Wukong was hesitant to move. It was reaching a point where he even felt himself freeze in place. But on the whim that doing so would make him more suspicious, he took a quiet breath in, then he made his way forward.
Once again this hall was large and very bare. The only things present, were pillars, Light Crystals and a couple of statues littered across the massive hall. At least these were the only things that looked to be in place. But sticking out like a very very sore thumb, was the enormous and powerful green dragon, the equally enormous bed on which the dragon had been sprawled upon, and two massive golden bowls: one filled with water and the other completely empty.
'Is this mighty dragon a pet?' Wukong thought to himself, and as soon as these words had formed in his head, he flinched when the dragon scowled. 'Did he hear that?' Wukong had asked himself, wondering if he had said it out loud.
"Motong, how are you today?" The King had called out with his arms out stretched. Following this, the dragon slowly removed its gaze from Wukong and lowered its head so the King could hug his jaw.
'It is a pet.' Wukong had thought, and in that instant, he felt the ground under his feet slide and before he knew it, he was falling. Though he could react to this in time and do a cartwheel to evade this fall, he found his limbs had gone numb.
Within the second, a thud resounded into the air, followed by a rush of pain into Wukong's nose.
Following the sound, the King at once turned to Wukong, who he had found was on his feet.
"What was that sound?" The King had asked a mildly dazed Wukong, who rose onto his feet as fast as he could so the King wouldn't question him on what had just happen.
"I think I saw a bug." Wukong had said with his gaze pinned to the ground, while the King stood confused. 'Yup, I was right, he can hear my thoughts.' Wukong had thought with a grim realization dawning on him.
"Okay?" The King said, then he let go of Motong. "I'll see you in an hour Motong." The King had said with a gentle stroke to the dragon's jaw, before finally letting go.
The dragon had snorted a warm breeze from his nose onto the King before lifting his head.
"Where are you going off to father?" Wukong wanted to leave out the father part, but felt that sentence to be incomplete without it. As opposed to the other times he spoke to the King, he found he could refrain from using that word, but this one couldn't be helped.
"I've been up all night my son, I need to get some sleep." The King had said as he made his way toward the end of the room.
"For just an hour?" Wukong had asked, wondering if this was a regular thing for the King and expecting the memory to surface in his head, but he got nothing from his brain. 'Stupid head.' Wukong thought.
"Yes, I have more matters to attend to. You are aware the Clysm is in but a few weeks, and the festival that proceeds it will be in even lesser of the time frame." The King had said, and luckily for Wukong, this time, his head provided context on what the King was saying.
"I see. But you will be able to sleep properly tonight I hope." Wukong had asked, feigning to be a caring son...or, was he?
The King had stopped at the edge of the wall, then turned to face Wukong with a gentle smile.
"I hope so too son." The king had said, right before he began to rise off the ground by the levitating platform under his feet. "Go and rest yourself too son, you won't be getting much of that very soon."
These line of words had left Wukong confused, he meant to ask what the King had meant by that, but before he could, the King had already disappeared into the floor above, when the levitating platform had stopped in the ceiling.
With a sigh, Wukong stood still attempting to leave the hall, when he suddenly remembered he was with a dragon that could hear his thoughts. And a very powerful dragon at that.
'Not as powerful as you it would seem. Or at least, the real you.' a voice resounded into Wukong's head, a voice that did not belong to him, a voice he was not familiar with. But somehow was. It took Wukong only a second, before he had realized that the reason he was familiar with this strange voice, was because of the prince's memories. Apparently, the prince and the dragon spoke on a normal basis.
'You...know who I am.' Wukong said, feeling his heart suddenly beat rapidly.
'I do.' The dragon responded, with no semblance of malice in his tone, which confused Wukong.
Looking up, Wukong met the dragon's red eyes, and then spoke.
'And, you don't care?' Wukong had asked, weariness in his mind's voice.
'Care, about what?' The dragon had asked, then he gently brought his head low, so he laid it on the bed meant only for him. 'The fact that you killed the prince, son of the man I am Tethered to?' The dragon added.
Frozen from the dragon's words, Wukong hesitated for a moment, then spoke, 'Yes.' Wukong said, unsure of how to process what was going on. He didn't know much about this world, but one thing he knew — like it had been a nail hammered into his brain — was the fact that, all Tethereds and their Lergobeast, held a very very special Bond, that could never be broken. This Bond extended to the point that a Tethered would sacrifice their lives for their Lergobeast, and a Lergobeast the same for their Tethereds, and if one of them died, it was not uncommon for the other half to die due to the pain of losing the other.
So, hearing that a Lergobeast, who could talk and bore a great form of intelligence, not caring about their Tethered's family, which was supposed to be likewise their family, was a little bit baffling to Wukong.
Of course what the dragon thought made no difference to him, as long as he wasn't a threat. But Wukong couldn't shake the part of himself that wanted to know why this creature was not bound to the rules that made exist him in the first place. After all, a Lergobeast was all about bonds.
'Do you know what kind of a Lergobeast I am stranger?' The dragon Motong asked, turning his head so his neck coiled into himself, blocking out Wukong from sight.
Wukong thought for a moment on the answer, but found the prince's mind failed him once more. With a sigh, Wukong responded.
'No.' Following his response, a laugh resounded into his head. But the reason for said laugh was not stated, instead Motong just unwrapped himself and turned his sight to Wukong, staring at him with red eyes full of fire.