" A compromise you say?"
There is a glint of curiosity in Bahamut's eyes. I take a breath and try to come up with a proposition.
"Yes, well… Do you have to die?"
There is a long stretch of silence.
I have nothing.
My mind is going absolutely blank.
I'm grasping at straws.
What I'm saying is I have no idea what the hell I'm saying.
I sweat.
"What I mean is, what if you go dormant? Like, say I just temporarily become you! You hibernate and I… uhm…"
And I what? I just hold the position? Why do I feel like I'm on trial?
I just don't want the responsibility. You might think "Oh well being a god sounds awesome!"
But, that's cause you don't KNOW, or maybe you do.
If you've ever played a Sims game, or an immersive civilization-building game, you would know how difficult it is to steer your people to accomplish anything. And that's assuming it's a game where the game pieces have a semi-free will.
This is implying I have to become a god for a group of ever-increasing people that ALL have free will. I have to somehow manage and keep track of all of that?
I'm not saying I'm bad at those games; in fact, I excel in those games and often play them forever, BUT that's with the implication that it's all a game with save and load features.
And I know! I can hear you already, 'But didn't you say this is all a dream? Then what is the problem?'
The problem is that even if this is all a dream, everything feels too damn real!
From the bright light on my eyes, to the warm breath of a dragon-
Shit
Right.
I'm still talking to Bahamut.
My panic momentarily made me forget that I was in the middle of talking.
He doesn't look like he noticed that I stopped. He seems deep in thought.
Is he actually considering what I said?
"You are proposing that I am to rest, recuperate my power, while you gather followers in my stead." Bahamut mumbles half to himself and half to me. "So that my soul may not perish and I may resume my existence?"
He looks to me to confirm.
You know what, that works.
"Y-yes! Exactly! You have so much more experience in this whole god thing Bahamut. You just sit at the sidelines, and let me be a sort of… uhm.. vessel. Like a paladin!"
"I see; I suppose this is more beneficial. There is wisdom in your ideas young Mar. I only see one problem.." He takes on a more serious tone. "If I am to reserve the majority of my power, then that leaves little for you to utilize in your endeavor. The world I hail from is far less developed than your own. It would be dangerous for a young dragonling to wander in such a land that has become hostile to dragons."
"I see you have a point there, I suppose I would need some sort of power syste- wait."
Did I hear him right? Did he say I was going to be a young dragon, and that the world was hostile to dragons?
"I'm sorry, did you say I was going to be a dragon?"
He looks like I just caught him trying to steal a cookie. I think I had a dog once that made that face.
"Ehem, right. I was going to mention it upon the moment you would decide to take my place. Afterall I am the god of Dragons, it would make sense that my progeny be a platinum dragon."
"But you also just said that the world is hostile to dragons."
"Yes."
"How hostile?"
"Extremely."
Don't get angry. He's a god, don't get angry. F**k it I'm angry.
"What do you mean EXTREMELY?! Why is the world extremely hostile to dragons?? What on earth did you do to make people HATE dragons?!"
I think I saw him visibly shrink in size, maybe it was my imagination.
"W-well it is not on earth actually…"
He looked away scratching the side of his jaw.
"That is not the point and you know that! Is that what this all is? You messed up somewhere in your world and you want someone else to clean it up? Is THAT why I'm here?"
I'm confused, angry and venting. Even if this is a dream, this situation is unfair. Why am I the one who has to clean up someone else's mistakes.
I look up at Bahamut, his eyes look grim like I revealed something he didn't want to admit, I must have hit a nerve. His tail thumps and swishes back and forth in frustration, a bit similar to a cat. For a small moment, my anger subsides as I restrain my urge to pet his tail.
In that short time of silence, I reach some level of clarity. I remember now that this all started with him asking me to take his place because he was dying.
What am I doing yelling at some old man dragon?
This is Bahamut, a god of justice. He had to have his reasons for holding back information. He did say that I would understand everything after I accepted his "essence". Perhaps it's something I wouldn't be able to understand as a human, something that couldn't be explained in a short amount of time.
Dragons are also full of pride. Even a good dragon has pride, and it can't be easy to bow their head to a human. To humbly ask for my help must mean that it's incredibly serious and left with no other options.
"Alright, I'll do it. BUT, I have some... conditions"
He looked relieved and nodded slowly.
"I will comply to the best of my ability."
Good, with this we can have a sort of contract between us. As soon as that thought crossed my mind a scroll and pen appeared before my eyes.
"Did you do that?" I ask surprised. He didn't answer, so I'll assume a solid maybe. Who knows in this weird dream world.
"First of all, I refuse to be reborn as a baby dragon, baby human, baby anything. I will be an adult of my age and no less."
The last thing I need in this new world is a brain on puberty hormones. I don't care if it would make it easier for me to adjust to the magic, or my own body, I REFUSE to be caught up in teenager and young adult drama caused by an underdeveloped mind.
"Second," I pace around thinking on how to word this, "I would like to keep my current body, AND before you protest, hear me out, I know dragons have the ability to polymorph. So let me be able to use that automatically."
This request seemed to confuse Bahamut.
"May I ask what that is?"
"You don't know?"
He seemed flustered yet curious at the concept of not knowing something and shook his head.
"Ok so… uhm… It's like an ability that lets you change how you look. Like, you normally appear as a dragon but I'm sure you don't just go around as a massive dragon. And you even shrunk in size! So you surely understand what it means. Right?"
My statement seemed to have surprised him this time. His expression became more serious.
"How did you come to know of this ability?"
"What? Oh….well… it was …"
How do I explain that dragons are a species in games and come with descriptions of abilities?
"I-I read it in a book in my world…"
Not a lie. I want to express that this isn't a lie.
This answer seemed to satisfy him and he slowly nodded as the terms were written into the contract.
"Is there anything else?" His gaze was concentrated on me more now, it was making me nervous.
"Yes. Just a few more. I want on this contract to have written confirmation that I am not replacing you, but simply serving as a temporary avatar. I am not taking your life, I am giving you a vacation. When you reach a sufficient level of … god power.. You can come back and take your place as a god."
I also went into detail about how I needed a system of sorts to organize the abilities that I'll be gaining. It took forever to explain the concept of a "system" to him so I'm going to leave that out of this. Trust me. It was boring and frustrating. Like trying to teach my mom how to use a smartphone.
Eventually, we settled on something and it was added to the contract.
Whether I'll actually get to use such a thing in this dream is something that I'll find out later. With everything settled all that was left was sealing the deal.
"So with this, I can assume you agree to everything?"
Bahamut looked tired and the power of his soul was flickering more often. I must have taken more time than I thought, I felt a little bad for making him humor me.
"Yes, I accept the terms of this contract and swear to fulfill it to its entirety"
I step up to the flickering soul and reach my hand out. As my hand wrapped around the ball, everything around me began to fade into white light. I saw Bahamut close his eyes and his voice quietly spoke before disappearing.
"Thank you... and .. I am sorry.."
"Sorry? What fo-"
I couldn't finish my sentence.
My body was gone again, I forgot how that felt.
Before I could contemplate that thought, the flickering soul that I had been holding, had now violently slammed into what I could only assume was my own soul. If I could breathe I would have been out of breath. If that wasn't enough it began to burn.
It started from my center and then spread. There aren't really words to express the pain I felt.
Imagine the worst migraine ever, multiply that by one billion, then set yourself on fire with the sun from the inside, that would be about a tenth of what it felt like. I'm surprised I didn't wake up from that.
I did eventually wake up.
Not on the street, not in a hospital bed.
I don't think I even woke up on earth.
I woke up in a dark dimly lit cave, with an old ruined shrine and a massive preserved dead platinum dragon behind me.