A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale

Haaa… breathe in that anxiety. Trap it in your lungs, and enjoy that trepidation just for a moment. The sound coming from outside is waiting for you. Stress. So much stress… but I couldn’t hold myself back. Success or failure—those thoughts are scary as heck, but perfectionism won’t stop me. I’ve done all I could in the little time I had. Now it's time to stun, not only Frozen Nest’s citizens, but the entirety of the empire of dragons.

… My first debut as an actual ‘dragon idol’ and I’m performing for the entire continent… real nepotistic move. Haaa, my stream concert can’t even compare to the damn numbers this stream is currently making, and nothing has happened yet!

The number was rising. 187, 367, 768, 1331, 2578, and the number of viewers kept rising, yet the concert hadn’t begun. Outside of a single camera, the rest were flying throughout Coral Beard to capture the vibrancy of a city about to be shrouded in Marsven’s dusk.

The festival was still alive, bursting with fervor due to yesterday’s spectacle. And I wasn’t talking about that talk I had with Uriahn, no, I meant the star of the show absolutely killed it. I might not have been able to watch Neill’s show live, but that was why I had streaming invented on Peolynca, right? Recording the match was easy, and with it, we had our first VODs—video-on-demand.

Watching Neill brutalize the flight of dragons and dragon wakes was—and I really shouldn’t say this—intoxicating. It wasn’t proper of me to admit it, but hearing Neill gush and describe her fight in detail as we watched the VOD together made me experience her vindication. The catharsis she felt was too hard to ignore.

“I always avoided Inferno Nest because of Halianhak and others. Some joined the fight today, but quite a few ignored my taunts. Honestly, I think I only got the hotheads amongst the people who kept badmouthing me whenever I had to visit Inferno Nest due to family business. It doesn’t help that Brother Kahalameet trained his faction in that area, so visiting him always felt like I had to walk through the mud. Even Marsh Nest never felt that suffocating to be in, and the smell in some of its areas makes me question if mud and forest dragonkin even have noses,” Neill spoke to me after the tournament.

Well, and by “me,” I meant Hikari since we kinda forgot to switch places when I congratulated Neill. Technically, this was also the first time since Neill met Hikari “in person.” They never spoke with each other before, after all. Not even through telepathy after the Elyonda siege. After all, although Hikari had fully accepted her place in our body back then, she didn’t accept the fact that she could “live,” again. To her, I was the star, and she was the shadow who had to keep herself backstage to support me.

Our time on Frozen Nest and our [Battle Frenzy] training helped to remind her that she deserved to be just as much of a star as I was. Mistakes happen, but letting the past weigh you down from moving on was unhealthy. Having her own existence as “Silver Dragon, Hikari” was probably the best outcome from that premature mana absorption. Kramps might call the process incomplete, but I thought it was still a plus since it allowed Hikari to emerge from the shadow of “Crimson Dragon, Hestia.”

Well, it sure didn’t help her attitude with Neill since that entire discussion was just plagued with awkward moments, since Hikari felt too shy to ease into the sister dynamic I had with Neill. Neill tried her best, but she did treat Hikari as her own person, which meant she couldn’t just be overly friendly since this was their first time talking to each other. Baby steps.

“Lady Hestia, it’s almost time!”

“Thank you, Kaishta!” I waved at an ice dragonewt—one of the backup dancers I had trained for today. Once she left my room, I calmed myself down. The excitement had to die out until I finished my first song.

Like always, idols have one try to capture the audience. Gotta do this right. There is no real positive bias towards my concerts just yet.

As mentioned, the entire concert would be performed on a floating platform situated in the middle of Coral Beard’s lagoon. I could move the entire thing with my mana if I wanted, but otherwise, it would levitate and keep me in view of the audience waiting at the harbor and in the sky city.

<SeaWalkingSlythe: An ‘idol concert?’ They called this a music performance, and they are making it this grand? I thought it would be another arena battle, or a display of mana mastery, but what wonders will singing do?>

<Thuunsporesclouds: … You say, but it sounds better than what happened yesterday. Princess Fargryneill defeated the majority of the lightning dragonkin in my generation. I would rather not have another Kargryxmor young scale remind us why they are Kargryxmors… The ice dragonkin kept bragging about how strong she is for a whelp. Having her act as a fool with her singing, like those throat singers and bards, will be more amusing.>

<Orslagges_Are_Best: Honored true dragonkin, please, do not demean the princess’s wish! She is still an imperial. On a more positive note, please, do not forget to order some ‘orls wraps’ from “Orrs’s Wraps Wonder!”>

… The moment I read the chat, I see somebody advertising cabbages? Okay, enough of the internet for one moment. Let’s just get this show on the road! I take the stage!

The sound of my footprints felt loud and heavy as I walked on the wooden floor, drawing my attention to it. I could see the marks on them, or more specifically, the scars left behind on the resin-hardened wood through my long toe claws. My portable stage had undergone significant changes since Saori, Tasianna, Ellaine, and Grimnir helped me build it.

The truss had been completely exchanged for new ones once Grimnir had the time to exchange the steel ones for voldunna ore, so they could resist my flames better. I had added multiple backstage rooms ever since I invited Tasianna and Ellaine to perform with me, and now there were more, as I had hired a few backup dancers for today’s performance. And, well, due to my increased influence, I now had an entire wyvern bodyguard group ready to defend me. I was still borrowing a few knights, this time from my clan, to help out, but in the past, I had to rely on other families to help control the crowd.

All these little changes to my concert stage weren’t worth mentioning every time, but seeing those scars reminded me of how long I had performed on this platform. It was made after Aurora became five members, and I would use it here and there whenever I didn’t want to perform inside the Obsidian Orchestra hall. It was used for my street performances, and since it had to remain portable so I could keep it inside my [Storage Magic], it couldn’t be elevated to the same grandness as the Obsidian Orchestra.

Yet, it would be my main stage as I perform in front of the entirety of Kargryx. A companion I had taken for granted would be my foundation for today.

<DismalShadow: Hmm? Huh? Hey, all of you, look at the stage. The lights have gone out.>

‘The chat is talking about it,’ Hikari reported as she kept her eyes on my party bracelet.

The moment I stepped onto the front stage, the countdown started. The curtains were still down, but with the stream’s chat becoming rowdy, flooding it with so many comments that it was difficult to even read one of them, my heart started to race.

Eltharion was right outside, awaiting my performance. Mom promised she would force him to watch.

“Don’t worry, the one who commissioned you will be there, no matter if he wants to or not. Focus on your singing and dancing. Make sure to stun the entirety of Kargryx, all right, dear?” I could feel Mom’s words repeating in my head. “Plus, Forminaxtrass and Virrflax have an investment in your success, so don’t worry. The three of us will make sure our husband will attend his little daughter’s moment to shine!”

Mom truly was my tied-to-first best mom.

If three of the empress-mothers believed in me, then shouldn’t I, as an idol, reciprocate this trust with something magnificent? I pushed Peolynca into the age of recording and streaming, skipping a bunch of steps, so why not fulfill my dream and bring the idol culture into Peolynca? And not just the “normal” stuff back on Earth, but one truly carved from my own legs, voice, and magic.

West Altrust knew my name, and I would have all Kargryx know mine as well! Not as Hestia, but as Hestia and Hikari, the dragon idols!

“… Open up the subspace, Gravy!”

And to a dragon idol, what mattered more than singing was the ability to display magic just like my siblings!

Two prepared [Room] rune pairs, placed outside my stage, activated, opening portals into my subspace where the sound of violins and a piano started to spread. Amplified by [Aerokinesis], the sound erupted around me as I could barely hear my own thoughts, but for the music to spread throughout Coral Beard and reach those in the middle of this buzzing festival, I needed to play music that was loud enough to even burst my eardrums.

Yet, the pain eventually subsided with the volume lowered, not ‘cause I reduced [Aerokinesis]’s power, but due to a faithful friend.

[“Lady Hestia, the [Air Shield] is up. Enjoy your solo,”] Tasianna said.

No matter the worry I had yesterday about Tasianna’s absence, it didn’t mean my favorite special effects manager would disappear. She was, as always, just as invested in my concerts and my career as I was! Whether she was my maid or just an ordinary retainer, it didn’t matter. This was Aurora’s project.

And… speaking of a member of the idol project: the parallel minds were gone now. This was my first actual performance outside of my music videos and streams, where I had to control the instruments without them. Sure, I had Hikari, but it did feel lonely having lost a group of companions I’ve been with since the very beginning. They were me. Losing a part of myself, especially in the manner they disappeared, did feel haunting even now.

Too many people have died already on my adventure. Whether a part of myself or my friends. What a wicked idol journey this has been.

“… Narksig. ♫”

The sound within the barrier was just loud enough for me to hear my instruments, but anything that left the barrier would be amplified by my [Aerokinesis] to become city-wide, which included my voice.

“Narksig,” Draconic for “Silence.” It was a statement in a singing voice.

“Narksig, drahki. Skroah prish phra, nrahie. ♫

Etrana-suul, skroah vis throchlish thriah-sah fen-sah. ♫”