Chapter 6- Crystalia’s Future
Crystalia manages to heat up leftover food from the previous night for her evening meal before crashing into her bed, passing out almost immediately.
When Crystalia awakes the next day, memories of a luminescent place fill her mind and she tries to remember how she got there but, no matter what she tries, she isn't able to remember more. She soon finds her powers are much stronger in this place as she barely notices faint memories of lifting entire islands from the ground with ease, leaving them to float in the sky. She makes sure not to forget this, wanting to look deeper into her bizarre dream later.
Crystalia finds her mother in the kitchen alongside her father and a strange dragon.
Immediately following her instincts, she quickly casts a paralyzing aura around the strange female, angrily approaching the immobilized intruder, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
Her mother speaks up for the stranger.
"Her name is Verdina and we invited her in, you can let her go." Crimsa replies calmly.
Crystalia dissipates the aura with a swipe of her paw, freeing Verdina.
"Sorry ma'am, I didn't..."
"It's ok... Crystalia is it? Sorry, names aren't my specialty"
"Yes, that's my name."
Verdina turns to Crimsa and Relid. She nods towards Crystalia, and the three head to the entrance of the cave; Verdina turns to Crystalia before she exits the cave, speaking to Crystalia in a sweet, soothing tone.
"Do try to keep up, sweetie."
"Is that a challenge?"
"Maybe~"
Her voice trails off as she pulls both sets of her wings back, taking to the sky, followed suit by Crystalia's parents who are soon followed by Crystalia.
Crystalia manages to keep pace with the adults for the first hour or so before her body begins to grow fatigued, her pace first slowing, eventually coming to a complete stop before she momentarily blacks out, causing her wings to go limp and her body to drop uncontrollably, hitting the ground with a massive "thud", leaving a small crater around her unmoving form.
Crimsa barely hears something hitting the ground; turning around to investigate, she cries out in surprise and worry as she is able to make out the form of her daughter lying, still, on the ground.
She dives, folding her wings in and dropping thousands of feet in a matter of seconds, gliding quickly to her hatchling from there.
Crimsa doesn't hear the two thumps of two dragons landing behind her, nor does she see them run to the still dragon in the small impact crater, she only sees her daughter, dead in front of her.
She starts crying, bringing Relid to her side, leaving Verdina to tend to Crystalia.
Verdina rolls over the young dragoness, assessing her wounds, and finding, to her relief, she is breathing. Encouraged, Verdina calls out to Relid, "She's alive!"
Relid nods visibly to her, letting her know he heard.
Verdina places a paw on the bloodied side of Crystalia, wiping off some of the dirt and cleaning the wound with a flask of water. She applies a minty-smelling paste to the wound and it begins to close rapidly; she applies the same paste to the edges of the tears in the wing on that same side, as well as at its base, allowing those to seal before she casts a spell on Crystalia.
Crystalia's heart rate quickens as she begins to stir, the movement snapping Crimsa from her depressed stupor. Her eyes flicker open and Crystalia attempts to crawl to her feet, whining loudly as an extreme pain causes legs give out underneath her, forcing her to the ground, the impact making her cough up a small amount of blood.
Verdina lies down on the edge of the crater, watching as the mother and father approach their child.
As they reach her, she looks up at them, wincing, but smiling nonetheless.
Crimsa begins to open her mouth, ready to question her daughter until she is happy with the information she is able to get; her breath catches in her throat as Relid places a paw on her shoulder, knowing that Crystalia is too shaken up to answer a barrage of questions. Verdina walks to Crystalia's side, helping her up.
"Thank you, Verdina."
"No problem; you need to be more careful next time though, you really should've died after that fall. You were lucky to survive. Although you should be able to walk on your own by the morning and fly in a day or two."
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
Relid and Crimsa both take a few minutes to regain their composure before joining Verdina and Crystalia as they continue forwards, Crystalia limping along, Verdina allowing the younger 'ness use her as a crutch.
The sun is just about to set as the towers of the inner city begin to peek over the horizon. Though Verdina knows just how deceivingly far away those towers are better than anyone else.
"We aren't going to make it very far tomorrow if Crystalia doesn't get rest, we need to set up camp here."
Relid and Crimsa sigh before finding a suitably soft patch of grass and going to sleep. Verdina unpacks a tent, magically assembling it with a few swipes of a paw before bidding Crystalia good night and closing the tent entrance behind her; Crystalia finds herself an optimal place to rest before laying down and going to sleep herself.
. . .
When the morning comes, Verdina packs up her tent and the three begin the trek to the outer walls of the capital.
By the time they reach the gate, all four are panting heavily, the blistering summer heat searing anything it touches. The guardsmen approach the group as they near the entrance to the capital, stopping them only after they all reach the shade of the wall, "Identification please."
Verdina hands the guard a small badge. He reads it and looks questioningly between her and the three others that accompany her.
"Oh, yes, them. They're with me, she's their daughter."
The guard's eyes widen slightly as she says this and he quickly waves the gate opened.
. . .
The gate clangs back into position behind the group, though only Verdina notices, as the others are enthralled by the majesty of the capital city of Thyna.
They absentmindedly follow Verdina through the city until they reach a particularly grand building in the center of town. Upon their arrival, she turns around to introduce them.
"Welcome to the Grand Citadel!"
They look at her, still stricken wordless in awe. Verdina leads them in and they take a large, mechanical elevator to the second of many floors before entering a massive open foyer with two conference rooms on either side and large, rune-encrusted beams that form a square on either end. She leads them all to the western end before taking a small amount of crystal powder and blowing it into the frame, causing it to flash with arcane energy, making all four look away.
"Just follow me through and you'll be fine."
Verdina enters first, walking into the ooze-like substance filling the area, eventually disappearing completely from view. Crimsa takes a deep breath and springs through, followed quickly by Relid and Crystalia. Crystalia feels as though her body is being thrown around and, upon exiting the portal, runs to a nearby trash can and vomits, her stomach unsettled after teleporting so quickly.
She hears Verdina explain something to her parents, probably the adverse effects of teleportation on a young dragon.
Once Crystalia's stomach settles, she has a chance to look around, finding the room to be much grander than the one in the capital; the floor here is a crimson, velvet carpet and the walls are solid marble with masterfully carved andesite pillars placed in the middle.
Verdina leads them to a large, intricately runed oak door on the far side of the room; she grabs one of the knockers on it and knocks, stepping back as she waits.
After a minute or so, a series of runes flash and a muffled voice comes from the other side, "Come in Verdina."
Unquestioning of how the voice knew Verdina's name, they enter, a powerful scent sending a shiver down their spines as the door is opened, affecting everyone but Verdina, who shrugs off any reaction to the mysterious smell.
Verdina bows to the strange dragon whom, they can now see, is wearing a white laced, cyan colored, velvet robe and a bejeweled crown.
"Everyone, this is Queen Adinia."
The three quickly bow to the queen as they introduce themselves.
"Good to meet you all, please, make yourselves comfortable." The Queen's voice flows soothingly, and her intonation is almost song-like; Crystalia, however notices very quickly the cracks in Adinia's voice, but to her, those cracks betray the Queen's internal pain.
The three stand and join Verdina who is laying on one of a series of thick, satin cushions set out before a large, gold-trimmed, wooden table upon which rests a single stone.
When the queen joins them, she speaks once again, "I have been watching your daughter, Crimsa, Relid, and her control of magic is far beyond her age. I would like to take her as an apprentice and, possibly, an heir to my throne; first, though, I need to test the extent of her abilities. Sadly, I must do this alone, but I will answer any questions you may have now.
Once she finishes, Crimsa shakes her head and Verdina leads the parents out to the lobby, once again shutting the door behind them.
The queen locks the door behind them and turns to Crystalia, "So, shall we start?"
"Yes queen."
"Please, call me Adinia, formalities aren't needed now." Adina leads Crystalia back to the table, directing her to sit directly across the table, "We will start with something simple. We will both pull the stone towards our side."
"That's it?"
"Yes. On the count of three; 1... 2... 3!" As soon as Adinia utters the word three, the rock lifts up off the table and jerks towards Crystalia's side, soon returning to the center as the queen gets a mental grip on the stone, pulling it back towards herself as she continues staring competitively at Crystalia. Their battle of wills continues for the next thirty minutes with that same pattern; Crystalia, Adinia, Crystalia, Adinia.
Crystalia breaks suddenly as the queen closes her eyes and puts her entire focus into pulling the stone towards herself, tearing it from her opponent's mental grasp. When Adinia opens her eyes, she feels an immediate pity for the obviously crushed dragon across the table.
"I knew you couldn't win, that wasn't my purpose, I was testing your endurance." The queen soothes.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"If you knew, you wouldn't have tried as hard." She reasons.
"How do you know?"
"I've seen the difference for myself. If you feel defeated before the battle begins, you will always loose."
"I guess I can trust your judgment, Adinia."
"Good, I have two more tests for you. Please, follow me."
As Crystalia begins to follow Adinia more closely, the stinging feeling in her nostrils intensifies, though she ignores this, passing it off as a strange perfume.
Adina stops at the foot of the bed that sits opposite the door they entered through and turns around, inviting Crystalia to lay opposing her.
Crystalia accepts, gracefully resting her body on the floor.
"No need to be so careful, I don't bite, usually." Adinia jokes.
"Sorry ma'am, I... all of this is new to me."
"I understand, it's probably stressful, being locked in a room with a strange dragon. I get it. You'll enjoy this though, I want you to meditate, focus on your parents and see what happens."
"You should already know since you'd been watching me."
"Good, very perceptive. You will do wonderfully here! You can have the upper section of this room."
Before Crystalia can point out there wasn't a second level, the queen pulls a spiraling arcane staircase down out of what had appeared to be the ceiling.
The runes on the central column that the staircase formed around light up brightly as they ascend the staircase. "Should you accept my offer, you will live here."
As they crest the staircase, what Crystalia sees is nothing short of a dreamscape, a room like the queen's but in colors that match her own and a dresser full of clothes for her to wear. Crystalia thinks about the offer for a few seconds before answering.
"Only if I can still spend time with my friends and family when I want."
"Of course you will, sweetie. I only wish to help train you to use your magic, outside of that, you may do whatever you want."
"It's a deal."
Crystalia finds her parents outside the room and gives them the good news.
"I've been accepted!"
"That's great, sweetie. Will you still be able to see us?"
"Of course! She said when she's not training me, I may do as I please."
"I guess we'll be back with your few pieces of clothing soon."
"No need, I brought them with me, just in case."
Crimsa kisses her daughter on the cheek and turns to follow her mate back through the portal, looking slightly dejected.
Once the portal dissipates, Crystalia returns to the queen's room and climbs the stairs to her bed; she drops the clothing she had been wearing alongside the rest of her clothes and calls down to the queen.
"Do you care if I wear clothes around in here?"
"No. And don't tell anyone but, I don't myself most times."
"Good to know." Crystalia replies, another question coming to mind, "Is there a bathroom around here, Adina? I want to get washed up."
"Yes, it's on the left side of the bed from the stairs, just trace the runes in the order you want and the lock will set to that pattern."
"Okay, thanks."
When Crystalia enters the bathroom, her eyes widen in surprise, every surface in the oversized room is trimmed with gold and embedded with an assortment of rare gemstones. Crystalia locks the door and looks at herself in the mirror, finding her entire body covered in dirt and dried blood.
She walks over to the shower in the far corner of the room. After some messing around with a few runes nearby, she figures out how to control the temperature as well as how to turn the water on and off.
She cranks the temperature up to a comfortable level before getting in, the doors closing behind her and the heads adjusting to cover her entire body in warmth. She traces another set of runes in the back of the shower stall and arcane energy forms into a sponge for her to clean herself with. She spends the next hour or so cleaning herself of the grime she had accumulated after the fall.
Once she finishes cleaning off, she shuts off the water and moves into a small, nearby pool and swims around for a short time before drying herself off and unlocking the door, heading out into the main room, the stinging scent catching her off guard and causing shivers to run down her spine once more.
She puts on a nice dress from the dresser and heads downstairs to the queen's quarters and asks her if she would give a tour.
"Sorry sweetie, I can't right now, my body won't let me."
"Huh?"
"I'll let your parents decide when to tell you more."
Crystalia blushes slightly before turning away and heading upstairs.
"Sorry sweetie, I promise I'll give you one as soon as my condition wears off."
"Okay. I'm gonna go back to my old school and say hello to my friends."
"Be back before dark."
"I will."
With that, Crystalia lays down at the top of the stairs and concentrates on the siblings, eventually teleporting to them, surprising them as she appears suddenly and out of thin air.
"Wow... where'd you get that?", they ask upon seeing Crystalia's beautifully crafted dress.
"The queen."
The sibling's jaws drop as they look between Crystalia and her flowing, maroon dress.
After a minute or so, Crystalia begins to feel put off by this.
"Please don't do that, it's embarrassing."
"Oh, sorry, we didn't mean to. You're just so... beautiful in that dress", Nol says, snapping back to reality.
"Thanks". Crystalia flushes a shade of red similar to her dress, causing her to turn her head away from the siblings.
"Oh, I didn't mean..."
"It's okay. Meet me outside in a couple of minutes?"
"Sure Crystalia."
"Cool, see you there."
"See ya."
The class is soon dismissed and the brother and sister duo join Crystalia in a secluded area of the playground that sits within a shroud of trees.
"So, why did you want us to meet you here?" Nol asks kindly.
"This is why."
Nol barely has time to process the sentence before Crystalia jumps forward and kisses him, then, before Nol can even think about what happened, Crystalia runs out of the enclosed space and teleports back to her room, a surprised yelp coming from the room below her, "Don't do that! You scared me!"
"Sorry Ma'am."
Crystalia spends the rest of the evening worrying that Nol would hate her for what she did.