After my short nap that Mendora put me into we started on the 'testing' Mendora insisted on. But instead, it was me testing and teaching her. I knew Mendora had memory loss but I didn't expect it was this bad, she didn't even remember who her witch was or what their names were. Apparently, she didn't know the witch language fully, nor did she understand how to use magic. It was Luciean and Lunara who had to re-teach her everything and help her with her magic. I couldn't deny being the teacher instead of the student was fun, but only the yelling part. Still this entire thing was bizarre, well to me at least. I still was in denial about it. We took turns between me teaching her about the past and magic, and her telling me what was happening in the present, and what I had missed these twenty-three years. It hurt hearing what Fellion had done, and it hurt even more that Mendora truly thought Esmeray was dead. I promised myself that I would tell Mendora that he was alive after I exited the dream realm, if she knew this exact moment while I was still here then Esmeray pretty much could do anything to me. After hearing everything Mendora had to say, I was debating whether I should be happy I was in the dream realm or not. The more and more Mendora ranted about the war the more I felt bad. She was already dealing with all of this and yet I had the ego to not let her sleep peacefully. Ugh, I couldn't believe myself, no wonder she didn't want to free me. She was terrified of everything. There was a silence sitting between us two, I knew that she was going to have to leave right about now, she couldn't stay asleep forever. Neither of us wanted to speak, but not because we were mad. It was because we understood each other, after all these years. My Noxtyrix form itched under my skin, it wanted to be freed so that I could shed my scales. My skin felt like it didn't belong on my body. I brought my fingers up to my skin and resisted the urge to tear it off.
"Could you remind me of our powers, and of the entire soul thing?" Mendora spoke, cutting my thoughts like a blade.
I looked up at her, my eyes meeting her gaze. Looking back down I tried thinking of a way to describe it.
"Our powers," I started. "I have the power to alter what a person sees and feels, like you do. I can cause them to see their worst fears, or I can make them have nightmares when they're asleep. Another thing I can do is channel lightning at my fingertips" I paused. "In my Noctyrix form, I have other powers as well. I can blast lightning strikes, I can force a storm to appear, or just channel a storm. Oh, and my tail is poisonous!" I remarked trying to show off, flipping my hair. "As for you, you can make people feel happier or calmer. You can give them dreams and ward off bad omens, you can even get rid of curses, and as you know you can heal. Er, not just heal with anything but—you can heal with your tears and blood. But you can only heal if you're happy. If you're in a state of depression...then it'll be rendered useless. So tears are basically useless." I chuckled awkwardly. "One more thing is that we can both control the dream realm, this realm. I'll get into that later. Oh, you can also control clouds and water. But for you, the water takes a bit more to control."
"I can control water?" Mendora chimed in. Excitement basically radiating off her when I said that.
I looked at her and nodded, I thought she knew that. She stared down at her hands and chuckled, fascinated by her own powers she didn't even know she had. The glimmer in her eyes reminded me of when I was younger, how happy I was to accomplish certain things. I quickly shook the thought away trying to compose myself and continue. Now was not the time for nostalgia. Before I could utter another word, she did.
"That's amazing. I've always seen people do that in movies, I didn't know I could do that! Why can I?" She questioned.
"Well because clouds are just moisture. Hence you can control water but not as freely as clouds. You could also try to move snow or ice but that'll drain way more and you definitely wouldn't be able to conjure up a snowstorm." I brought my eyes back up to her, she was beaming with even more excitement.
A small smile escaped my lips as I chuckled, she seemed so happy. It made me feel weird. Me and Mendora rarely got along ever, now seeing her smile made me smile. Was that what it was like to have a caring family? I remembered how my creator, my witch would cause me to smile the same way. Even if we weren't biologically related, it sure felt like it. He was my father figure after all. I forced myself to continue, not wanting to dwell on it much.
"Continuing, Fellion has...solar powers you could say. His powers drain him the most out of anyone since he's a robot and all and being the 'literal' sun makes him overheat. He can create solar beams, and teleport just like we all can, but that's more of a spell than a power. He can control aspects of light in a way, like he could take away all of the light in a room forcing you into complete darkness. But for him that takes a lot out of him and he would have to focus. Oh, and he has the ability to tinker with our shared soul, just ours though. If any of us could take our soul it would be him." I paused making sure Mendora was listening before I continued. She seemed preoccupied with her new water power knowledge. "Esmeray has the funnest powers in my opinion. He can control gravity, for example making someone float, the most he could do with that is make a black hole but—that would take everything out of him. Just like Fellion, he can create mini solar beams but his are called 'star beams'. Last but not least he can also create hallucinations, and he can...if I'm not mistaken hypnotize people." I took a quick pause before adding. "Any questions before I continue?"
I stared straight at Mendora who repeated everything I said under her breath. She gave herself a quick nod of approval then looked back at me and gave me confirmation that she understood.
"Yep, I think I got it." She confirmed letting me go on.
Taking a quick breather I answered her other question.
"Right, the uhm...soul thingy." I muttered under my breath, I despised having to talk about this. It made me feel caged. "Me, you, Fellion and Esmeray all share one soul. A human soul, oh and trust me I don't even want to know what that human did to piss off the witches. Whatever they did they're dead now and a part of us. If you ever got that nagging feeling while you're doing something and you realize that's not you doing it. Might just be...what you could call the 'Fifth Sibling' among us. None of us know anything about them, just that their soul powers all four of our bodies. From what you said Fellion wants that soul all to himself to have absolute power?" I questioned, making sure I didn't get anything wrong, I didn't want to sound dumb.
Mendora gave me a quick nod, but before I could say anything she cut me off.
"Yes but—that's what he said he wanted, our shared soul. So that his powers wouldn't affect him as much so that he could reshape the world. He really doesn't like humans, and any living being in this dimension and the other." Mendora cleared up.
Scratching my arm I tried recalling anything that might help us understand his full goal. I refrained from scratching my skin off. But just like any villain Fellion's reasons were kept pretty hidden, but I did know he hated everyone and everything so that made sense. But still, the thought nagged my mind like I was missing something, all of this didn't add up. Fellion had Mendora right in front of him when this whole thing started when I had to teleport her to safety. He also had me and Esmeray, now Esmeray was, who knows where and I was trapped in the dream realm. Couldn't he have taken our soul right then and there? Did I even have my soul? Maybe he took mine and Esmeray's soul fragments without us realizing, then it would have made more sense why he was so powerful. But he didn't seem to be all mighty powerful, if I went head-to-head with him right now there was a possibility I could succeed. Still, as much as I didn't want to admit it I was out of shape, there was a chance, and it wasn't guaranteed. A shiver ran down my spine, all these questions with no answers. It was driving me nuts, this whole thing was. Twenty-three years and no goddamn answers. I slouched my back and thought. If only the witches could see me now, what would they think? What would my witch think? The thoughts throbbed up my head like a headache that wouldn't go away. That would never go away. It was ridiculous that I've even spent so long with no answers. I wondered if I was accidentally saying this all out loud because Mendora was looking at me worried. I forced myself to sit back up straight as Mendora chuckled. I knew we were both thinking the same thing. How could we be so stupid? This entire war was pointless, and I wasn't even in the war. I wanted to think of anything positive, then I remembered Luciean. His name made my heart flutter, it made my Noctyrix hiss and coil away, reeling from the thought of love. I still remembered his soft touch, his emerald eyes, and his hair that looked like the sun blessed him. The way his dirty blonde hair was always messy, the soft fuzzy antennas he had, the way his moth wings looked like sun catchers, his soft amber lips. A faint blush appeared on my cheeks, but I forced myself to hide it away. A mortal and a non mortal, a dragon and a human. Even if I wasn't fully immortal it counted, and even if he was part moth it still counted. It was forbidden. Everyone disagreed with our love, of my love for him. The way he would stay with me just to see me smile, the way he would take the blame for anything I did wrong. He made me feel more human...and less Noctyrix. The thoughts made me miss him more, remembering him hurt. Would he still love me after all this time? I shuddered thinking of it, I still remembered him all this time, but would he remember me? I thought of it as more of a statement than a question. Surely Mendora noticed because she spoke my mind as if she could read it.
"Luciean loves you, he misses you everyday and wishes that he could have helped. He doesn't know where you are but he sees it as his responsibility to bring you home, back into his arms." She prodded me gently.
My eyes lit up, looking like sapphires. My heart could have just flown away from the amount of joy that brought me. He remembers me, he's looking for me. I repeated the words in my head until they stuck. Mendora gave me a gentle nudge of encouragement. I knew my face looked like a rose, I could feel my cheeks burning up. I forced myself to laugh as tears of happiness welled in my eyes.
"He still loves me...." I spoke the words out loud.
I wish I could just scream to the world that after twenty-three years my lover still loved me. I couldn't bear it any longer, I wanted out. I needed to feel the warmth of his lips against mine, the warmth of his arms wrapped around my waist. My heart desired it. My Noctyrix hissed louder at the thoughts, love wasn't something that was easy to come by. It wasn't something any witch, dragon or Noctyrix came by, not easily. Knowing that I had found my match made me melt, knowing that no one would approve made my heart sink. I remembered when Fellion found out, he hated me for it. I thought he was going to kill Luciean on sight, instead, he did something worse. He told everyone, then after that we never had a moment to ourselves. My witch didn't seemed phased but he wasn't pleased. He tried his best to calm the other witches but he failed. And I didn't want to remember how disappointed Esmeray was. I felt Mendora place her hand on my shoulder, but when I looked up she was gone. She had woken up. The sudden realization made me stand up, sadly I was still in the dream realm. But now I knew that I wouldn't have to worry about it for long, Mendora knew I wasn't a threat. I was her sister, and she was mine. I finally understood that, after all, other than love, family was the greatest bond. Bonded by blood. I sat on the ground and curled up, I felt my skin itch, my scales needing to be out. My head was throbbing, from everything that had happened, good to bad. I just wanted a break, I just wanted my family back. That's all I wanted at this point. The pain in my body made me want to scream, I couldn't bear it anymore. Without hesitation I dug my hands into the clouds, I felt my body break and shift. Bones snapping and forcing themselves into different parts, my nails becoming claws. My skin ripping apart, revealing scales underneath, my lungs screaming out for air. My form stretched and weaved itself into something new, onyx scales shot out and shimmered like the night sky, with hidden blues and purples all throughout. I stretched out my tail and my wings, lashing my body around trying to calm myself after the transformation. My body ached—it always did. I exhaled a plume of silver smoke as electricity crackled through my veins. I twisted my head over to my back and bit down trying to peel off the shedding scales, I didn't wait for my headache to go away. It was irritating and aggravating. Driving me insane. My body trembled as I tried keeping myself upright, transforming never hurt this much. I knew Esmeray was right—I needed another Noctyrix for this. But I had no one, my creator told me that almost all Noctyrix's were dead. Wiped out by humans, humans. The same species that killed my kind and that killed my creator. Where was he? Was he alive, or dead? I didn't know. My head throbbed as I forced myself to look up, channelling my remaining energy I forced the dream realm into a night sky. The sunlight was irritating me even more in my Noctyrix form than in my 'human' form. I curled up onto the floor, biting down on my tail and my scales, trying to force my scales to shed faster. My fangs were huge, like any dragons. But Noctyrix's had bigger fangs due to resembling bats and vampires. It was annoying at times, but luckily it made hunting and eating easier. Hunting, the word echoed in my head. I could still taste the delicious meat of a boar or sheep after I caught one while hunting, on my tongue as if I had just eaten. My creator would always praise me after I hunted successfully, he taught me how to after all. I used to suck at it, I remembered complaining about how it was impossible to catch something when you were as big as a house. Sheeps and boars would always run away when they first saw or smelt you. That's why sneaking was so important, that's why Nocyrix's hunt at night, and that's why it was so important we learn to stay alive. Without those basic skills, I would have been as dead as the boars I ate. I licked my lips at the thought, I was starving. Though I was glad I didn't have sheep fuzz stuck in between my teeth. It was also funny to remember how Noctyrix's had a human form but they were so far from human. Humans would never understand the thrill of flying, the air racing in your wings, the feeling of your heart pumping when you were diving off a cliff. I missed the feeling, even though I wasn't the best at flying, I did remember loving it. When I was first made I remembered stretching out my wings saying I was going to be the best flier, and then being too afraid to fly. Ha! How the times have changed. Now the air would have to be afraid of me, I wouldn't fear it. I would never need to fear anything again, I had everyone, I had everything. A sister and a lover, what more could I want? Children...? Shaking the thought from my mind I forced myself to remember that there was a war happening. So maybe not the best thing to boast about, or to think about. Sometimes I wonder if I should stay asleep, sleeping was peaceful. But it was annoying, especially while shedding. I continued to pry off my scales, some parts slid off quickly while others took more prying, they looked like snake scales but way more gorgeous. My creator, Obsidian, used to tell me that shedding shouldn't be something to get over with fast. He would always help me pry off my scales easily but he would tell me that shedding wasn't just a necessity, it was a sign of growth. A sign that I was becoming stronger, that my body was adapting to new things, that my scales would become pretty and look more like the night sky. It was true, after shedding they shone like onyx pearls, and they were as tough as obsidian, if not stronger. And I was growing, I was, there was no doubt of it. Every day I could feel my body growing, my tail becoming longer, my fangs becoming sharper. It's why transforming hurt so much during shedding because my body wasn't used to all the newfound strength, especially since I wasn't aging correctly in the dream realm. I should have shed almost eight times these past twenty-three years, and I've only shed three times. And each time was more unbearable than the last. I wished it was as easy as a snake, just slithering on out of the old scales, but no. We had to pry them off ourselves and make sure that we did it correctly to not damage the new ones. It was aggravating. I brought my mind back to my actual shedding and continued to pry them off—gently. I raised one of my talons and created a small slit on one of the weaker scale areas and pried it off. It felt so relieving. Like a butterfly after it exits its own cocoon. I set all the shedding in a pile, I didn't know what to do with it after I shed it. I usually just place it somewhere and forget about it as time passes. After I finished shedding as much as I could, I stood up and stretched my body out. My tail lashed around, its barb creating a few surges of electricity where it hit. I shook my body off and looked back at the sky. Flying practice wouldn't be so bad right about now, right? I was dying to feel the adrenaline while flying high above everything and anything. But I was tired as well, I knew I had just taken a nap but I was still exhausted. I stood up flexing my wings and shaking off all that tiredness, today I fly. Then I sleep.