. Thanks for the support" his sisters replied.

Haku didn't know whether to rejoice or be sad in front of the jovial smiles of the sisters. "I can only wish you luck... hoping that nothing serious happens"