Draconia Offline vol. 2

87.2. Enough - Part 2

When I wake up again, I'm happy to discover that the headache is gone. It was just from a strain so early rest helped. I sit up and find myself positioned between Erik and Gotrid. They are both sitting and while Gotrid is thoughtlessly caressing my feathers with one hand because my wings are occupying his lap, he's reading something on a tablet. Erik is typing furiously on his laptop.

"You're up, hon?" they manage a tired smile.

I bite my lip. I might be injured so I need rest, but my partners are working hard while taking care of me nonstop. I need to give them a break, but would they even listen? Would they stay in the apartment and rest while I go out?

"I'll set the table for lunch," Dalia says, stepping by the door and just waiting for me to wake up. I notice that she's afraid to meet my eyes when I look at her. She wasn't in the throne room when I let my frustrations and mana pour out, but every Celestial in the vicinity must have felt it all the same.

I resist sighing and decide to focus on my partners for now. We had so much work ever since we came to Japan and I feel that I wasn't giving them the attention they deserve. But then again, we're always busy so it's no excuse.

I kiss them both and inspect what they are doing. Erik is writing a report for the Draconian government in Prague and Gotrid is reading various messages from our embassies all over the world, filtering them by their significance and sorting them out for me. If anyone thinks that Erik and Gotrid are just my spouses, they are so wrong.

"Ehm... do you want to talk about it?" I ask because I feel that they are giving me space.

"The Viceroy and the Celestial Council needed to be put in their place," Erik shrugs. "And we feel from you that you regret including us."

"Still, I'm really sorry," I kiss them again. "I should have controlled myself better."

"We're also toxically overprotective of you," Gotrid admits. "We deserved some of that."

"No, you deserved my trust," I shake my head. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. It's true that you tend to be overprotective, but I'm sure that if I explained the situation to you properly, you would have backed me up."

"Did your father advise you against telling us?" Erik suspects.

"He did," I confess. "I don't know why I listened to him. It seemed like a good idea back then, but, looking at it now, I feel manipulated by him."

"What's your opinion on him so far?" Gotrid is curious. "Your very first encounter ended up with you bleeding out of your nose and fainting and he was training you using torturous methods."

"Honestly, I don't know," I say frankly. "I thought that he was dangerous and he is, but he showed mild concern for me during our last dreamy encounter."

"Don't trust him easily," Erik warns me. "Your mother did everything she could to hide you from him and the Divementis."

"I know that," I nod. "It's just... it might not be as black and white as we thought."

"What about that Wikipedia-like place you mentioned?" Gotrid recalls.

"I couldn't access it again," I sigh. "I need to have another lucid dream, but I have no idea how to induce one on my own."

"Hmm, is it in your brain?" Erik gently pokes my head. "Do you have an entire alien encyclopaedia in there and you just don't know how to access it?"

"I doubt that," I have to disappoint them. "Maybe my father had to plug me into the Divementis telepathic network or something when he visited me in my dreams for the first time."

"Every time we discover something, there are only more questions," Gotrid laments and plays with my feathers.

"Also, sorry to scare you like that," I add because there's one more thing I want to apologise for and I don't want to brush it off as nothing. "Did I overdo it?"

Gotrid and Erik look at each other and come to a mutual understanding even without telepathy. They decide that honesty is always the best approach.

"It's not pleasant, but we can endure your Emperor's wrath," Gotrid says slowly. "However, what you did back there... You did include your mana emanation to make us feel that you're indeed our embodiment of magic, but that telepathic pressure you applied...," his voice dies out and he looks at Erik for help.

"There wasn't anything even remotely Celestial about that," Erik finishes for him. "Let's just say that if anyone still had some reservations about fully accepting that you're half-alien, that problem ceased to exist."

"That bad, huh?" I chew my lip.

"The thing is," Gotrid finds words again, "you're not just the Celestial Emperor. You're also a Divementis and we have yet to come to terms with that. We Celestials understand our Emperor's wrath, but what we have experienced back there was something totally alien. No wonder everyone was so scared."

I lower my head, saddened. I might have produced the intended effect, but I overdid it. I wanted to subdue the Council with my Emperor's wrath, not scare them shitless with my Divementis powers. I want my subjects to respect me, not fear me.

"They will get over it," Erik gently pushes my chin up. "You did it because you were desperate to get your message finally across and they know it."

Erik puts away his laptop and lets me on instead. I hug him, envelop him in my wings and Gotrid embraces me from behind. We stay like this for a few minutes, simply enjoying our intimate connection. They've been experiencing my Divementis half all this time and if they are fine with it, I don't care what anyone else thinks.

"You're both exhausted," I murmur. "You're taking care of me nonstop and working at the same time. Stay here and rest, I'll manage without you. I took a very good power nap so I should be able to walk for a few dozen metres without getting dizzy."

"And missing such an important meeting? I don't think so," Gotrid tickles me under my feathers.

"I could order you so," I warn them.

"For the record, I'm not a Celestial so I don't have to listen to you," Erik smirks and joins Gotrid in tickling me.

"Oof, you!" I burst laughing. They certainly have their way with me. "Okay, you win, but we'll call it a night early today no matter what the Japanese government comes up with."