Panacea was not happy with her daughter getting a tattoo without her knowledge. She wouldn't have stopped Alek if she had told her before. She felt that she wasn't needed anymore. Her daughter was already nineteen but, most of the time, they told each other things. She wanted to be needed.
After her mother scolded her after dinner for thirty minutes, Alek was released and, she came back to the room.
"Welcome back." Bia answered from her bed. She was lazily watching a movie on her tablet.
"Thanks." Alek slumped on her bed and lay still. Her mother scolded her for thirty minutes straight and, she was forced to seiza the whole time.
"How was it?" She paused the movie and asked.
"You know how it was. BAD." Alek snuggled closer to her sunflower lion beside the pillow. She was glad that her sister had brought it.
"Mmm. Do you wanna sleep?" Her sister asked. She must be tired from all the things that have happened.
"Yep." Alek had brushed her teeth before she was called by her mother, so the only thing she needed to do now was sleep.
[No, you are not. Let me come out. I want to go out.]
Kiryuu spoke out of nowhere and startled Alek a little.
"Let me turn off the lights." Bia was already at the door and was about to switch off when her sister spoke.
"Wait. Ryuu wants to go out. We'll be back. We wouldn't go far so could you leave the window unlocked." Alek swiftly went to the window to the outside and opened it. "You can sleep. Good night."
"Good night..." Bia spoke as she watched her sister jump into the darkness soundlessly.
The room was facing the backside of the forest. Hence, there was no light illuminating the room and, once the room light was turned off, it was pretty dark. Bia didn't mind the darkness even though she wasn't using her snake's, Yuzuruha's, power to see in the dark but, she felt okay. She was used to the layout of the house and, she needn't use it.
Bia got inside the blanket and looked up to the ceiling. She checked the time and some other things before she drifted off to sleep slowly.
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"You are going to hit the tree! Stop it! Slow down!" Alek shouted towards Kiryuu in their head. The dragon was having the time of her life. She was flying in the sky like the sea snakes would swim in the water.
"Relax. I'm not going to hit the tree." Kiryuu replied with a hint of laziness and swiftly dodged the upcoming tree in her sight. "Besides, even though I hit the tree, it's not going to be me who's going to get hurt."
"I know. But that would be very bad for the tree. You already know how we humans are destroying the earth, right? We have to protect every tree." Alek complained.
"Stop being the good girl. If you say that, stop using any wooden material."
"I want to create a law where you cut down a tree you have to plant two. That would be very nice." Alek didn't hear what the dragon said and was thinking about what she had in her mind for a long time.
"Where did that come from? But I like that." Kiryuu chuckled and continued to fly. "Let's go up."
"We are already up. What do you call this place then?" The girl crossed her arms and spoke to her beast.
"We are underground, remember. I want to go up past the rivers. The humans wouldn't be able to see us." Kiryuu spoke and, without asking for permission, she flew into the river and swam.
Since she was a water dragon, she had no trouble swimming in the strong current through schools of fish. Alek had her jaw drop to the ground, watching what was going on. It was something she had never seen. When she was underwater, she never dared to open her eyes as it would hurt them and damage them if she did. And this was actually her first time seeing what underwater was like in real life.
"We are almost out." Kiryu was seen the bright moon in the sky. After a few more moves of her legs, they jumped out of the water going to the sky straight.
"Waahhhh!" Alek stood up in their mind and jumped up and down. The feeling of getting off getting out of the water was surreal. She thought this must be how snakes felt when they were shedding their skin.
They were in the middle of the forest and, the only sound was the water flowing under them and the splash they caused. The sky was full of stars since no people were living in the area to light pollute it.
"I've never seen the milky way like this... I've seen them on TV and stuff but, this is not like what I've seen." There were so many stars and, it was a little hard to know where the milky way galaxy was. Watching it with her own eyes was something else. The TV couldn't tell how breathtaking and mindblowing it was.
"I have seen this. Long time ago when you were small. Panacea and Robin took you and Aether to a remote area. It was beautiful. I wanted to show you." Kiryuu flew vertical to the stars and went past the clouds. From there, she flew at the same altitude so that Alek could enjoy it.
"You wanted to show me?" Alek asked in disbelief. "And please stop calling my parents by their names. They are my parents, which makes them your parents too. You should call them dad and mum."
"Okay. You were depressed today. I wanted to help out." Kiryuu swam in the clouds slowly and gracefully.
"You are sweet. I was. Thank you." The girl was touched. She hid from everyone but, apparently, she couldn't fool her other half.
"I'm doing this for myself. When you are depressed, I can feel it and, it makes my day horrible. Our minds are connected, remember?" Kiryuu didn't want to admit that she wanted to help Alek because she kind of felt embarrassed. She then understood why Bia was always 'mean' to Alek. She was just trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Sorry about that. I would try to avoid being depressed again."
"I don't think it works like that, but okay." Kiryuu chuckled. "What has been bothering you?"
"A lot of things, actually. I don't know why dad or mum didn't take over as a head when they lost Aether. You know they were both firstborns and, they are stronger and more capable of me. I also don't know why grandma chose me over them. I am not strong. In this state, I can't protect everyone as I promised Aether. I shouldn't be the head. They should be." Alek spoke out her mind. This was the most thing that she was worried about and sad about. Why would Mikoto choose her while she had other options? She must not be in her sane mind when she chose her to be the next head.
"I think there are a lot of reasons why... grandma," KIryuu almost said Mikoto but remembered what she had said earlier and called her grandmother. "Chose you when Aether went. I think she knows that you would be a perfect person to lead the clan. You are capable of becoming the head you dream of. I won't let anyone else beat you up as long as I'm here, by your side. I believe in you. Everyone knows that you have the potential. You are sensitive to people's feelings, making you a very considerate and caring person. But that is not always a good thing and, I think you know that. People may use that to take advantage of you but, I wouldn't let that happen. If I feel like you are being tricked, I will take over on the spot, okay?"
"Thank you, Ryuu." Alek has tears in her eyes. Her other half's words were comforting and touching.
"You are welcome." The dragon blushed but, the scales around her cheek just became more yellow than usual. It was a very interesting sight to see. "I can see that this is not all. Tell me everything, until then, I wouldn't be able to start my day happily."
"You are right. There are more." Alek chuckled and wiped the tears that streamed down her face. "It's about Alec and Mel. I am..."
The conversation went on until Alek spat everything out and was feeling better. Her mother was right. Talking to somebody made her mind much less complicated and light.
They returned to the darkroom after their talk. It was already around midnight when they were back and found Bia sleeping soundly. She was calling out Alek softly and had a frown between her eyebrows.
Kiryuu let Alek take back control and let her be with her sister.
"I'm here, hon." Alek held her sister's hand that was reaching for something. The touch made the frown disappear and brought a faint smile to her lips. She looked really adorable, holding onto her sister in her sleep soundly.
[I think you should sleep. Good night.] The dragon spoke before disappearing from their mind.
Alek nodded to it and kissed Bia's head softly before letting go of the hand carefully and going to her own bed.
"Huh!" Alek silently gasped before getting into her bed. She should have taken a photo of them holding hands!
She quickly removed the charger and went back to her sister to hold her hand again and take a picture in the dark. She took it with a flash so that it could be seen. The flash didn't wake up Bia and Alek, once again, hopped off the bed and went to her own bed happy and full of satisfaction. That photo was going to stay in her 'Bia's album'.