The golden dragon landed and the blonde dismounted. "So this is Spain. Some of our ancestors are said to come from here." Free looked around. He had already been traveling for 2 years and in Mexico he had learned that he would probably find answers here, so they immediately made their way here. "Where should we start, Fafnir?" Free looked at his dragon, which was looking around. Of course he knew that Fafnir couldn't give him an answer. "We should go find a library" Free started walking and Fafnir followed him. The two had already seen quite a bit of the world. From Asia, via Europe, to Africa and America. The two years flew by, literally. Free had seen a lot so far and partly he had already forgotten why he had set out. The two walked through town and looked around. "Where is a library here?" Free was lucky that he understood the language spoken here. So he could communicate. "I'll ask around. Wait here." Free entered a small café. There he could ask for directions and buy a bite to eat. He walked up to the counter and waited for a waiter to come up to him. "Have a wonderful day. What can I do for you?" He was greeted by a beaming smile from a boy with dark blue hair and hazel eyes. "Hello, I would like to take some pastries with me for a longer trip" "Hm...yes, I have something. How much can it be?" Free took euros from his pocket and put it on the counter. "As much as you can give me for 20 euros." The blue-haired nodded and began filling a bag with pastries. "Can I ask you something?" "Sure, where can I help?" "Do you know where there is a library here? I have to look something up but I'm not from here and don't know my way around" "Sure, I can accompany you if you want" "That's not necessary. It's enough if you explain the way to me" "I'm really bad at describing paths, to be honest" "Oh, I'll ask someone else then" "Oh, what. As I said, I can accompany you." The blue-haired handed the bag to Free and took the money. "I'll just let you know that I'm ending my shift and I'll change. Then we can go." The blue-haired disappeared through a door. He was definitely very odd.
Shortly thereafter, the other came back and he took Free's hand. "Come on" The two left the café. "Valtryek! Over here" A very interesting creature emerged from behind the café. Probably the soul animal of the blue-haired. "Is that your spirit animal?" "Yes, Valtryek is a Valkyrie. A warrior on a winged horse" "I've never seen anything like that" "She's something special too" "You can tell. Fafnir" The dragon landed next to Free. "A...A dragon?! You actually have a dragon spirit animal?! This is insane! I never thought I would ever know anyone who had a dragon spirit animal! How cool is that?!" Yes, very odd. "Yes, dragons are very rare spirit animals. My best friend has one too" "How cool!" "Hm...yeah" "Okay, let's go" The blue haired started walking and Free followed him. "By the way my name is Valt" "Free" The two walked across town towards a library. Valt was a little unsure a couple of times, but they finally got where they were going. Free walked through the ranks of the library while Valt followed. "What are you searching for?" "I need the behavior pattern of a dragon when it finds its soul mate. In Mexico I learned that some of my ancestors came from here and according to the records in my home country dragons were very common soul animals many years ago. Unfortunately I haven't stayed long enough on the island to learn more about it" "You were born on an island?" "Yes, left when I was 17 to find my soul mate. Stayed in Tokyo for a while and moved on shortly after my 18th birthday. That was two years ago" "You've been looking for your soul mate for two years?! " "The world is just bigger than I first thought." Free scanned the spines of the books and then took out a book. "Did you find something?" Free opened the book and flipped through it briefly before putting it back on the shelf. "We're very close." The blond kept looking around. "And you're sure you're on the right track?" "I hope so"
Free looked at shelf after shelf and finally reached for a book. "The Story of the Sola Dragons?" "Sola is the name of my home island. Dragons are like the symbol of our island." Free took the book and sat down at a table. Valt sat down next to him and Free started looking through the book. "What's in there?" "Most of it is just records of people who lived tens of years ago...I just don't understand how these records got here...Our island has been sealed off from the outside world since time immemorial. Nobody is allowed on or off the island, even getting close usually means death" "But that means that there must have been someone who had already left the island before you did" Free continued to leaf through the book, but in it, there were only notes, some of which also existed on the island. Sighing, he closed the book. "That was probably nothing..." Valt took the book. "Normally, even in such books, the names of the authors of such notes are written" Valt opened the last page again and read it through "Here, Wren Dokata" Free pulled the book towards him and looked at the name. The name didn't sound familiar to him. "Maybe we can find something else from him here" The blue haired got up and started walking. Free took the book and followed him. They searched any books whose author began with W or D, but to no avail. "I guess it wasn't such a smart idea after all."
Free looked through the shelves hoping to finally find an answer and sure enough he found something. Hidden behind all the books was an old diary. "Written by Wren Dokata" "Think you'll find answers in there?" "Yes, I must have this diary. Can you buy books here?" "I have no idea but you can try." The two went to the librarian and the blonde asked if he could buy the book. When the lady told him that this book had no value and that it wasn't on the records anyway, Free was allowed to keep it. "Now read it! Are there any answers in there?!" Free opened the first page and read the first entry.
"I did it. Together with my dragon Sola, I was able to leave my island. I dared to circumvent the century-old law and entered the outside world. I know that there is no turning back but I'm tired of being alone. As the successor to the chief of the tribe, the expectations of me are high and since I have still not been able to find my soul mate on the island, I had no choice but to search the wide world out there. With Sola and what I have learned, I am sure that one day I will find that person"
"That almost sounds like what you said." "Then Wren Dokata really was a member of our tribe and like me he had defied the law but from the looks of it he knows more about soulmate issues than I" Free kept turning the pages, maybe he finally found the answer there.
"If we add the 520.7 here, we have x²...."
Lui sighed. It was the exam phase and he already didn't feel like it anymore. He sat in his seat and looked out the window while the teacher wrote some formula on the blackboard. "And what comes of it? Mister Shirosagi?" Lui glanced at the blackboard. He gave the answer without any problem, and the teacher left him alone again. Finally the bell rang and the students left the lecture hall. Lui packed his things and slung his backpack over one shoulder before leaving the room as well. "Lui" He looked back where Gabe was coming his way. "Everything's okay with you?" "Why not?" "I'm just asking" Lui had changed quite a bit in the last two years. He was much more repellent in character than ever before. Secretly he knew why, but it was something he didn't want to accept.
"I want to meet up with the others, are you coming with me?" "No" "Oh come on. A change won't hurt you" "I said no! Now leave me alone" "What's the matter with you? Is it because of Fr-" "Don't you dare use that name even once near me! It's not because of him and it's over!" Lui disappeared into a crowd to avoid talking to Gabe, even though he was sure Gabe would have let him go anyway. He went to his locker and put away the things he didn't need. He then pulled out his boots and put them on before leaving the school.
It had felt more and more over the past two years that a part of his life was missing. Though he pushed all thoughts and memories of that one person out of his mind, he felt as if that one fact kept reminding him of him. It annoyed him because his life was actually going pretty well without this person... Well, more or less. During the day he could distract himself with other thoughts... But in the evening and at night his thoughts revolved around this one person...
...Free De La Hoya...His soulmate...
It was amazing how Free was able to turn his life upside down like that. It would be a lie if Lui said he didn't miss the blonde. There was something calm about Free that Lui had missed since his departure. In general, he missed the presence of the other. The thoughts he had in part were different. Lui was still worrying about that one thing... He was blaming, worried... He didn't know how far Free was with his journey. Had he already read the letter? If so, how had he dealt with it and how did he see Lui now? It felt like he made the biggest mistake of his life back then when he let Free go. But then he remained himself that it was the best decision for both of them...
Lui didn't know how to feel.
He had arrived home. He hasn't had a very good relationship with his mom since Free left either. She was still blaming him and Lui blocked everything she said. His behavior was childish but it was easy for her to talk, after all she wasn't in this situation. She didn't even know how Lui felt. Shirosagi disappeared into his room and entered the garden where Luinor was already impatiently waiting for his dinner. "It's okay, you'll get something to eat." Lui entered the shed and got fish from the freezer before going back and giving it to Luinor. Lui watched his dragon devour his food. Noticing his human's gaze, Luinor looked up. "At least you're the only one who doesn't judge me despite my actions..." The blue-haired scratched his dragon. "I only wanted the best for both of us..." Lui leaned against his spirit animal and sighed. "Why doesn't anyone understand me?"
"There is a chaos within you that you don't understand yourself. If you don't see through it, anyone else can either"
Lui sighed when he heard that voice. For the last few years, he felt like a voice inside his head was telling him what to do. It was especially strange that this voice only appeared when he was near Luinor but... that was impossible, wasn't it? Lui looked at his dragon, which looked at him before continuing to eat his fish. Probably less likely. It was probably the bad conscience that tried to persuade him what he should or shouldn't do.
A chaos in himself, huh? Lui didn't even know if he could call this chaos inside himself. Every feeling...every thought...everything was criss-crossing his head and body, unable to put it all in order. Well, as long as he was functioning on the outside, it didn't matter what was going on in his inside.
After Luinor finished eating, Lui said goodbye to him for the night. Lui closed the patio door and drew the curtains. As he turned around, his eyes fell on the sofa. Though he didn't want to, he could see the blonde sitting on it...He could see them sitting in front of it, eating ramen together...How he had fed Free...Lui's heart was racing at the thought. He still loved Free, there was no doubt about that. Reluctantly, he pulled his thoughts away from De La Hoya and went to his bathroom to get ready for bed. Finally Lui lay in his bed and his head was filled with several thoughts again.
He kept trying hard to forget about Free for good and it still didn't seem to work. Why couldn't he just be done with it? Why did it always have to be so complicated and wasn't as easy as in the movies or books? Lui really didn't understand. He just wanted to forget about Free...What was so hard to forget him?
What was the reason? His love for him? Didn't his heart allowed him to continue without the blonde? Was his love for Free really that big? He didn't know...
Valt had offered Free to spend the next few days with him and his boyfriend. So he had a place to stay for the next few days and the three of them can go in search of answers. Free had accepted the offer as he could really use some help at this moment. On the way, Free sat on Fafnir's back the whole time and read through Wren's journal. He wrote about his journey around the world, but Free wanted much more important information about a dragon's behavior towards his soulmate. He didn't want to go through everything fast as he might miss important information. "Here we are" Free looked up. In front of them was a very unusual soul animal..."A giant monkey?" "This is Spryzen, my boyfriend Shu's spirit animal" "I've never seen anything like it before" "Do you think it's that weird?" "Well, spirit animals are always special, but this is definitely more special than most of the spirit animals I saw and believe me when I say I saw many." Free got off Fafnir's back. "Do you think it's good to leave Fafnir with the other two?" "Why wouldn't it be a good idea?" "Soul animals are very irritable at the beginning of a relationship when a foreign soul animal is near their partner. But since Spryzen and Valtryek are out of this phase, it's okay if your dragon is with them." A boy had stepped out of the little house. He had white hair and red eyes. "Oh hello Shu" "Valt..." "That's Free, he's a friend of mine" "Well, I wouldn't call that a friend, we've only known each other for a few hours" "I told Free that he can stay with us. He isn't actually from here and is traveling the world to find his soul mate" "And you thought it would be a good idea to just invite him over to our house and then without even asking me?" "Oh come on Shu. Free is not a bad person" Shu sighed. "Fine, I'll turn a blind eye this time" "Thanks Shu!" "Yes, thank you very much"
"Yes, I've heard something about Sola Island. But actually I thought that you are not allowed to leave or enter the island" The three boys were in the kitchen and while Shu was cooking, Free and him talked about Sola Island, Free's home. Valt just sat next to him and waited for his food. "That's true, but I couldn't stand it any longer and went against the law" "Extremely risky" Shu put two plates on the table. "Oh Pink Pasta! How delicious!" Valt picked up his fork and spoon. "Enjoy it, Free! Shu makes the best pasta in the world." Happily, Valt began to eat. "Thank you, I really appreciate it" "In return I want you to tell me more about your homeland" "You have to know Shu does a lot of research and such informations are very important" "Understandable, but I can tell you some things" The three had dinner before sitting down in the living room.
"So what can you tell me about your island?" "Sola is the island of dragons, tens of years ago the island was only inhabited by dragon soul animals. Nobody knows exactly why the island is sealed off from the outside world, but one suspects that it had something to do with the dragons. Anyway, the people live there a completely different life than you do here. We live according to our basic instincts and we are strictly forbidden from any contact with the outside world. Whoever enters the island has aroused the wrath of the island and will be promptly captured and killed by the inhabitants of the tribe. Who leaves the island will then be banished from the tribe and should they get closer to the island or even enter it again, the same rules apply here as for strangers. The island is sacred to its residents and must not be defiled by outsiders, whether they are from there or not. Actually, I thought I was the first person to leave our island, but Valt and I found this." Free put the journal on the table, which Shu took. "This is Wren Dokata's journal, he also came from our tribe and had also left the island. It seems the islanders want to avoid such information spreading around the island. I didn't know this person existed until recently"
Shu leafed through the diary. "Through my research I learned quite a bit about Wren Dokata but I didn't know that he came from Sola Island and that he kept a journal" "I read some entries on the way here but it's all about his journey so far and most of the pages are blank. I just hope it says what I want to know." "What's that?" "It's not until the age of 18 that residents of Sola Island are enlightened about their spirit animal's behavior towards their soul mate. I left at 17 and I don't know what to look out for when it comes to Fafnir's behavior. As dragons are becoming increasingly rare spirit animals, nobody can help me, except Wren Dokata" Shu looked at the last few pages of the diary. He stroked the individual pages until he felt something. "Valt, bring me a pencil" "Okay" Valt got up and brought Shu what he needed. "Did you find something?" "I can feel the imprints of what was written on the previous page. If you look closely you can see that one page has been torn out. If it works, I can use the pencil to make the imprints visible and maybe we can see what written on it" Shu took the pencil and started wiping the blank page. It took a while but words became visible. "Can you decipher it?" "It seems to be in a language that hasn't been used in centuries." Free pulled the journal towards him and looked at it. "These are Sollan" "So-what?" "Sollan, that's how it used to be written on Sola Island. Nowadays only the family members of the chief of the tribe can read and write it." "And that means...?" "I can read it" "Ha! Lucky" "And what does it say?" "It's difficult to read..."
Free tried to recognize something, but most of the symbols were unreadable. "I can't read the whole text but he wrote about some other records that he hid due to dangers...In Egypt" "Egypt is huge, how are we supposed to find records there?" "One of us has good contacts with someone from Egypt" "Shu...Does that mean we're going to Egypt?!" "If that's what Free wants." The two looked at the blonde who was still looking at the journal. There was no other way, so the decision was quite easy. "We fly to Egypt" "Yeah! Egypt!" "This isn't a vacation, Valt" "Never mind. I've never been to Egypt so I'm looking forward to it"
Free closed the diary. He could not only find answers in Egypt as to how Fafnir behaved towards his soulmate, but also perhaps what was the reason why Sola Island was not allowed to enter the outside world. Perhaps this Wren Dokata had found out more than he first thought. With his help, Free could finally understand everything and maybe he could also change something? Whatever they found in Egypt, Free desperately hoped for something that would help him with his real issue. His journey must not have been in vain...