The Astava Empire is made up of eight different kingdoms; Vasdra, Yiterra, Nethia, Queburg, Groven, Theoca, Shelan, and the original kingdom of Astava.
The largest black market pet shop was situated in Yiterra, which was one of the farthest kingdoms away from Astava.
It was why the Empire couldn't easily get rid of it, plus the fact that Yiterra had one of the most complicated terrains.
Arlitos sighed lightly. He had originally meant to scout the pet shop out himself, but ended up buying a baby dragon and a possible child of an extinct tortoise.
Actually, Arlitos knew there was a possibility that the tortoise wasn't actually the offspring of an extinct tortoise, but it didn't matter.
Perhaps for that angry customer he met when he first saw the two reptiles, it was a scam, but for Arlitos, buying a baby dragon and a 'worthless' turtle for eighty-five million Cons was still a good deal.
He perched his elbow on the edge of the carriage window and slightly smiled. He felt like the days ahead were going to be brighter than any other days he had experienced before.
-
[Fallios] Ria called out. Fallios grunted sleepily, indicating he was listening. Right now, they were sleeping in the rock cave, so Fallios was pretty tired.
[What?] He grumpily mumbled, lifting his head from his claws.
[We never actually spoke about our past lives before, and it's already been two months] Ria complained. For some reason, they had a tacit understanding not to speak about their past lives, so Ria didn't even know Fallios's age yet.
Perhaps they were worried about triggering certain memories. Death was never quite pleasant, after all.
[Fine, fine. You go first] He said as he sat up and lazily leaned against the cool rocks. His golden eyes blinked rapidly to get rid of the fog on them.
Ria thought for a moment. [Well, I was an only child. I died when I was twenty-two in a robbery..] Yeah, now that she thought about it, her life wasn't all that special, except for the part when she died.
[Instant death?] Fallios asked, his voice sounding slightly more awake now.
Ria nodded. [Thankfully, yes]
[I was twenty-nine when I died. I died in a traffic accident] Fallios stated.
[Did you get truck-kun'd?] Ria asked with shining eyes. Fallios glanced at her like she was stupid. [No, I got hit by a motorcycle]
Ria cringed, her face contorting. [It wasn't instant, was it?] Ria asked, already knowing the answer.
[Nope, it really hurt. I got tossed like a sack of dog food and painted the road red] Fallios nonchalantly said while scratching himself on the rock walls.
[Did you have any siblings?] Ria asked, trying to change the subject.
[I had a younger sister] Fallios said.
Suddenly, the mood around the cave became depressing. They both suddenly realized they hadn't thought much about their previous lives, or the people they left behind.
Ria thought of her parents. They must've been sad that she died. Her parents always told her it was the worst thing for a child to die before their parent.
Ria loudly sighed, not even caring that it was a weird action for a tortoise. [We only have each other now. Even if we didn't know each other in our previous lives] She said.
Fallios nodded and curled his long body around the circumference of her shell. [Let's sleep now. Ali… Artilo.. that guy will be coming tomorrow. I don't want to be asleep when we meet him] Fallios said and closed his eyes.
Ria hummed. It was going to be a new journey tomorrow, and they needed all the rest they could get.
-
The sound of a door lock clicking open made Ria instantly open her eyes. In the darkness, she could see Fallios's eyes were also open, and were shining white in the dark.
They both stood up and walked out into the now brightly lit room. Every night, the 'lights' would turn off, though she had no idea which mechanism they used to do that. It wasn't like a modern light bulb and light switch, though.
She popped her head out of the cave, with Fallios's head right above hers. They had an immediate view of the door since their cave was in the far right, facing the door.
"Hello again, you two are growing fast." Arlitos smiled and waved at them. Arlitos was wearing all black this time too, covering his features.
[Hello] Ria nodded and politely greeted him back, although she knew Arlitos wouldn't be able to hear her.
[Hi, money man] Fallios similarly greeted. Ria spurted a jet of water at him, signaling for him to not abuse the fact that Arlitos couldn't hear him.
Fallios glared at her. [Such a hypocrite] He grumpily mumbled and shook the water droplets off of himself.
"Be good now, if you don't I will have to put both of you in separate cages." Arlitos approached them and picked Fallios off the ground and set him on his shoulder, letting Fallios's tail rest on his other shoulder before picking Ria up.
[It feels so weird to be picked up] Ria complained, her legs instinctually flailing around in the air.
Unlike Fallios, whose bone structure made it so he could be held in many ways, Ria's bone structure was like a dinnerplate, so there weren't many comfortable ways for a human to hold her.
"Sorry, you just got too big so I can't carry both of you." He apologized as he walked out their enclosure and put her in a cage, which was sitting on a cart.
Ria stopped struggling after she was put into the cage. Surprisingly, Arlitos was actually pretty strong, he could even easily balance a dragon on his shoulder while carrying a huge turtle.
One shouldn't underestimate the difference between a three-month-old dragon and a five-month-old dragon. In just two months, he went from the size of a large dog- and that was subtracting the length if his tail- to the size of a few-month-old horse.
Of course, Ria grew extremely big as well. If before, she was the size of four medium plates, now she her shell was as big as an extra large plastic storage container, although she wasn't exactly as tall as one.
Solda's eyes widened when he saw a dragon on Arlitos's shoulder. Today, he was the one watching the pair of reptiles, so it wasn't surprising to see him here.
Since they were both very special- although she didn't know why she was special- a worker would usually watch over them during their shift.
"Are you sure you can handle them?" Solda hesitantly said, shrinking back at the dragon's murderous gaze.
Although they had measures to defend themselves against the creatures in the pet shop, he was more worried about Arlitos's well-being than his own.
Arlitos smiled under his hood. "This one seems smart enough to not leave without taking his friend." He said while looking down at the tortoise he was wheeling down the hall inside a cage.
Solda sighed and nodded as he followed Arlitos through the danger zone and into the pet shop, making sure not to get too close because of the dragon which was still glaring at him behind Arlitos's back.
Fallios tolerated the workers, but that didn't mean he liked them either. If he was able to, he would've destroyed this entire pet shop.
Fortunately though, Fallios wasn't stupid enough to even attempt that.
"Let's go through the office exit." Solda said as he turned to the left and opened the door. The office was a simple setup with tables and chairs. It was mostly a lounge area and a place to do paperwork.
A few people Ria knew were inside; Galdon, Connie, a few other workers, and.. a group of eleven walked out from a door to their left.
Ria could almost physically feel Fallios tense up from inside the cage, even though he was sitting on Arlitos's shoulder right now.
[You..] Fallios murderously glared at the group who killed his parents. A guttural hiss left his throat and his claws dug into Arlitos's clothes. It was a good thing he wore several layers of clothes to protect his identity.
[Calm down] Ria warned as she approached the bars of the cage to see Fallios better.
Arlitos's brows furrowed as he looked at the group. "You are the people who hunted the dragons, correct?" He asked in a low voice.
Even though he technically contributed to the pet shop by adopting two of perhaps the most expensive creatures in the pet shop, he still wasn't going to like the group.
The leader of the group nodded, vigilantly side-eyeing the baby dragon on his shoulder. "You should cage that thing." He said.
Arlitos shook his head. "Baby dragons can't fly at this age." He said, turning his head to look at Fallios next. "It's ok, they won't hurt you." He whispered. He wanted to pet Fallios, but he was in an unpredictable and unstable state.
Fallios's hiss became louder, clenching and unclenching his claws, pretty much tearing Arlitos's clothes to shreds. His muscles tensed up, ready to lunge.
[I will kill yo-] Fallios's words were cut off as a harsh jet of icy cold water landed on his face, making him choke on the water which entered his nose. He turned his head to glare at Ria, but it soon turned into a look of shock.
Ria glared at him with her orange eyes and let out a guttural growl, which sounded like it came out of the depths of hell. Fallios shrunk back and was no longer focused on the leader nor his group.
Unbeknownst to Ria, her eyes looked terrifying, as if she would shred him into pieces like string cheese. They shrunk into two slits, and Fallios swore that they were glowing right now.
[Sorry] Fallios hesitantly said, showing a posture of submission. He shrunk back and curled his body tighter around Arlitos's shoulders in fear.
Ria's growl died down after a few more seconds, but her harsh glare still didn't die down. [Now is not the time for a vengeful protagonist] She simply stated with a piercing stare.
Fallios didn't give a second glance to the group anymore after Ria's verbal lashing. He was too afraid to be looked at by Ria, his only friend in this world, like that again.
Ria slowly closed her eyes and retracted her head into her shell. Somehow, she, the younger one, was the one to scold the older of the two. It made her irrationally angry- angrier than when she yelled at Fallios earlier.
Arlitos looked at the seemingly sleeping turtle in shock. He had no idea this turtle could actually scare a dragon into submission.
To be honest, even Arlitos was a bit frightened. He gave Fallios a pitying glance and walked out the pet shop.
Fallios curiously looked at the animals in front of their carriage, which was placed in a sketchy and dark alley. They looked like horses- all except for their faces.
Their faces were elongated like a crocodile's, and they had sharp teeth obviously meant for a carnivore.
His eyes narrowed and he sighed in his mind. Usually, Fallios was a pretty nonchalant person, but this world constantly tested his limits.
He looked at the cage. Ria was seemingly asleep inside, and Arlitos carefully picked her up and opened the door to the carriage with his foot, placing her inside.
Fallios suddenly calmed down.
[Thankfully, I have you with me]