AGG: Sidestories: A Dragon’s Right

A Dragon’s Right

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Commissioned by Citino

Wordcount:2500

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What is the best measure of a life?

After all the wielders I’ve had, after all I’ve seen, and after all I’ve lived through… that question proved enigmatic within the depths of my mind. Even when I gained access to the world beyond, finally managing to step into a place where consciousness dictated all and I was “freed” from the prison of my body, the answer to that question still eluded me.

Somewhat because of myriad, new entertainment options that were great, grand, and magnificent, but that’s beside the point.

Despite having so much time, having humanity’s knowledge at the tips of my fingers, and being granted a host beyond all my other hosts combined, I could not answer the simple question of what makes one life greater than another.

It is the question that Creation told me to answer in exchange for my freedom, so I devoted much time to pondering it.

Whether or not finding the correct answer would free me became irrelevant, after I was technically freed to do as I wished in the virtual world, but it hung in the back of my mind. Though I’d won the battle through outside assistance, I was not yet free. My body remained trapped, even though my mind was not, and if Creighton perished, I would be trapped in another that would most definitely be lesser than her.

I considered the question between matches, spoke about it chat with a few close comrades, and anonymously posted the question online.

Most of the answers, of course, were utter garbage.

There were a few that gave me some insight, though they were most certainly stolen from other sources, which I should’ve searched for and read, but did not have time for, even with time dilated in every virtual world.

Power was one answer, but certainly not one that Creation would accept in any of its incarnations. If Power was the meter by which life’s worth was decided, then everything would be worthless before all the Aspects, as by every metric they decided what became of the universe. Still, I harbored that notion a fair amount, given my biases. No Dragon wouldn’t appreciate the idea, even if we were not nearly as mighty as Aspects.

I must admit many of those I approved of were similar to that particular thought.

However, here and now, on the precipice of madness, one answer that I deemed utter false and could not be used as a measure of worth reared its head.

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Valerie Creighton is no longer the girl that I met so long ago, who dared to ask me for aid to flee from her bloodline, and who sought out humanity as a means to gain power. No longer is she a shaking leaf in the wind, but a resolute, proud, and capable young woman. A young woman who is now suffering through the machinations beyond her, who lives only due to the benevolence of another, and would forever falter against a foe that wants her to no longer exist.

It is difficult to replicate the dilation of time, but unlike Ddraig my powers could do more than destroy.

“Albion? What is this?” There is no need for me to answer that question. Valerie took stock of the situation, while I prepare myself. As she looks upon the endless expanse of my newest, final trick, I prepare myself to give her a gift that she would refuse with all her might. I could only hope that I can distract her long enough, so that she doesn’t notice what I intend to do. A difficult challenge, but one I relish intend to overcome. “Did Lucifer do this to our mind with his attack?”

“Yes.” I lie carefully, looking around the plain, white expanse that stretches forever. We normally meet in a world all our own, where I can teach her, and she can teach me. A place beyond the reach of others, where we can grow stronger and learn from one another, and which we had a mere year after we first met. I had no other wielder with the talent to achieve this, so I had Valerie teach me the technique when she expressed it. It feels wrong to fool her with what she taught me herself, but I am willing to pay any price to achieve my goal. “The battle is dire, but if this is not fixed, we will only fall in battle. We must recreate it before returning.”

“Then, you tend to the skies, while I take the earth. Just the basics, enough to overcome whatever mental damage has come from being unmade, then we’ll rejoin the fight.” Withstanding an attack that infringed upon her form down to strands of DNA, Valerie remained resolute and calm in both the real world and in her mind. Through her eyes I’d seen fear in the  inheritors of Destruction, as well as their soldiers, while she stood amongst the ranks of Serafall Leviathan and Saria Bael.

Different from the stoic, but teary girl I’d first met, yet still similar in nearly every respect. The girl I’d first met would ignore herself and attend to the problem at hand at any cost, yet such is not the case now. She is calm, trusting, and endeavouring to engage her foes on her terms, instead of their own, and simply knowing that allows me to release a breath that I did not know I’d been holding. I have no need to breath, yet breathe deeply I did.

“Albion? Is something wrong?”

Valerie takes note of my actions instantly, so I force myself to remain calm, and focus on what matters.

“I am focusing. I do not wish to waste time against the Morningstar.” My voice drips with feigned excitement. Strength and skill are things I enjoy, so Valerie accepts my battle-thirsty answer with only a single shake of her head. She turns towards the expanse of pure white, then wills it to become endless plains and hills. It is a simple technique, not the organized expanse of mountains, forests, and endless skies, but one that would suit the purpose of ‘organizing her thoughts’. “This is a battle that will take everything to win.”

“Perhaps that’s the case. I feel that we simply need to do our part.” Ah, there it is. The difference between the Valerie Creighton I knew and the one who met Li Song. The change is a subtle one, nearly slipping through my notice, because it is what I want to see. She relies on others now, even if it goes unsaid, and she entrusts others with tasks that she would typically only take herself. I do not know if she noticed the change in herself, but there’s no doubt in my mind that she would be frightened if she knew of the change. “Li and the others will defeat Lucifer.”

That trust is what led me to the answer to the question Creation had levied upon me.

How pleased am I to see her with others? When all her talents were meaningless and she had to create relations solely through merit and experience? Why did I ever see solidarity as a strength, when I felt giddy at the sight of Valerie Creighton being struck by indecision and confusion, after she met a man who she could not sway with her talents? Where was my answer, that power was of the greatest importance in life, as I watched with satisfaction as she had to change as an person, for the better, instead of merely honing another skill to achieve an objective?

Power was nowhere to be found.

Much as I loath to admit it, the best way to measure one’s life is how one affects the lives of others.

I loath it because it is now what I believed when  Creation locked me away. When Ddraig and I fought, we did not do it for the sake of one another or our race, but for ourselves. We were obstacles to one another, with everything else being meaningless, as we pursued power above all else. Our hearts, fangs, and claws were swayed by our selfish desire for power, while the world broke into pieces because of our stride.

Were Valerie Creighton to have followed that path, to have wished to grow stronger to defeat Li Song, and continue her previous path, I’d have been sorely disappointed in her.

Yet, when she has not, I feel nothing besides joy and elation for her… even as I commit to the only path that would ensure her safety against the likes of Lucifer.

Valerie feels the shift in power. She turns away from the plains she has created, just as I wipe away the veil I’d forced upon our shared, mental connection. Li Song’s power set everything right when she’d been attacked. The Aspect of Conflict wielded the power to reverse causality itself, so the reversal of mental damage was to be expected. Creighton still remembered the pain of enduring it, which had staggered her, so I took that singular opportunity to give her what she required, but would never consider asking for.

Everything.

…

My consciousness is fading. My body is breaking apart into nothing more than motes of power, as I no longer have the strength to keep myself whole and hale. My power, which is feared by all save by Aspects, no longer rages within my heart to be used. I do not feel at peace. My instincts, my very bones, tell me to rage against the outcome of my own actions. Every ounce of my native nature tells me to retake my power, tells me that I should try, but I choose instead to put all my strength into standing upright, on my four limbs, so that I can at least pass with dignity.

“Why?” Valerie weeps. She stares at her hands, at the power coursing through her veins, and the fading world around us. Upon my roar, at the transfusion of my power, she’d attempted to refuse, run, and even fight against my efforts. All for naught. The moment I’d managed to trick her. Those few minutes where I used her trust and the suffering were all that I needed in order to succeed. “This… this didn’t need to happen, Albion!”

The words are laced with anger and desperation. She can see my fear, my instincts, and my body all urging me to do more than just be resolute. She resists, but she can not return it. It is only a matter of time, as I fade away, before Creation’s safeguards against my power being let loose activate. Knowing that I only have to hold fast, to not waver in my convictions, as an Aspect’s designs ensure the correct outcome will be met, allows me to focus on simply standing fast against my fear.

I do not want to die.

Yet, the day will never come, when I allow Valerie to ever be threatened by Lucifer again.

“To protect you against Lucifer, this needs to occur.” It is difficult to speak. Valerie’s reddened gaze, the anguish on her features, and how she desperately uses her power to fight against mine, alongside with everything I wanted, war within me. I know not from where I draw the strength to speak without hesitation, but I draw from it nonetheless, as I loom over the child whom I’d watched, guarded over, and raised alongside her family. “I remember him, I know what he wishes, and I will not have you be at his mercy.”

Lucifer is a being colored by madness. An individual with power, intellect, and skill that was only subdued time and time again due to the weakness of his character. However, that weakness was easily a weapon against all those he holds power over. Those he deems imperfect are to be destroyed… and all that is imperfect is what he deems not useful to his own ends. Valerie shall not suffer that fate. If the most miniscule of chances exists that she could die to him, simply because he wills it, then my course of action is correct.

And, we both know that chance was more than merely miniscule.

So, with the time I had left, I put all my effort to standing firm… and bowing my head in apology.

“I apologize, Valerie. I know that this is something that you can never accept.” Have I ever bowed to another person? Did I ever let go of pride and offer respect onto another? Recalling all of my memories is easy now, as feelings and sensation fade away, so I find the answer swiftly. No. This is the first time I have bowed my head and it is to apologize for my own actions. “I can not allow Lucifer to hold such power over you. No matter the cost.”

It does not need to be said that even if that cost was her hating me, that I will still pay the price. I fear her anger and hatred to me more than I do my impending demise. But knowing that she would go on with my power, with all her skills and abilities, and be free of Lucifer’s whims? For that, there is no price I was unwilling to pay.

After that price has been paid, all I can do was apologize for my actions.

It feels strange to do so, and I will never consider doing so for another, but for Valerie, my partner, my friend, and the girl I’d protected all these years… an apology is the last thing I can offer her.

“You damn fool! You idiot!” Valerie’s tears are difficult to look at, yet I witness them all the same. I caused them, so every single tear she wipes away with her palms and the back of her hands are sins of mine that I need to acknowledge. I saved her, but I left her, too. We are partners and companions. Our relations are mutual. She and I aid one another, whether in silly games, the challenges of life, or in the rigors of battle, we are always with one another. Despite knowing that, I still give my life for her. I will do as she did, if I felt the same anger and anguish. “Don’t… please don’t leave me behind, Albion! I… I don’t want to be alone!”

With those words, instead of the young woman I watched grow, I saw the girl I first met. However, instead of the memory of a cold, logical girl who sought to escape Hell, I saw a girl no taller than my foot, weeping into her hands, and sorrowful for the first time.

“You aren’t alone. You never will be. I will always be with you.” The words are quieter than I intended, my voice becoming whispers as I truly began to fade away, as my essence is no longer being held together by the Sacred Gear. “Do not forget that, Valerie. Now and always, you will have me beside you.”

And then, there is nothing.