The nerves were beginning to build, it felt like waves of acid were trying to break through the lining of Ryuji's stomach. He felt jittery and sporadic, but also felt a tinge of excitement. His entire body vibrated like it had caffeine jitters even though he hadn't had any today. It was pure endorphins as he waited for his sister to arrive. Unfortunately, due to the events of the night before, Ryuji hadn't gotten much sleep. He thought about just going to be and letting his mind rest but he had too much to accomplish. Instead he stayed in his den for most of the night working out a play for the next day, this day. He felt he prepared as much as he could but even that was very little. He had reached a point of delirium during the previous night that gave him a boost of confidence, but upon standing in the drake pit all the false confidence washed away, leaving only acid reflux.
He stood, waiting for his sister to arrive, the anticipation was worse than the actual foreboding appearance of his sibling. At any moment the large doors could open, the anxiety around that moment tugged at Ryuji's heartstrings. He felt he might faint. He slapped the sides of his face and shook his head, he had to stay in reality, anxiety could not be his guide. He tried to stay out of his head by focusing on the room around him. He had never been here before but he had seen it from a distance. The drake pit was a large cathedral-like building that had been built on one of the islands that made up the Lyondel estates archipelago. The building was truly massive and ornate, adorned with beautiful stone carvings on the outside and lush greenery and vegetation on the inside. It held many different animals and creatures but because it was made specifically to fit the drakes natural environment, it got its name. Most of the mounts were kept here when they were not being ridden, which filled the structure with the sounds of howls and screeches, making it feel like a prehistoric jungle. The strangest part, at least in Ryuji's mind, was the glass ceiling that covered the building. It let large amounts of natural light in to support the vegetation and help regulate the beast, but given the beast housed inside the structure, Ryuji felt it an odd choice. What if one tried to escape? What if one accidentally ran into it? It seemed irresponsible… illogical… but the building still stood after two centuries so they must be doing something right.
Ryuji stood in the "waiting room" as he would call it, but in this fantasy realm they called it the "audience chamber". The room had a few benches as well as some magical devices that dispensed different snacks (vending machines as far as Ryuji could tell), but the main feature of the room were the large floor to ceiling windows that separated Ryuji from the interior of the pit itself. From the chamber you could see the entire building, more like the entire jungle, just teeming with life as a beast of many kids roamed across the ground and flew through the air. It was a bit unnerving to be honest, and Ryuji didn't need to be any more nervous so instead he faced the door. He had gotten himself an "Empress Ration" (his favorite candy bar) from one of the "vending machines" and ate it more out of compulsion than desire. It definitely wasn't doing anything to help his stomach.
Ryuji had almost fully distracted himself when the doors began to open. The candy bar in his hand flew into the air in an anxious spasm. Ryuji quickly tried to grab it but it was like it was covered in Vasoline, he just couldn't get a hand on it. He finally got a hold of it just as the large doors fully opened, it was hard to see for a moment but Ryuji could see two silhouettes standing in the doorway. One was the silhouette of a smaller, teenage girl, obviously Ryuji's sister, the other was surprisingly shorter, closer to a little girl.
Oh no…Ryuji thought it couldn't be Lorraine…could it? Ryuji grimaced at the thought. The two silhouette's moved closer and closer to Ryuji but he wasn't able to make them out until the large double doors began to close. As he had suspected one was indeed the figure of his sister, long white hair and freckles in all, but the other was an absolute shock to him, it wasn't Lorraine at all. Before him stood a 3 foot tall boy with completely green skin, pointed ears, two tusks that stuck out from the front of his mouth. It was a goblin!!! Ryuji had heard of this race before but had never gotten to see one in person. They were more humanoid than he had imagined. The young goblin looked like any other young child just with some exaggerated features, he wasn't anything like the grotesque creatures books claimed them to be; in his world or this one.
"Hello…Allishtar," Liliane said shyly. This was the first time they had truly spoken to each other. As the bastard of the family. Ryuji wasn't often allowed to mingle with his siblings. It was impossible to avoid each other so they made eye contact every once in a while but words were rarely If ever exchanged. Liliane was the only one who would smile at Ryuji from time to time, she was the only one who would acknowledge his existence. Something he very dearly appreciated.
"It is good to see you, Mistress Liliane," Ryuji said, bowing slightly. Technically she was above him in station so he had to show some sort of respect.
Liliane grew wide eyed and shook her hands in front of her, "NO!…I'm sorry…Allishtar we are…" she looked around carefully and then scooted in to whisper, "siblings," she then scooted back. "We don't have to have such formalities with one another…" she said, twirling her fingers. Another gesture of warmth and kindness, Ryuji couldn't believe what a kind soul she was.
Ryuji smiled, "alright then…Liliane…" Ryuji gestures towards the goblin, "what is your name?"
The goblin looked at Liliane with uncertainty then cowered back a little. "Sorry Allishtar," Liliane said, "he probably isn't used to being talked to.
Ryuji looked at her with confusion, "not used to being talked to?"
Liliane tilted her head a little and frowned, "hmmmmm," she began to say, then she perked up quickly. "I get it! You have never seen a dead man before?" Liliane said.
"A dead man?" Ryuji thought there had to be a translation error.
"Yeah!" Liliane said, "you probably don't have one since you aren't a…well…"
Ryuji knew the words she was looking for were not a Lyondel. Most people found this pointing out as some sort of rude gesture towards Ryuji. Ryuji more so was just tired of hearing about it.
"So what does a dead man do?" Ryuji asked, moving past the awkwardness.
"Oh! Right, basically any time I'm going into a dangerous place and father isn't around, he comes with me," Liliane said.
A goblin bodyguard? Ryuji had never heard of such a thing. "To protect you…" Ryuji said.
Liliane covered her mouth and laughed, "no silly. He is too small and young for that. It's so that if I die in some sort of dangerous situation, he dies as well," Liliane said matter of factly.
It felt like time froze around him. Did Liliane realize what she just said? Did he hear her right? Ryuji couldn't choose between seething in anger and falling backwards in confusion. Instead he was just left in an almost catatonic state, his brain overloaded trying to process, why send this goblin to his death?
"See look," Liliane grabbed the goblins arm and held it up. Embedded into the back of his hand was the scar of a magic circle, one Ryuji hadn't seen before, it had to be some kind of blood magic with the way it sat underneath the skin, "dead men are marked with Scrying spells," Liliane said.
"What…what's a…" Ryuji couldn't even speak, he had to compose himself, "what's a scrying spell?" He finally was able to get out.
"Let's say something awful happens and we get hurt while trying to ride my drake and we all end up dying. Father can activate the spell and basically see out final moments through the eyes of the goblin to see how we died," Liliane said all cheerfully.
"Why…" Ryuji said. His brain couldn't comprehend what he was hearing.
Liliane got all fussy, she walked up to Ryuji and whispered in his ear. "Allishtar; it's only a Terran," she whispered.
Ryuji's heart sank.