Chapter 16: Departures and New Companions
"Ugh..."
Dion woke up, feeling a heavy weight pressing down on his chest. Slowly opening his eyes. "Kyuu?" he found himself staring right into Gemmeth’s drooling face. The little dragon blinked its big, round, adorable eyes right back at him.
"Whoa! Oh... right. You’re coming with me, aren’t you?" Dion said, startled, as clarity returned.
"Kyuuu!" Gemmeth chirped happily upon seeing Dion awake.
"Dion, you’re up?" Luna asked.
Dion turned to see Luna and Mei kneeling beside him, watching over him. As he made a move to stand, Mei picked Gemmeth up and set her down, while Luna helped him into a sitting position. He scanned his surroundings, realizing they were inside a shallow cave that didn’t go very deep. Bit by bit, his memory pieced together everything that had happened before he fainted.
"Oh, right... where’s Cleo? She fainted too, didn’t she?" Dion asked.
"Over there... at the front," Luna replied, pointing toward the mouth of the cave.
Dion looked toward the entrance and spotted Cleo pacing back and forth near the opening. Her face looked utterly stressed out, and she was anxiously biting her thumbnail. Seeing Cleo looking so pale, panicked, and distraught, Dion turned back to Luna and Mei, who were holding Gemmeth; both girls simply shrugged. Dion turned his attention back to Cleo and slowly got to his feet.
He walked over to Cleo as she continued pacing back and forth in front of him. He raised a hand to place it on her shoulder, but Cleo suddenly turned and locked eyes with him. Her face instantly melted into overwhelming relief, looking on the verge of tears, before "thump!" she tackled Dion straight to the ground, sending him sprawling flat on his back. Dion blinked up at Cleo, but her expression rapidly shifted from relief to burning anger.
"Hey, what’s your problem?" Dion asked.
"What do you mean, what’s my problem?! Do you have any idea what you just did?!" Cleo asked, panicked and exasperated.
"Oh." Dion’s mind immediately ran through the checklist: activated the Ancient One persona, dropped an Atomic Nova spell, terraformed the entire western realm of the kingdom, shattered the ancient seal, and passed out cold. Dion offered her a sheepish grin, but then forced a solemn expression onto his face.
"For the greater good, I had no choice but to unleash my power," Dion declared dramatically.
"Hah... what?! Then what about that? Mind explaining that?!" Cleo yelled, pointing directly at Gemmeth, who was currently being snuggled in Mei’s arms.
Gemmeth, realizing Cleo was pointing at her, blinked her big round eyes in the most innocent, adorable way possible and tilted her head. Dion looked over at Gemmeth, then turned back to face Cleo.
"What about her?" Dion asked, genuinely puzzled.
"What about her? You’re asking what about her?! You just turned a mythical dragon—the legendary Calamity Dragon that once wiped out entire civilizations—into your personal pet!" Cleo shrieked, completely exasperated.
"Oh... that," Dion said.
He glanced over once more at Gemmeth resting in Mei’s arms, looking as gentle and docile as a well-trained Golden Retriever. He also noticed Luna occasionally reaching over to pet Gemmeth’s head.
"Um... I don’t really see the problem here... I used to have a pet dog back in the day," Dion remarked nonchalantly. "Technically, I’m not lying. It’s a shame that when my ex and I got divorced, my dog went with my kids to serve as their emotional support animal, even though I was the one who constantly took him to the vet," Dion thought in his head.
"You really don’t get it, do you?... Look, I’m grateful you used your power to stop the stampede. As for that massive crater, I can gather a team of mages to fill it up into a lake using water magic—even if it means our border now sits directly next to the Minatheras Kingdom since the mountain’s gone. But how on earth am I supposed to report that the seal is broken and Gemmeth is free?! The Kingdom of Lutherias was founded by our ancestors specifically to guard that seal! If Gemmeth gets out, it won’t just be Lutherias, our neighbors, Minatheras will be wiped off the map too!" Cleo explained in a desperate, frantic rush.
"Hmm." Hearing Cleo’s panicked rant, Dion began to take the situation seriously. He turned to look at Luna, Mei, and Gemmeth in Mei’s arms. Naturally, all three were staring right back at Dion, clearly leaving every single decision in his hands.
Suddenly, noisy clamor echoed from outside the cave. Cleo immediately snapped to her feet, and Dion followed suit. Both walked over to the mouth of the cave, and Dion almost died of shock, turns out their hideout was tucked away on a hidden ledge along a sheer cliff face. Looking down, Dion saw swarms of Lutherias Kingdom soldiers and adventurers marching into the valley below to investigate the area.
Dion turned to Cleo, whose face was now twice as pale as before. Cleo looked back at Dion with eyes that looked ready to burst into tears.
"Sigh... fine. In that case, let me meet your king, and I’ll talk to him directly," Dion suggested casually, speaking in the same tone he used when handling a terrified employee who made a mistake at work and needed help with upper management.
Hearing Dion’s offer, Cleo stared at him as if he had suddenly grown two heads. She raised a hand, pressed it against her forehead, and shook her head in sheer mental exhaustion.
"You... meet the king... and say what? ’Hey, I want to keep Gemmeth as a pet’? Tomorrow morning you’d be beheaded in the public square, Gemmeth would go on a rampage, and the world would end! Do you even understand the risk?!" Cleo blurted out, laying out the nightmare scenario in vivid detail.
"Come on... you are blowing things way out of proportion. Just look at her! How could something that cute possibly destroy the world?" Dion grumbled, exasperated. He gestured toward Gemmeth, who indeed looked ridiculously cute sitting cradled in Mei’s arms.
Cleo felt her stress levels skyrocket. She had completely given up on trying to explain things to Dion, who seemed totally oblivious even though Dion was simply choosing not to stress over it.
"Alright, here’s the plan. You’re heading to your territory next anyway, right? Leave tonight, and take Gemmeth with you. Whatever happens after that, I don’t want to know, it’ll be outside my kingdom’s jurisdiction, got it?" Cleo asked.
"Got it... and what about me? Are you planning to report me to your king?" Dion asked, his tone turning serious.
Cleo locked eyes with Dion’s suddenly stern face before averting her gaze to the side. Her silence gave Dion all the answer he needed.
"You’re planning to report that my power stopped the stampede and carved out a massive crater that erased the mountain border between Lutherias and Minatheras?" Dion pressed.
"I don’t have a choice," Cleo answered, bowing her head.
"Fair enough... go right ahead. But if they demand proof, I won’t be able to demonstrate a thing because baseline me is weak... don’t believe me? Test me yourself," Dion replied, spreading his arms wide.
"Ugh, forget it! I won’t tell them who caused all this. I’ll just report that I arrived too late, and that all my traveling companions unfortunately perished in the blast," Cleo surrendered with a weary sigh.
"Really?" Dion asked, brightened up.
"Yes... reporting you puts me at risk too, so this is the best solution for everyone. But I’m asking you to leave tonight, and don’t step out of this cave until the coast is clear," Cleo instructed.
"Did you bring us to this cave?" Dion asked.
"Yep! She blasted a hole into the cliffside, levitated us with her magic, and carried us all in here," Luna chimed in from behind.
"Oh, I see," Dion replied, glancing at Luna before turning back to Cleo.
"Alright... I need to head out and draw their investigation away from here. Wait here until nightfall. I’m sorry we have to part ways like this... but I’m sure we’ll meet again someday. Goodbye, and thank you for saving my kingdom," Cleo said with a smile.
Cleo planted a soft kiss on Dion’s cheek, then turned around. "Levitation." A grey magical aura erupted beneath her feet, and she floated gracefully out of the cave, soaring up toward the top of the cliff face.
Dion turned around to face Luna, Mei, and Gemmeth, who was resting comfortably in Mei’s lap. He sat down cross-legged in front of the three of them.
"Alright, we’ll resume our journey tonight," Dion said.
"Kyuuu," Gemmeth chirped.
"Huh... you’re saying we can just ride on you?" Dion asked.
Hearing Dion apparently having a full conversation with Gemmeth, Luna and Mei exchanged bewildered glances. Mei leaned her head forward curiously.
"Can you actually understand what she’s saying?" Mei asked.
"Um... I guess so... whenever she speaks, a voice echoes in my head... oh, by the way, she’s actually still a baby. Gemmeth was actually her mother’s name. She doesn’t have a name yet, and she’s a female," Dion explained.
"Huh... a female?!" Luna and Mei gasped in surprise.
"Alright then. Starting today, your name is Gina. Got it?" Dion asked, picking Gina up in his arms.
"Kyuuuuu!" Gina chirped merrily as Dion lifted her into the air, while Luna and Mei looked at each other in total confusion.