A Chronometric Defect

I've collected every single token.

"CAN hav all o tha troof!"

Except this one.

"May I ask—"

"MAAAAHN"

what

"Miss, I—"

"Yu shhh... CAN HANDL DE TROOF"

She waves a bottle at me.

I examine the bottle in her hand.

'Premium Spirits

140 Troof'

The P is scuffed, so it looks like a T.

"What if I—"

"NO! I wull NUT lisssen ta mah DAMG MOTEhRs shinEH MIrrUr! ubeGOOONE!"

The... What? What is she ranting about?

I check Pathfinder for her mother's mirror.

It pops up by the token. Hruh?

I look underneath the token, then around the token.

"YUUUHHHHH! mmaaHHHN!"

She blocks my access to the token.

It's just a token. Why is her mother's mirror inside the token? What is even going on here?

She rushes at me.

"Roah, calm it down—"

I transfer myself back outside.

"{YEA, dAS RITE!} Ya WON hAV it!"

I look up at her balcony. She's there.

*kshhhh*

Roh, excellent. She hit me with the troof.

I can't deal with this woman.

Now what do I do?

The fact her mother's mirror is somehow inside the token is also baffling.

From what Pride told me, even gluttony can't eat one of these things. They all got left down here since the gods can't ascend with them.

The only one known to be able to damage them is myself, and only my Devour talent. I don't have a single other ability that does anything.

So how the hell did her mother's mirror get inside this otherwise impervious object?

I look up at her again.

*tsssssss*

Did... Did she just piss on me?

*thuck*

She flips off the balcony.

"Euwaaaahhhh!"

I catch her.

*foof*

"I gotcha. Don't sit like that. You'll fall."

"Uhwooo... MoTehRs mirOr... Urp... Preeethy."

"I'm not your mother's mirror."

"Yez! yA ARe— urrp."

*blughhhhhh*

Rah, her unintentional freefall ride came back.

Thank goodness I turned on Causal Conduit, otherwise I'd be a mess.

"Since when can a mirror talk?"

"Ya R riHt noW ya sillleh!"

Whelp, that didn't work.

"If I'm your mother's mirror, why can't I have the token?"

"thaZ Thr mirROR tuuuu... Iz awll. Tha miRdor..."

*zzzzz*

...

I guess she's fallen asleep.

I carry her back up to her balcony, enter her bedroom, and put her into bed. I pull the covers over her, being careful to not tear the covers with my claws.

I wonder.

I walk over to the token. I try to use Spatial Conduit on just the mirror.

*clack*

"HEY! MmIRror!"

Roh, she's up. Somehow.

"Yu GOOT it!"

Reah, it popped right out. How the heck? Is this one hollow? None of the others were. Whelp, not that I checked.

Pathfinder, show anything inside this token.

Several red dots pop up.

What? Is this like a pocket dimension?

I use Spatial Conduit again. I pull out a lamp, a hammer, and a bottle full of pills.

Why is all this junk in here?

"Yahhhh... Rafiiien..."

I whip around.

"How do you know that name?"

"Ha. Yah, don... Ima yr sistr..."

"Alessica?"

"Ya do..."

*foof*

*zzzzz*

She's passed out again.

My sister, Alessica. Does that mean I'm... On Earth?

The one planet's name I dared not say, because I thought I'd left it all behind.

I look around at the random junk.

All of... This, behind.

I start to remember. To remember the things I'd tried so hard to forget.

The mirror. Mother's favorite. She always admired herself and nothing else. It was almost solely why I became so self-centered. Not that I ever looked in the mirror— I HATED my body. As a human, I could only hopelessly admire a dragon's perfection.

The lamp. I was electrocuted. Mother left me lying next to it until my grandparents got home. She said it was my 'punishment from god.' Roh, I was less than a year old— who knows what she did before I could remember.

I recall everything that came later, though. It only got worse.

The hammer. The one dad got for his new job, after which he briefly became an astounding carpenter. I remember walking through the house he'd built by himself. It was like this hammer made him an entirely new person. He put all his effort into making us both happy. I was three, but I remember being so happy for him.

Mother wasn't.

The bottle. After dad finally became successful at his carpentry job, which he had struggled with for so many years... Rah, he had emotional issues. So many issues. But he finally fought through them and became successful. Which is when mother got him this bottle. She was a medical insurance executive. She had... Connections.

Ragh. I destroy the bottle and its contents— it's surely addictive.

But why are these here? What does any of this mean?

I look over at Alessica.

Did sh— Alessica, miss me?

Did someone actually miss me?

Moreover, why is she so much older?

Only eight days have passed...

Right?

I walk into Alessica's kitchen. Next to the fridge, a calendar. I see '2042' and clench my sharp teeth.

I flip through the pages. It was 2020 when I died, but...

I flip further, then finally see something written on it. There's just one thing in October.

"Birthday"

That's not her birthday. That's mine. Well, Rafien's birthday. I'm not him anymore, am I?

I raise my claws up to the light. I watch the warm glow of the lightbulb reflect off of them. It looks brilliant, just like when I was in space.

I've gotten used to it, but it's still so dazzling.

Unlike my life as Rafien. Nothing was dazzling. Not a damn thing. I was indifferent because it was all I could do to not become a criminal. It was all I could do to keep myself in check.

It was all...

I look around the corner at Alessica.

Was that all I could've done?

22 years and she's still drinking. Why? Was my loss really that hard on her? Moreover, what does any of this have to do with the token? And. Did our mother's self-centeredness rub off on me? Is that why I became a prideful, hoarding, overpowering monster? A literal monster. Did she make me who I am without me realizing?

I shake my dragon head in frustration. I want that last thought to go away, but it keeps bugging me like a gnat.

Do I change my path now? After everything I've accomplished, perhaps in spite of my species...

No. No, this moment is absolutely my last chance to change who I've become.

I'm intellectually and emotionally locked into my identity.

The last thing holding me back is my past. Try though I might, it still irks me. My mother's influence shouldn't define who I've become. But what if it did? What if everything that's happened since then is because of her narcissism?

What if I end up being worse than her?

What if everything I've done is simply because I want to admire myself in the mirror?

I think back to my hoard; each dragon has their own identity. They're not slaves.

I don't own them. I possess their goodwill and faith. There's a difference.

They admire me, yet that doesn't make them a one-dimensional mirror.

They're real. My life as a dragon isn't my imagination, right?

...

...

"Dracosect, how's everything with Kaliwot?"

"She's fitting right in, my god!"

Rah. This isn't some weird dream. If it is, I've also got his voice in my head. Which is fine. At least as long as he's here, it won't be a nightmare.

"And the new inscriptions?"

"Amazing, my god! I'm so much stronger when I'm smaller! Is this how you feel all the time? Is this why you tend to stay small?"

"No, I feel like that at pretty much any size, Dracosect. I used to remain small to stay grounded. It isn't working, as I'm sure you can imagine."

I've gotten a little more loose with that self-imposed restriction on my size. Not because I don't need to stay grounded. It's because I'd started to believe there was nothing left to ground myself to anymore.

"My god, you sound distant. Is there anything I can do for you?"

He always wants to help me feel better.

Hraw. What did I do to deserve him?

"Just knowing you're there is a big help, thanks Dracosect."

"Of course, my god!"

I examine Alessica's sleeping form.

What did she do to deserve this.

To deserve a dead brother.

Who never cared.

Not once.

...

I drop the calendar's pages, then walk back out to the living room. I sit on Alessica's plush sofa.

Rah, shit. I forgot about my spikes. I overlooked my amazing draconic features for a moment. Like muscle memory, I sat down to relax. Not that I have muscles. Plus, it was silent but— I definitely destroyed her sofa. Grah!

*chk*

*tok*

*tok*

*tok*

"Hey, I'm home!"

Reh?

I hear a man speak once more.

"Alessica?"

*tok*

*tok*

*tok*

*tik*

"Oh, you got drunk again. More of your 'troof' bottles, hm? Why must you do this?"

I haven't seen him the past few times I was here. Then again, this is the first time I came late at night. Is he at work all day while she drunkenly wanders around their shared house?

Why?

"Issss... Da... Troooof..."

She's sleep talking.

He runs his hand through her hair, then lowers his head and kisses her forehead.

"Of course it is, my love. Of course. We need to get you healthy, though. You go on these binges, and it's just not—"

He suddenly looks straight at me.

Rups. I'd best greet him.

"Raha, hi there."

I wave.

Still looking at me.

Reah, I get it. Transparent dragon sitting on your sofa. I really do get it.

I decide to apologize.

"Sorry for breaking your sofa."

Still staring. Hope I didn't break him.

"Are you Rafien?"

What? Roh, she must've told him her rambling.

"Yes, but not anymore. I believe that's quite clear."

He doesn't reply. My transparency pun was apparently insufficiently tralucent.

...

"I thought we were going to have to put her on antipsychotics or worse."

"No, I d—"

"Maybe I need some too."

He gets up and walks back to the kitchen.

*sliff*

*tik*

*tok*

*tok*

*tok*

You know what? That's probably the most normal reaction I've ever gotten. It's good to be back home, I guess.

"May I ask your name?"

"Why can I hear you in my head?"

"I'm a deity, obviously."

*shuf*

*tak*

"Ah, of course."

{"Where's the psychiatrist's number..."}

He mumbled that last bit under his breath.

*chk*

*sho*

"I wouldn't mind meeting your psychiatrist if it'll make you feel better, but the problem is, I'm real."

He stands silently for a moment.

...

"Why do you want my name?"

"Better question— would a voice in your head not know your name?"

"Your voice IS in my head."

"Fair, but I'm over here."

"I don't know that."

*shk*

*tok*

I shrug.

Then, I realize what I just did.

Rah, the ruined sofa is more ruined.

...

Anyway, I'll deal with things as they come.

Like any dragon would.

*tok*

*tok*

*shuf*

I look at the mirror. She said I was 'the mirror.' Likewise, the token was also 'the mirror.'

*shup*

Why do they have this huge indestructible object in the middle of their bedroom? It didn't really occur to me because I'mma dragon. Rawr.

*fshk*

"Hey, why do you guys have this big rock in here?"

He pauses again.

...

"She said it reminded her of Rafien."

"I was Rafien. I never had this rock."

"I'd imagine you didn't."

"Why's that?"

"It showed up on our lawn a few days ago. She insisted we bring it inside."

He walks back to the bedroom doorway.

*tok*

*tok*

*tok*

*tok*

*tik*

He continues.

"You know, she's been getting drunk for a long time. But ever since we got that damn thing, it's been a nightmare."

I tilt my head a bit.

"You aren't sharing her nightmare. Do you want me to get rid of this rock?"

He examines my form.

"I doubt that, whatever you are."

"The rock, do you want me to remove it?"

"Is this a deal with the devil kind of thing?"

"I killed one of those earlier today."

He gets a bit suspicious.

"You what now?"

"I'm not a devil. I killed the deadly sin, Greed."

"Oh, good. A see-through thing with huge horns is telling me it killed the devil, Greed."

I shake my gem dragon head.

"I'm not a devil."

"I suppose you're an angel?"

"Deity. But, my species is dragon. I'mma dragon. Rawr."

He looks up at the ceiling.

"Haaa. Why am I talking with a hallucination."

"Did you hallucinate your sofa getting destroyed by my spikes and tail?"

He abruptly looks back to me.

"What?"

I stand up. Much of the sofa foam noiselessly tears, shreds, and falls onto the floor.

"That's why I apologized for your sofa."

"I see."

He seems more worried rather than less.

"Then, do you want me to remove the rock?"

"No, she said it had to stay. What do you want with it anyway?"

Hrr. Should I?

"It's a Deification Token."

"I thought you were already a deity."

"I'm sure you've heard— dragons like treasure."

"Then, you want to pile it up?"

"No, I'm going to eat it."

He facepalms.

"Hah!"

He turns around and walks back into the kitchen.

*tok*

*tok*

*tok*

*chik*

*beep*

*baww*

*baww*

A pause.

"Nine one one, state your emergency."

Rah, shit.