Chapter 315: The Dragon Sisters
[Luna POV]
“Hahaha! See, I told you sisters, the visitors did land their ship here.” (???)
“We can see that, so stop being so annoying.” (???)
“Hehe. Both of you need to calm down and act presentable, we’re about to welcome our first guests in several hundred years. And this time, they are all special.” (???)
Three humanoid figures walked down a path through the foliage that looked to be made from countless years of traversal. They were as tall as me and quite pretty as well. The one in the lead had long dark blue hair with a long tail of the same color ending in a paintbrush like tuft of fur. Her eyes were both a mix of blue and pink with the blue on top and the pink on the bottom. She wore white robes that were long enough to drag on the ground, but for some reason they flowed just enough to prevent that. She also carried a gord on her belt and a strange looking staff with a fancy lantern hanging on the end of it. On her head was a pair of small blue horns that looked sort of like tree branches.
The next one I noticed was to her left. She had shoulder length white hair and similar horns to the first person with the only difference being they were red instead of blue. Her eyes were almost neon pink and the tail that extended from her back was white with red, flame-like tufts of fur. She wore less than the other two in her group but had a robe similar to the first one hanging loosely from her shoulders. She had he arms crossed in front of her where I noticed another thing. Up to her elbows her arms looked like they were painted red with some stripes of yellow and green here and there. She also gave of a sweltering heat and shimmering faintly behind her was something that looked like a sword but it was wrapped in a haze and looked to be broken into three jagged pieces.
The third person that looked both agitated and slightly nervous trailed a little behind the first two. Her hair that reached her waist was black with the ends in a bluish-green and it flowed like ink. Her eyes were a burning red and set in a permanent glare. Her horns, similar to the other two, were small and branch-like, but this time they were bluish-green. She wore a white dress that ended at her thighs and a short black robe hung loosely on her shoulders. Her arms, visible up to the elbow, looked painted like the other one, only this time they were fully blue-green. Her white tail was white and ended in a blue-green tuft if fur. She also carried in her hand a large scabbard.
We stopped moving as the three of them approached. Once they stopped, the lead one stepped forward a step and slightly bowed in greeting.
“Hello, guests, and welcome to the Island of Dragons. I am Ling, the boisterous one to my left is my sister Nian, and the grumpy looking shy one is my other sister Dusk. May we know the names of our honorable guests?” (Ling)
“My name is Luna Reed, future Goddess of the Stars, Space, and Fluff, the ones to my left are my sister in everything but blood and Apostle, Soleil, her fiancée, my best friend and Apostle, Velvet, and my eternal friend Mio. On my right are my contracted friend and Apostle, Ophidia, and her fiancée and demigoddess of the sea, Skadi.” (Luna)
“Well met. I would like to invite all of you to our place as it’s late and even with the power all of you possess, it would be dangerous to stay out at night here when you don’t know the lay of the land. I realize that this is very sudden, but as you may have heard me say before, you are the first guests here in hundreds of years. We don’t want to let you get lost or injured before we can get all the news from outside the island we can.” (Ling)
“Hhahaha. Come, come! We can have a giant party to welcome you all. I’ll even bust out Ling’s best alcohol for the occasion.” (Nian)
“Shut up, Nian, you’re too loud. And honorable guests, when you arrive at our home, please stay away from my paintings.” (Dusk)
I saw Soleil’s ears perk up when she heard that, so I sent a silent prayer to Tamamo for Dusk’s solidarity.
{I don’t know what you want me to do.}
‘You’re the only goddess I could pray to for something like this. If it was Atmos, she’d definitely do something to make whatever happens worse.’
{That’s true.}
We all followed the three sisters to their home. On the way there we looked around at the surroundings. It was a serene place that gave off a sense of peace. Small rivers flowed under small bamboo bridges. Around us was a large bamboo forest that swayed in the gentle breeze and was dyed in the colors of sunset.
“Miss Luna, you introduced yourself as a future goddess and I can see that you have more tails than what I remember normal kitsune having. Are you truthful in this, or are you just stating this as someone with power and arrogance?” (Ling)
“It’s the truth. At this point, I have no need to lie and hide it. If you want me to prove it, just ask and I’ll figure out a way to do so short of just showing my status.” (Luna)
“No need, dragons have the power to determine truth from falsities, but it only works when a direct question is put forth. With your answer here, your claim of divinity is proven true.” (Ling)
“So, you are dragons. I had a feeling that was the case, but I wasn’t expecting any of them to show up in humanoid forms.” (Velvet)
“Hahaha. While our normal forms are good and all, we’re a bit too big to go around and do a lot of stuff that we like. With that in mind, the size and compactness of a humanoid body is just practical.” (Nian)
“And it’s easier to hold things like a paintbrush with hands like these.” (Dusk)
Soleil then sped up a little and walked next to Dusk.
“Speaking of painting, would you mind letting me watch you paint something? I do it as a hobby as well, so I’d like to see the way you paint and see if it will help me improve.” (Soleil)
“No.” (Dusk)
Dusk then started to ignore Soleil whose ears and tail drooped at the rejection. She slowed back down and when she was next to Velvet, she hugged Velvet’s arm to her chest.
“Now, now, Dusk. No reason to so coldly reject the request of such a young artist. As someone that likes to hide away and paint all day, you should always welcome a kindred spirit.” (Ling)
“And besides, you always say you want a friend that likes to paint as much as you do. Why do you have to be so mean, I mean really, look, you made her all sad and her fluffy bits are drooping.” (Nian)
“Hmph!” (Dusk)
“Nian, you shouldn’t be so ineloquent with your words or you’ll come off as crass. And if I remember right, kitsune and others of the races of beasts don’t like their important fluff spoken of in such manners.” (Ling)
“Whatever. Oh, and Miss Luna, what were those things that you and your friends were watching the other day? And what was that magic that let those goddesses show up? We were all quite intrigued by that. But more importantly, how can I make those moving pictures.” (Nian)
“Wait, how could they see into your domain, Luna?” (Skadi)
“Why wouldn’t they be able to? I can let others see into them if I want to, so I decided to let them watch as well since they’ve been monitoring us since we crossed the space barrier.” (Luna)
“Then are one of these three the ones that have the combative gaze?” (Ophidia)
“No. That one is somewhere else on the island and it’s getting angrier the more we speak with these three.” (Luna)
“Hoh. So, you can feel and tell the intentions of those that gaze upon you? An intriguing ability.” (Ling)
“Yeah, but it can get annoying when people stare too much, or at least until you get used to it. By the way, know anyone that would be mad at us for no reason?” (Luna)
“Hmm.” (Ling)
“Not a clue.” (Nian)
“…You mentioned becoming the Goddess of Space, right?” (Dusk)
“Yeah.” (Luna)
“Then it might be the old man.” (Dusk)
“Ah. Him.” (Ling)
“Aahahahaha. Seems like he fell into the habit of us long lived people. He lost his chance. Hahahahahahahahaha!” (Nian)
“Mind explaining nya?” (Mio)
“In due time. First, we must fully welcome you to out home.” (Ling)
We exited the bamboo forest and came into a clearing. In the center of the clearing was a large octagonal pavilion with paper lanterns hung up for lighting. There were a few smaller buildings scattered around the clearing, but the pavilion took up most of the space.
“Welcome to our humble abode, honorable guests. Feel free to eat and drink to your heart’s content, be it day, night, and everything in between. Enjoy the sights, sounds, and amusements of our Island of Dragons for as long as you want. If you want to hunt, then feel free. Sleep a few years, go and do so. Drink until your blood is replaced by alcohol.” (Ling)
“That is the most dragon-like things I’ve heard so far.” (Luna)
“Well, we are dragons after all. Now, I’m going to go get some meat. I hope you guys like spicy stuff.” (Nian)
“Ugh, you and your spicy foods. Just make something normal for once.” (Dusk)
“You two, please stop your arguing while we have guests, or at least save it for when you are alone.” (Ling)
“It’s fine, let them act like they normally do.” (Luna)
We all sat down at a large pit in the center of the pavilion. Nian had come over and with a small breath lit the pit on fire. She then placed a large spit over the flames with a giant hunk of meat on it. She then produced several spices that I could smell even while far away from her.
“Wow. Strong.” (Luna)
“Are you ok, big sis?” (Soleil)
“Those spices are way too strong. My eyes.” (Luna)
“Nian, put them away.” (Ling)
“Not you too!” (Nian)
“Nian.” (Ling)
“Ugh. Fine.” (Nian)
She put the spices away and it took a few minutes for me to get my eyes to stop watering. Nian continued to cook away at the meat while grumbling while I spoke with Ling.
“So, about that person you were talking about.” (Luna)
“Ah, the old man. Reverious is one of the older dragons that live on the island and is one of the guardians of the Golden Tree. Seeing as we dragons live long lives, we need a goal to strive for to keep from going mad. For instance, Nian has walked the paths of alchemy and blacksmithing and is a master of both to a degree that she is on the verge of merging them into something new. Dusk is much the same only with painting, illusions, and space magic with the goal of making her paintings places she can hide away in. I walk the path of the poet and drunkard. Reverious is much the same, though his aspirations are grand, even for a dragon. He wishes to ascend to godhood as the god of space and to become the first dragon god.” (Ling)
“Ah.” (Luna)
{Grand aspirations indeed, though futile. Even if you didn’t take the mantle of Goddess of Space, he would never achieve the goal unless he meets his Fated One and that said Fated One is a God or Goddess.}
“So, he would chase his goal for eternity and never achieve it?” (Luna)
{Yes.}
“Oh? And how did you come to such an answer such as that?” (Ling)
“By hearing it from the mouth of a goddess.” (Luna)
I pulled my mirror out of my inventory since it hasn’t been of much use since I became a demigod. Tamamo appeared inside it shortly after.
“OH! Such craftsmanship!” (Nian)
Nian stopped cooking the meat and jumped over next to me while trying to grab my mirror. It floated away form her before she could grab it, but she was unperturbed and she simply got as close to it as she could to examine it.
{Um…}
“Hmm. Made of orichalcum, but with methods that only dragon fire could make possible. A highly skilled blacksmith clearly made it, and one with either the bloodline of a dragon, or a person with a friendly relationship with a dragonkin. But it’s so much more than that! It’s no longer in the realm of simple blacksmithing and in the territory of divinity!” (Nian)
{Someone please help.}
I snapped my fingers and my mirror disappeared from in front of Nian and reappeared next to me.
“It’s fine to look, but only at a distance. Now, if you would explain what you just did to me, Tamamo.” (Luna)
Tamamo explained again the only way a mortal can ascend to godhood.
“I see, so he truly was never going to achieve his goal.” (Ling)
“Ha! I can’t wait to rub it in his arrogant face.” (Nian)
“He is insufferable. Watch your back while you’re here. Oh, and tiny fox, stop looking at me like that.” (Dusk)
“…” (Soleil)
“Hmph.” (Velvet)
It seemed like Velvet didn’t like Dusk very much due to her not very nice interactions with Soleil.
“*Sigh* I apologize for my sisters. They aren’t the best when it comes to people, in very different ways.” (Ling)
“It’s fine. Give it a few days and they’ll get used to each other. And Velvet, I get it, but don’t glare at her that much, there’s time to get this whole thing taken care of while we’re here.” (Luna)
“I know.” (Velvet)
“Why do your words seem threatening?” (Dusk)
“Fufufu. Whatever do you mean?” (Luna)
“Hehehe.” (Velvet)
Dusk moved slightly further away and hid behind Nian who was still staring intently at my mirror. Since the meat was completely forgotten, I decided I should finish roasting it. After a while and some more chatting with Ling about the island, we all ate before heading to bed.
[Ling POV]
With the honorable guests now asleep, I took my sisters to a secluded part of our home so we could speak while not disturbing them.
“Ling, why are you so upset?” (Dusk)
“Yeah. You haven’t been this mad in a while.” (Nian)
“You two. I’ve had it with your attitudes. We’ve been over how you should act with guests for as long as I can remember and have been refreshed on it when we found out that we were getting some more. Dusk, you’ve made the worst impression on them out of all three of us and with the way you were treating the little fox, you may find yourself in some not so pleasant situations because of it. And Nian, you actually forgot everything we went over when you saw that mirror. You even left your job of cooking the meal to one of the guests.” (Ling)
“I do actually feel bad about that, but you have to admit that it was way better than anything I’ve ever made.” (Nian)
“That’s true.” (Dusk)
“I don’t deny that, but that’s not the point. We want them to stay for a while and hear all about the outside in recent years. What will we do if we chase them away? And even then, old Reverious will be a problem. You both know how he is, and if what Miss Luna said is true, then he might actually try to kill her thinking it will allow him to become the god of space or something.” (Ling)
“Just let Miss Luna kill him if he tries. That is the way.” (Nian)
“While I don’t disagree, we need more time to see if they are willing to even risk it.” (Ling)
“Ling, you worry too much. Out of the three of us, you have the most combat experience, and you can tell how strong someone is by looking at them. Even then, I can tell that Miss Luna alone is enough that old Reverious is no match for her.” (Dusk)
“Yes, and the others are no weaklings either. The strongest out of them being Miss Skadi, followed by the three Apostles. Even Miss Mio being the weakest of the six, she could manage to take on at least three of the moderately strong dragons here at once. I see. I am worrying too much. But still, you two better get your acts together. Dusk, apologize to the little fox before Miss Luna and Miss Velvet do something. Nian, reign yourself in a bit. You were fine at the start, but you’ve been slipping up more and more.” (Ling)
“Tch. Fine.” (Dusk)
“Yeah, yeah.” (Nian)
“*sigh*” (Ling)
Chaos Realm:
Tamamo: I like this Ling person. She seems reasonable for a dragon.
Atmos: Indeed. The other two are more in line with how they normally are, but at least one of them is reasonable enough to try and reign her proclivities in to be welcoming. For now.
Tamamo: By the way, where are Payto and Order?
Atmos: No idea.