Kaleidoscope

"Where there is strife, war is not far behind," Sultan spoke, the wrinkles on his face already creasing. He and I looked at this one painting within his estate. I had just got done talking with Koga, and he stood there. In the hallway, looking at this one painting.

I joined him, and we both stared at it for a couple of minutes before he spoke just now. I guess he was fascinated with it.

It depicted a dark figure, face colored over—which might've been an artistic choice—falling through clouds. Dark feathered wings accompanied them, and their pale grey skin made it all the more fitting.

My tail sweeped against the floor, "Who said that?"

Sultan scoffed. "The Dragon Sovereign of War. An old, old text. Parable that mentioned if one were to arrive, the other would follow."

He then turns to me.

"That's…what I want to avoid. With Aurea Islands and the nation as a whole. If there is just one bit of strife, war will follow. I'm sure of it. It could've been anyone else…but it had to be Lucen going against me."

"Hm? He did something?"

"No, no. Not entirely, but for the same reason he always has a bad…feeling about me, I have the same for him."

There was a pause, silence. Sultan didn't say anything, so I spoke up.

"Sounds like you guys just hate each other's guts, really."

Sultan laughed, but I just looked back at the faceless figure. Wondered if someone, anyone, someday would paint me that way. Then, I just scoffed seconds later.

Who's to say they haven't been doing that for the past 10,000 years?

My legacy has been twisted and torn so much I wouldn't be surprised if I had different "accounts" or different "variations" of what I did to dragonkind. Like a…Greek to Roman thing. Same deity, different name really.

Maybe I've already been painted a thousands times—just never with my face. Now that I think about it, the statue at the Dragon Carnival didn't even look remotely close to me. It's just that…eerie gaze it had.

At that, maybe the Dragon Sovereign of Victory and War is me, just a different version that no longer exists. Aarx did say that I was one of the last to wake up…but there's no telling that Sovereigns survived anything past 50+ years.

They age out, and die, too.

He sighed, "...I have a senate meeting to attend to anyways. The threats of a potential terrorist group is something we've never dealed with. Most eyes usually look to me for the answers, hoping I can guide them out of there."

Sultan's tone comes off as tired, dragged through the mud—just a hint of exhaustion behind it all.

"...you get tired of it? That maybe…just one time you won't have the answer?" I ask.

Sultan doesn't answer, at least not right away. Stands there, his eye doesn't come off the painting. With one click off his staff against the wooden floor, he speaks.

"I've always had the answer, Ryuuzen. No future exists where I don't have one,"

With that, he slowly began to walk off.

The sentence alone implied a lot. Ego, confidence, ambition (one thing that he is proudly known for ironically), foresight, everything. Foresight might not be one though, nobody can see the future, really.

If Sultan could see the future, he wouldn't even strike me as the person to choose every correct choice. I think he would understand being the wrong choice would have more value than the right one in some ways.

Catching back up with him was easy, led out of the estate, and into Royalia yet again. More airships in the bright blue sky, more nobles, more rich—you got the point.

As he vanished into the streets, I was left behind not as the Sovereign, not as the myth—but as someone still figuring out what to eat for breakfast.

I thought it would be the best chance to head to one of these rich coffee shops. I never did like drinking coffee, in real life too…but the pastries and bagels.

I went to this one country, had the best pastries. How I remember this after 10,000 years is still beyond me.

I glided towards the destination, it wasn't far, and when I got there, it wasn't as packed, which was great. Rich elves, humans, beasthuman. All were there.

I took a seat and sat. Had to fidget a little to accommodate for the tail. Kind of hard, now. How do cats and dogs do it? Like the entirety of the tail is connected to my spine in a way, so if I just accidentally sit on it, I'll suppose it feels like a dog getting their tail yanked.

And yes, I had to learn that out the hard way when I got here in this world. Doesn't help that the tail is just slightly too thick at the base and thins out the longer it goes. Most of the time I just wrap it around my waist.

If there's a lawn chair, though, I put it between the gaps. It's satisfying, I don't think anyone would understand, but it's satisfying.

Maybe I need to talk to a few beasthumans about that…if I could, that is. So, while others may think this is just an extra limb, it's also part of the whole nervous system. 

Sleeping on my stomach was one of the changes I had to get used to. Sleeping on the side work, but I had to be careful of any awkward bends. Tilting the tail or putting pressure against the base…really, really hurts.

Even laying down on my back is weird. I would have to spread my legs to let my tail at least have a chance of breathing, otherwise I could just be sitting on it—and even then, my back wouldn't be completely flushed against the ground.

I would elevate, just a slight bit. I find that annoying, that now I can't just lay down on my back. Not without doing so many different procedures. Walking, flying, gliding, even my balance feels weird.

It's like if someone tight weights behind your pants, it doesn't weight you down, but just one wrong balance and you might go falling back, really. More like pushing against nonexistent resistance.

Wish I could've known that dragonhood doesn't come with a manual.

Or back support.

The latter would've been really good.