364: Familiar Family
"So, what do you think?" Aia asked Mordecai when she arrived.
"They are safe enough, and their minds are still those of infants, but their perceptions are unusual. They have some future sight, and the biggest potential issue there is making sure they know not to trust it. It is an easy trap to fall into, as it will often be correct, but simply seeing a possible future can be enough to alter the events that would create that future."
As it was, the most the triplets could have seen was short-term probable futures between him and themselves, and the probability that he was going to be playing with them had been high. If he had blocked their sight, they would have simply seen nothing, and given how used they clearly were to being able to see, that would probably have distressed them.
Aia nodded. "I suspected that was the situation, but I have not had much experience with augury or such."
"I would also recommend you try to arrange for them to do lots of things independently of each other as they grow up, but you shouldn't fight it if they insist on being together." He smiled slightly at the looks the two of them gave him. "They are linked. Passive empathy at the least, and most likely deliberate telepathy will be available when they are older, plus the ability to synergize their future sight and share it between them. Encouraging them with independent activities will be good to help them develop their own personalities, but they will always be close, and trying to change that would not turn out well."
She sighed at that. "I knew there was something else, but I wasn't sure what it was. That makes sense however." Aia smiled wryly and added, "Shizoku is going to be quite thorough about expressing her opinions on the topic. When she isn't busy covertly spoiling them and thinking I don't notice."
Mordecai patted the girls one more time each, then rose back to his feet. "I was just stopping by to meet the girls, but I need to get going now that I have done so. Mind if I use your tree's top?"
"Go right ahead."
Mordecai shadow stepped up past the branches until he was as high as he could get and still be supported. Then he walked through the sky until he had cleared the foliage before manifesting dragon wings. From here, he was heading west and a little south, toward a valley once visited by Kazue, Moriko, and Bridgette. The other two stops had been brief and easy; this was going to be the difficult task of the day.
Navigating was easy enough, as he had made sure to copy all of Kazue's and Moriko's memories, and his senses were not readily fooled by misdirection magic. When Mordecai stepped through into the final, warded area, he found the dream fragment waiting for him.
"Mordecai, I presume?"
He bowed slightly in response. "Yes. You told my wives before that you did not wish to use your name; I presume this remains unchanged?"
"Indeed. Why have you come?"
"To take up my share of the burden caused by my actions, but I can not do so in good conscience unless you first give me an oath."
"Oh?"
There was an edge of potential hostility that was easy to see, but Mordecai needed the promise first. "When they came here, you warned Bridgette and my wives of the danger of your reaction if they failed. I will not send people into such danger, nor will I risk encouraging others to find this place by appearing with a dragon hatchling at my side, which would suggest that there might be more."
The dream fragment narrowed his eyes, but Mordecai did not give him a chance to interject, pointing at the figment as he said, "You may not have the wherewithal to restrain your reactions, given the limitations of this part of your existence, but give your oath to a faerie king, and the totality of yourself will be bound. I would have you swear to me that you will neither threaten nor harm those who come seeking to help, and will aid and protect them should any happen to fail."
Mordecai waited as the fragment of a dream flickered, its appearance shifting amongst different expressions and appearances as emotions surged, affecting the mind that was the figment's origin, and those effects were reflected back upon the figment. When he was calm again, the figment gave a short nod. "What you ask is hard; I am built from some of the more protective aspects of my full self, and you well understand the issues. Give me a moment."
After a few moments of silence, the figment said, "For myself, and on behalf of my full self, I swear to you, Lord Mordecai, that no aspect of myself will offer threat or harm to those who come to aid in this endeavor, and that I will also do my best to aid and protect them, whether they succeed or fail."
Binding a near equal to an oath was one thing, binding such a powerful being, no matter how willing, was another, and accepting that oath hurt. Mordecai had been expecting that, but he was briefly overwhelmed to the point of making the world dim and begin to fade as he struggled with the weight of power flowing through his spirit. The wording of the oath meant that the full power of the dragon was brought to bear upon it, and the difference in power between Mordecai and that dragon was still vast.
He managed to keep on his feet until he recovered, but it was a near thing.
"Impressive. I was not certain if your avatar would even survive taking that oath, but I felt you knew the risks, and we both know that in some ways, it would have simply been an inconvenience of a year of being unable to have an avatar leave your territory."
Mordecai stretched and rolled his joints to loosen up the tension that had built up. "I am far more resilient than my power alone would indicate, which has served me well. Now, I have two more requests, but both are much more optional, and are not conditions of anything. First, I would like to be shown the most troubled eggs, as I intend to use that resilience to aid the one hardest for others to deal with. Then, after that, if you are willing," here he hesitated, finding it difficult to continue. After a brief moment, he softly asked, "May I see her?"
Painful silence filled the space between them before the figment finally said, "The first is easily granted. The second... perhaps. I understand, but I am not sure I can make myself allow it. We will see." He turned and gestured for Mordecai to follow, leading him down a path that opened in front of them which eventually opened onto a chamber with a clutch of eggs, carefully nestled in a mix of soft earth and ground dragon scales.
The clutch of eggs was held in stasis, and if he was not already aware of them, Mordecai might not have sensed anything. Instead, his senses and spirit were focused on them, lightly touching everywhere that he could, picking at even the slightest traces of energy. Which is part of why he noticed one egg that was slightly separated from the others.
"Not that one. No, I can not tell you why, but the reason may make itself known to you in the future."
Mordecai raised a brow at that, but the 'can not' in the figment's statement felt rather literal, so there was no point in pressing. "Very well. Then this one."
"Are you sure? I am not certain there is enough life left in it, but I could not bear to give up so long as there was a chance."
"Yes." Mordecai allowed himself a small smile now. "I prepared for this in the final stages of modifying my awakened avatar. I can readily hold the bonds for a familiar, a druidic companion, and an eidolon. The first two should bolster the hatchling directly, and that last should allow me to use my life energy directly. I also cast some contingencies this morning that should help keep me healed, or in the worst case, give me enough time to cast more immediate spells."
"Very well then." Earth, stone, and space itself shifted and moved about Mordecai until he was alone with the egg he had chosen as its stasis began to fade.
"Hello, little one. I am here to help." He set aside all thoughts and feelings of guilt for how this situation came to be, and focused on the present alone, bringing everything he had to bear upon the task ahead.
It was grueling.
Many hours passed as he coaxed the little spark of healthy life into growing. In addition to everything that the others had done, Mordecai was finely weaving vitality and void to encourage the healthy parts while trimming away the unhealthy, only to then reuse that same dead matter as material for rebuilding the healthy portion.
The exact form that the hatchling took was not something Mordecai tried to influence; he simply revitalized the dead flesh as new, healthy flesh to be reincorporated. Upon rare occasion, he had to kill and renew tiny portions of what he had already revitalized when a bit of corruption slipped in, but he worked as meticulously as he could to prevent such occurrences.
Eventually, he was done, and a long, sinuous form wrapped itself around him. In some ways, the newborn dragon's body resembled that of a serpent more than that of a loong dragon, especially given its two pairs of feathered wings, but it also had two pairs of legs like most dragons, and its head was certainly draconic in nature, including horns and a long set of whiskers. Black scales and feathers adorned its body, glimmering with a faint iridescent sheen.
"Hello, beautiful boy," Mordecai said, then coughed from the dryness of his throat. "I'm Mordecai, and it is nice to meet you."
"Father?" the young dragon asked.
"No, though if you want, you can call me grandfather. It is accurate enough for the moment. Now, what shall we name you? Hmm. Ah, what do you think of Hai-Ying-Riyo?" Mordecai asked. It was a bit of a mashup, but the hatchling did not exactly match any singular type of dragon, and the unique name fit its unique form.
"That's a long name."
"And you are a long dragon."
The dragon nodded, and the motion made a good portion of his body ripple. "True, true. Alright, I like it!"
Unlike what Kazue and Moriko had described, there was little mess left behind. Mordecai's process had been efficient with the available organic matter, which was part of the reason that Haiyingriyo was as big as he was. So Mordecai allowed himself to rest a while longer, letting his body recover while he pet and scritched his new friend.
Once he carefully got to his feet, a new passageway opened up, leading downward at a steep slope. "Looks like we have a new destination." Mordecai took his time walking down the path as he still felt weak from saving his new friend and wanted to conserve his energy for the moment. Haiyingriyo alternated between darting back and forth, circling Mordecai, and resting with his coils wrapped around Mordecai's shoulder.
The path eventually opened up onto a large chamber, where a pair of dragons rested. One was about the same size as Thalmirush; the other was somewhat smaller, though on this scale that simply meant less huge. "These are your mama and papa," Mordecai said softly. "You should go say hello, but quietly, alright? They are asleep because your mama is sick and your papa is helping her get better."
As his familiar darted off to flit along the forms of his parents, Mordecai walked up to the smaller dragon. "Hello. I am sorry for how I used you and your brethren; I failed to even name you. I assume your mate has already helped you choose one, and if you decide to visit in the future and let me know it, I would be happy to meet you properly. In the meantime, I and others will take good care of your children. The first three are quite happy, and two of them have an entire world tree to play in and around, along with the world tree's newborn dryad. The third is currently getting up to mischief at a royal palace, and getting away with everything because he is the familiar of the youngest princess and second youngest royal child. Hai-Ying-Riyo will get to meet the first two and the dryad shortly after I get home. I promise to send only the best candidates to come visit you. I think the next pair I send will be a kitsune druid and her husband, how does that sound?" A druid's bond with their companion was different than that of bonding with a familiar, and no one else should need to go to the extremes Mordecai had gone through when he forged multiple connections with his young friend.
Mordecai wasn't sure how much of what he said she could hear, but if nothing else, the dream fragment should be able to make a memory of this and share it with her. So he continued for a while, telling her about the home her children were enjoying, before eventually taking his leave sometime after Hai-Ying-Riyo returned.
By the time Mordecai had reached the surface and made his way to the valley beyond the cavern system, he felt that he was ready to fly again, though not swiftly if there was no urgent need. "Let's go home, shall we? Everyone will be eager to meet you, and soon, you will have lots of new friends, and you get to meet two of your siblings."
Though he did have to wonder how Fuyuko was going to feel about the situation; she was now going to be the only one in her immediate family who did not have a dragon familiar.