To Challenge Dragons

Job dets:

The sounds of a train permiated the air as Lumina thought about the letter she had gotten the day before. She didn't know what it meant honestly but something about it made her go, she didn't honestly understand why, perhaps it had something to do with the scale that was in the letter. A Rose Dragons scale, she knew that Mayu and her were the last Rose dragons in existance, but that didn't explain how this scale. Lumina sighed and looked over at her sister, who was fast asleep in a ball on the seat next to her. She smiled and reached out and scrached her neck. The little Dragon let out a purr as Lumina petted her, Lumina had compared Mayu to a cat once, that fight had lasted a while and ended up getting all of lumina's clothing ripped up. Lumina turned her attention back to the letter, it was sitting on the tray in front of her. She thought about the words in the letter again, ones that felt familiar somehow. She reached out and pulled it from its envlope again, rereading the letter for the sixth or seventh time now.


"Ruby scale

You don't know me but i know of you, many years ago we met, though you were simply a babe at the time. I wish that things would have been diffrent for you and your sister but they were not, now that you both have hatched it is time to test you. Please go to the sky tower, once there i will test your merit and strength. Please bring your sister as well, there will be another coming along, please try not to kill each other. I look forward to our meeting Ruby scale.
                                                                                                                  X"

Lumina finished reading and sighed, who was this X? They claimed to have meet her when she was a baby, which would be impossible as that was over 200 years ago. The next thing that had her wondering was how did they know about Mayu, she had not been born when lumina was taken into Mayu's egg. Lumina folded up the letter again and put it inside the envlope again. A sharp pain caught her off guard and she pulled away from the source.

Mayu was looking up at Lumina licking her lips as she spoke, "Stop that! Your gonna drive yourself crazy." Mayu stood up and stretched, a very cat like stretch, but lumina kept her mouth shut. "We will find out when we get there so stop stressing." Mayu climbed into Lumina's lap. "Now make yourself usefull and scrach my back." Lumina thumped the little red dragon on the head then started petting her.

"Your a pain in the butt." Lumina said, earning her a nip on the finger. "ow..." It didn't really hurt but she felt like making her happy by responding. Lumina sat back and looked at the roof, she was wondering about the past again. Who was she? Lumina was lost in thought again, she was worried about so much after getting this letter. She pulled out the ruby scale from her pocket and stared at it, she could somehow tell it was a Rose Dragon scale. They next thing that came to mind, she looked human... but knew she was a Rose Dragon, what was that about. Lumina felt another pain in her hand and looked down at Mayu. "What?"

"We both have alot to find out you know. Stop stressing out... you know i feel it right?" Mayu looked up at Lumina after letting go of her hand. "We will figure it out so please... go to sleep or something." Lumina smiled and bopped the little dragon on the head again. Lumina was about to reply when they both felt the presense of another dragon, one that was diffrent from them. Mayu climbed off Lumina's lap and jumped down into the isle, Lumina got up and followed. They had come to a stop and more passangers had been let on, one of them was clearly like them. the two both headed toward the aura the both felt.

Word count

Akeya was not looking forward to this at all. She stood there at the train-station with visible annoyance, tapping one foot against the ground as she had her arms folded and looked towards the direction from which the train should be arriving. She didn't like this. Everybody knew that Dragon Slayers couldn't handle transportation at all. It was one of the few greatest downsides to becoming dragonkin. Although Akeya wasn't completely sure if it was actually part of being dragonkin or it was just a result of twisting dragon magic to make it usable by humans and other humanoids. That would require some testing and research that she didn't have the means nor the patience for.

Either way, she personally couldn't stand vehicles at all. She had been on a ship and had nearly fallen off. She had been on a train and had turned into a crawling mass of anger and shadows. And that time she had already been making use of a minor healing spell to make sure she wouldn't actually vomit. Vehicles just weren't her thing any longer. Yet here she was standing waiting for one to arrive. And for what reason? Because she was supposed to partner up with somebody from another guild, somebody who apparently wasn't as capable of travelling without help as the half dragon and who she couldn't meet at the actual job site. It was annoying beyond belief. Akeya had taken more precautions this time and gotten her hands on a stronger healing spell which should allow her to at least function properly on the train, although she'd still be a lot less effective on the train than she was outside of it.

Honestly the fact that she had to use a train should already have been enough reason for her to say no to this job and do something more to her own tastes. The only reason she hadn't actually done so was because of the way that the job had started. Akeya had been training when suddenly a scroll had found its way to her hands. It hadn't even made use of a messenger or anything like that. The half dragon had seen it fall from the sky all of a sudden and grabbed it, not having felt any magic from it that could trigger just from grabbing the scroll and seeing what it contained. What it had contained were merely words directed at her, strangely enough. Words, and a dragon scale the colour of midnight.

'Twilight Dragon,

Whedalsin spoke highly of you. I will be expecting you at the Sky Tower, where we shall talk about some matters which are of importance to both you and I. However you will be going together with another one, somebody who should be of interest to you. Since the other one can't fly like you, you will have to suffer travelling like the humans. However it will be worth it if you come.

X'

The message had left Akeya bewildered and filled with too many questions before she quickly got into action. She would have liked to dismiss it as a joke, or a trap, but the matter of the fact was that she recognized that scale. It was one of Whedalsin's scales. Which should be impossible, since the self-proclaimed dragon of the night sky was hidden deep under the ground, so deep that even Akeya couldn't sense him from above ground if she was standing right above him. And he wasn't hiding because he was weak. He was living down there because the above world had nothing to offer for him, and there were people who would cause trouble for him purely because he was a dragon. Humans were always such a bother. Anyway, the fact that the message had been delivered together with that scale meant that the person who had written this message knew of Whedalsin and his location, and either had convinced the dragon to give the scale or had been able to take it by force. Both were reasons for her to see who exactly had written the letter. Without Akryn.

So now Akeya was silently grumbling to herself as she could see the train rapidly approaching, although she was pretty sure that she was still faster if she just flew. This person that she had to meet had better be worth it, because that healing spell she had received had a limited duration and if this took too long the half dragon would end up a total mess on the train. Akeya didn't really care what the humans thought, but on the other hand showing such weakness in public was unacceptable. Some of the humans might get the idea that they were actually in the position to talk back to her and act cocky, in which case she'd have to find a way to remind them not to do that even while crippled by the train.

Stepping onto the train Akeya folded her wings tightly against her back and kept her tail close, since entering trains meant giving up your private space for a moment. After a couple of seconds of that Akeya gave up and turned into a shadow, moving further into the train before materializing again. She had no patience for that, especially while on a vehicle. Luckily it wasn't moving yet. With some luck she could find herself a seat before it did, in which case she would be in a lot better a position than if she was still standing. However before that Akeya's head turned around sharply as she noticed something curious. She was sensing a dragon. It was a strange feeling, but very distinct. The dragon wasn't like Akeya herself. A dragon of a different element and origin, most likely. Walking straight towards the source of that feeling the half dragon eventually saw a girl accompanied by a rather small dragon. The small one was one source of that feeling, but the girl was one as well. Curious Akeya walked straight towards the two, coming to a halt standing in front of them.

"Who are you."

It was more of a command to state their nature than an actual question. As for herself, Akeya didn't feel she needed to introduce herself. There was nobody else in Fiore with dragon wings, a tail, and midnight blue scales which decorated those limbs and her arms and legs from the elbows and knees down. As a Rising Star most people must have heard by now of the Shadow Dragon of Fiore.

Lumina felt the the other that she was feeling was coming to her and so she stopped, waiting for them to show up. It didn't take more then a few seconds for the other to show up and what Lumina saw cause her to become quite uneasy. the woman... no The She-Dragon, was intimidating not cause she was a dragon but because of what Lumina feared about herself. The woman seemed to look Mayu and herself over, Lumina's eyes looked to the wall to the side as she spoke.

"Who are you?" A question that haunted her, Lumina didn't know how to answer it... she stood their a bit unsure of what to do.

"Lumina... Lumina... LUMINA!" A voice snapped her out of her little trance, well less the voice and the pain that followed it. 

"OW Mayu!..." Lumina popped the little dragon upside the head. "that hurt you overgrown lizard." Lumina rubbed the spot Mayu had chomped on and turned back to the other girl. "I... I am Lumina Rubyscale... this is my sister Mayu." Lumina gestured to the little red dragon, which had climbed up Lumina's back and was sitting on her shoulder.

"Hi!" Mayu peeped letting out a small could of spores as she spoke. "Opps!" the little dragon covered it mouth with on of its claws. "excuse me."

Lumina just shook her head, "Who are you?" Lumina sniffed the air, the scent the girl gave off was very plesent, nothing like any human had or could have. "are you... like me?" Lumina blinked at the girl. Lumina walked up and reached out, trying to touch the girl's scaled arms. Lumina stopped and pulled her hands back and stared at them... "I'm the one whos wrong..." Lumina's eyes went wide in horror, her body was wrong... her soul was wrong. Lumina stopped and took a deep breath, clearing her mind of the panic that was building. She stood up and righted herself, her Ruby colored eyes clear and proud, "I am Lumina Rubyscale... A Rose Dragon." A bold claim but seeing this other girl made it clear, the fact the Mayu called her sister from hatching was proof enough.

After having asked her question Akeya waited for the girl to speak up, or possibly the small dragon if it turned out that she was already old enough to have developed the capability for speech. The girl in front of her didn't look that abnormal if you only saw her physical appearance. A typical female mage, with nothing really to separate her from other mages. However Akeya could see more than just her physical appearance, and what else she saw made her more curious. What she observed with her other senses just reinforced that curiosity. This woman's magic felt familiar, yet still different. If Akeya had to make a guess she'd say that it was a Dragon Slayer magic, but it wasn't any type that she actually knew anything about. Normally she'd at least have something of a guess, even if that could be wrong, but this time the magic just felt so...strange...that she couldn't even get the faintest clue what kind of Dragon Slayer it was supposed to be.

While she was focused on trying to figure out the girl's exact magic her nose informed her that she smelled of roses. Which was a rather curious smell for somebody to just have. On the other hand, there were humans who used perfumes which smelled like that. Maybe it was just a perfume which was subtle enough for the half dragon to not immediately notice it. Which would be an improvement, because most of the time Akeya had to go in a wide berth around people with perfume because they lacked understanding of the words subtlety and restraint.

As for the the girl's actions, as normal as she might appear her reaction made it clear that Akeya's question was something which actually struck home. The half dragon, still grumpy from the idea of having to use a train, waited impatiently as the girl stared off into the distance, looking like she was lost in her own mind. As interesting as that mind might be, Akeya wasn't really a fan of people just looking track of their surroundings the moment after she asked them something. Luckily before she had to make the girl wake up and actually answer the question the little dragon took care of it, yelling into the woman's ear and then biting it for good measure. That seemed to work, as the female was then occupied being angry at the dragon for biting her like that. Akeya on the other hand appreciated the dragon's help, since shaking people out of their own daydreams was often quite annoying. That and she was more likely to not get annoyed if the one to do it was her own...companion? Pet? Friend? Whatever this specific girl thought a small dragon should be treated as.

Apparently the answer to that was sister, making Akeya raise one eyebrow in an unspoken question as the woman introduced herself and the dragon. This was starting to become quite intriguing. The girl's magic was somehow related to Dragon Slayer magic even if Akeya couldn't pin it down exactly, she had a little dragon who she referred to as her own sister, and her last name was Rubyscale. The half dragon was starting to become more and more curious about this woman's origins and what her story was. Most humans were dreadfully boring and uninteresting, but this Lumina was giving the impression that she wasn't like most humans at all.

When Lumina answered her question with another question Akeya would have been annoyed if that question wasn't one which just made her curiosity become even stronger. The half dragon raised both her eyebrows now, staring at the girl as if trying to figure out a particularly complicated and intriguing puzzle. She still wasn't speaking, instead just silently observing Lumina and using body language to indicate that she was getting more interested, and that Lumina was doing a good job attracting her attention. When the girl stepped forward to touch her arm Akeya stepped backwards, her survival instincts kicking in as her curious expression became wary. As interesting as this girl was, Akeya wasn't going to just let her approach and touch her like that. She might be friendly, but she could also be an adversary, in which case there were a lot of things that she could do if Akeya allowed her to get closer that easily. She wasn't acting very hostile though. She wasn't acting like somebody trying to hide their hostility either. If Akeya had to describe the Lumina's behaviour she'd have to say that the girl was just as intrigued and confused as herself, if not more.

Which then rapidly switched into some kind of panic as the girl began to say something about how she was the one that's wrong, which just created the question how she was wrong and what she was even talking about. Akeya narrowed her eyes and tapped her foot, the combination of the train and this girl being so distracted by herself starting to overcome her curiosity. It was a good thing that after the panic attack Lumina recollected herself and actually answered Akeya's question, or the half dragon would have become even more annoyed, annoyed enough that she might actually have done something which she might have regretted afterwards. At Lumina's introduction Akeya nodded, finally opening her mouth to speak again.

"Lumina Rubyscale, the Rose Dragon. Interesting. I have yet to hear of something like a Rose Dragon, but unless you've carefully constructed a very thorough disguise you are probably not lying. Still, I would like for you prove that claim. A Rose Dragon is new for me, so I'm curious to see what you can do."

Akeya grimaced as she felt that the train was beginning to move again, everybody else already having found their seats. Great. Now the real trouble would start, as Dragon Slayers only really got motion sickness on moving vehicles, not ones that stood still. So far she had mostly been annoyed in anticipation, but now she could quickly feel her stomach turning over in protest as she walked past Lumina deeper inside the train, looking for a free seat left.

"However before that I want to sit down. As a fellow Dragon Slayer you should understand how I'd rather not be standing while the train moves."

Lumina frowned as the girl responded in a way the she knew mayu would take offense, before Lumina could even move to grab Mayu the little dragon jumped on the girl.

"What you think cause someone claims something that they are lying." Mayu snapped as she dug her claws into the girls skin, not enough to draw blood. "I am a Rose Dragon." Mayu burped a small cloud of spores in the girls face. Nothing harmful but it was clear she was mad.

Lumina pulled Mayu off the girl and held onto her as she squirmed trying to get free. "Sorry, shes a bit prideful." Lumina blinked as the girl said something about standing and a moving train. "What? uh I'm not sure what you are talking about, but you can have Mayu's seat."

"Let me go!" The little dragon squirmed in Lumina's hand, "you can't just give my seat away."

Lumina thumped the little dragon on the head, "Stop that... you would have slept in the luggage compartment anyways." Lumina smiled at the girl, "Come one then lets go." Lumina reached out and took the girls hand, then proceeded to drag her to their seats. Lumina could not explain why but she felt the need to get closer to this girl. She pulled the girl along until they reached the seats, she then pushed the girl into the seats. Lumina then took a seat keeping the girl from taking off. "So question what did you mean by standing on a train?" Lumina didn't know about the motion sickness that Dragon Slayers got, her magic was mainly support and it kept her safe from those kinds of things. But that kind of info was lost on here, she was never completely trained and she barely understood her magic anyways. "You also asked if i could prove it right?" Lumina looked at the woman and blinked, she was smiling as she did. "I can if you want but ill need a flower or something." Lumina turned and held up her hand calling out to one of the hostesses, "excuse me?"

A lady in a blue uniform came down, "yes Ma'am?"

Mayu poked her head out of the luggage compartment, which she had gotten into without Lumina noticing. "She needs a flower to show off to the dragon lady, i think she has the hots for her."

The Lady was a bit taken aback by Mayu's words, or more like the way she had just popped out and said it. Lumina on the other hand turned a shade of scarlet that nearly matched Mayu's scales. "Mayu!?! Thats... thats not true!" Lumina face burned with embaressment, sometimes Lumina hated the empathic link that they shared.

"But its true!" Mayu snapped back. "You think she smells good an..." Lumina reached out and grabbed the little dragons snout and held it shut.

"Shut it!" Lumina snapped at the little red dragon. The hostess just blinked at Lumina and walked off. Lumina turned to the woman, not meeting here eyes. "Sorry Mayu has a mouth... I uh" Lumina stumbled over the words until the lady came back holding a few flowers.

"Ma'am will one of these work?" The lady showed Lumina the flowers, Lumian smiled and pulled all of them from the ladys hand.

"Thank you!" Lumina stuffed on right into her mouth and chewed it. "Thanks i was hungry." Lumina finished eating the flower and then turned to the other dragoness. "So uh... cant really do much here on a train but i can do this!" Lumina poked the flower in the side, the flower seemed to change, a whole new part grew. After a bit the flower sprouted three little fruits, Lumina pulled one off the vine and popped it into her mouth. "They are a bit bitter but here." Lumina pulled another off and offered it to the other Dragoness. Unknown to Lumina the fruits would cure the motion sickness that dragon slayers suffer.

If people had to describe Akeya they usually used the words cold and calculating. Which wasn't strange at all, because she was an assassin who took her work very seriously and knew that a single mistake could cost you your life. Assassination wasn't a job for the weak or the clumsy. It demanded talent, dedication, patience, and plenty of other traits, all of which basically came down to that if you wanted to be an assassin, your mental and physical discipline had to be top notch. And on top of that the half dragon also lacked the social instincts humans had, so her first reaction towards anybody was always caution since they could be dangerous or just troublesome. Even if this girl in front of her was a curious one, and her dragon as well, that didn't make them exceptions to Akeya's powerful paranoia. So when Mayu tried to jump onto the half dragon she would find that a scaled arm was in her way, the half dragon quickly having raised it to block the incoming attack. Her eyes were now very narrow indeed, and she glared at the little dragon as if an ancient dragon herself, wondering what kind of audacity was driving this whelp to attack somebody obviously above her level.

"Only a fool would trust somebody they only just met only from what they said. You would be wise to remember that, naive hatchling."

With that Akeya made a dismissive motion, returning to her search of a good seat. Preferably two, since she didn't want to have to deal with one of them sitting down and the other remaining standing. That wasn't what you wanted when you were trying to talk with somebody. She ignored Lumina's attempts to apologize for Mayu's behaviour, only snorting before turning around to stare at Lumina with surprise and suspicion once the girl claimed that she didn't know what Akeya was talking about when she mentioned her dislike for standing in a moving train. Akeya remained silent for a moment, searching Lumina's eyes for signs of deceit. Eventually she answered.

"Dragon Slayers universally suffer from motion sickness. It's a side effect from the magic. If you don't know that you either aren't a Dragon Slayer or you haven't been one for long enough to feel the effects yet. There might be exceptions, but so far as I know all Dragon Slayers begin to suffer from it once their bodies have begun to show traits of the magic."

Akeya allowed Lumina to guide her to the seats that the girl had been using together with her sister before Akeya had stepped onto the train, although she frowned briefly at the hand which was holding hers. Her own hand was covered in scales, and had sharp nails, whereas this girl's hand was still that of a normal human. The half dragon knew that her transformation had begun a lot earlier than that of other Dragon Slayers, and was progressing a lot faster as well, but since she couldn't feel any sign of the dragonfication on the girl's hand at all it must mean her body hadn't accustomed too much to the magic yet. That or she wasn't like most Dragon Slayers. Most of them at the very least had sharp fingernails.

Once they were seated the half dragon wanted to ask more questions, but since Lumina offered to prove to her that she was truly a Rose Dragon Akeya refrained from speaking, instead curtly nodding as she waited to see what the woman could show her. She was still cautious and wary, as she always was, but she was also curious. A Rose Dragon was a completely new concept to her, and she really wanted to figure out what kind of abilities a Rose Dragon might have. The first instinct of course said that she would be using roses of some kind, which was reinforced when Lumina asked for flowers. However flowers were a bit specific, so maybe it was a broader control over plants in general, and they were called Rose Dragons because they liked to use roses. Lots of people liked roses, so it would make sense that if they were to also like those flowers and make use of them others would notice and give them that name.

The comment that Lumina might have the hots for her seemed to glide straight past Akeya without her picking up on it, as she just sat there with folded arms waiting for the other female to prove her claim of being a Rose Dragon. Although she glanced at the little dragon in the luggage compartment before Mayu was forcibly silenced by her sister. That little hatchling was quite annoying, the way she kept acting so bluntly and without hesitation. It was a good thing that she had an older sister to look after her, otherwise somebody like her wouldn't have survived for very long. As it was, Akeya was starting to become more interested in Lumina than Mayu, seeing how Mayu wasn't doing anything but getting on her nerves, something which wasn't very difficult at all and was done by most humans without even trying. If she wanted to make Akeya care about her existence she'd have to act a bit more thoughtfully. When Lumina tried to apologize for Mayu again Akeya just blinked slowly, still giving both Lumina and Mayu that calculating glare.

"Hatchlings can be quite stubborn. I'd advise you to teach her caution and to think before she speaks."

There were too many people who needed that lesson for Akeya to tolerate yet another one. However that wasn't important. Akeya's attention was drawn when Lumina began to actually show off her magic, as she made the flower she had been given by the blue clothed lady grow fruits, fruits which the half dragon was pretty sure did not belong on that flower. That was interesting, and did tell her a lot about Lumina's magic, especially since Akeya could see how Lumina's magic affected the flower and the way it caused those fruits to grow. A most curious magic indeed, a lot different from Akeya's own Shadow Dragon Slayer magic. When offered one of the fruits the half dragon looked at it with suspicion, taking it from Lumina and sniffing it. She couldn't smell any hints of poison and the magic which had been used to create it hadn't looked dangerous. It was probably safe. With that she dropped the fruit in her mouth and swallowed without bothering to chew, blinking as she felt the magic contained inside the fruit spread inside her. It didn't feel hostile, but she was still somewhat worried until she realized that suddenly she was no longer feeling sickly. It was as if the fruit's magic had calmed down her stomach. And the sickness wasn't returning either. Akeya turned her attention back to Lumina.

"I'll accept this proof. Although that just means I am now curious about your origins. I've done a lot of research about dragons, but I've never heard of a Rose Dragon before. Seeing how your sister is an actual dragon I can safely assume that it's an actual dragon type and not something you created yourself, but that still leaves me wondering where you came from and why I've never heard of Rose Dragons before."

Akeya was reclining in her seat, her arms once again folded as she looked at the other woman with quite obvious interest and curiosity. She was using one of her hands to motion while she talked, even though she kept her arms folded for now. Her tail was for the most part curled up on her lap, her wings tightly folded against her back so they wouldn't get in the way in such a small space.

Lumina thought about what the dragoness said about the motion sickness, she had technically been a dragon slayer for over 209 years and she had never had motion sickness even before her time in the egg. Lumina shifted and looked up at Mayu as her head poked out of the luggage compartment, Lumina just thought about everything said, they were both naive. Lumina and Mayu had barely been out of their egg for over 2 months, from what Lumina knew Mayu should not be able to talk or fly but could do both. Lumina sighed and turned back to the attractive dragoness, "Both of us are oddities..." Lumina shifted a bit, her skin was on fire like it was covered in hot water, Her hands also felt odd. Mayu looked down at Lumina and gave a small peep, she could feel this through their emphatic link.

"Lumina... are you ok?" The little red dragon wiggle out of the luggage compartment and fell to the floor with a thump. She waddled up to Lumina and gave her wings a flap as she jumped, this brought her into Lumina's lap. 

Lumina looked down at Mayu, "I'm fine... i just feel... odd." Lumina didn't know how to explain it, not that she needed to. Lumina picked up the last flower and offered it to Mayu, who took a huge chomp out of it. Lumina let the little dragon take it from her as she turned back, 'So what are you? I can tell your... at least part dragon but you feel different from me somehow." Lumina said. Unknown to Lumina something had awoken inside of her, something that desired the other dragoness, and her body was showing it. It permeated the air, a pheromone that the humans would not smell. Lumina was tired she didn't understand why and they had a few hours, Lumina leaned against the other dragoness and breathed in her scent. She dozed off quite quickly, feeling secure for the first time in a long time.

Lumina started dreamin about the past, and all the things she didn't remember, people with no faces and warped faces. she found herself being attacked by shadows of the past, she would start to squirm and thrash about. Tears came from her eyes as she started calling out. "Lotusia.... nooo.. run."

Mayu sat watching Lumina her eyes full of concern. "She always gets like this..." Mayu sighed and made her way back up to the luggage compartment, "Please don't let her hurt herself."

Akeya's eyes were trained on both Lumina and Mayu, not as narrow as before but still filled with her usual brand of insane focus, enough to make her gaze feel like a physical weight. Even more so now that she was genuinely curious about these two, although the more human one had managed to become the more interesting one of the pair as the other one appeared to just be a young dragon, given her behaviour. Of course finding a dragon hatchling was in itself already a reason to become greatly intrigued and curious, but not as much as finding a human who smelled similar to the dragon she had with her, and who gave off the curious feeling that she wasn't quite as human as her appearance would have one belief. She would study the both of them thoroughly, figuring out who they were, what they were, where they came from and why they were here. Once Akeya's curiosity had been sparked the source of that curiosity tended to become the victim of a level of scrutiny rarely seen.

First of all, when she explained about the motion sickness that all Dragon Slayers suffered from both the little dragon and the woman looked like they had never heard of this before, given the fact that Lumina became quite thoughtful and looked at her sister as if trying to confirm something with her. That in itself was already strange. So far as Akeya knew that motion sickness was universal, and she had figured that it was because dragons were universally stricken with the illness. Dragons never had been given reason nor motive to create transportation for themselves, so maybe they simply had never developed the resistance towards vehicles. But both the strange girl and the little dragon were acting as if this was quite a foreign concept to them. How did that work? Why would these two be immune to that weakness?

The comment about them being oddities didn't really explain a lot, since Akeya could have made that deduction herself. She had never before heard about a Rose Dragon, and the concept itself had been both simple and abnormal enough that she had never even toyed with the idea. Of course she had thought of the possibility that there were dragons whose powers revolved around the manipulation of life, but with flora and fauna, but for that to materialize as something which would end up being called a Rose Dragon... That wasn't something she hadn't been able to think of by her own. And then there was the fact that Lumina was giving off the feeling that she was both human but not at all, which just left Akeya confused. She herself was in between a human and a dragon, but it her it was clearly the case. Lumina was calling the little Mayu her sister, so there was something going on with the girl, but from the outside she looked like a completely normal human being. At least, if one used human senses, which in some ways were rather dull.

Then came the fact that Lumina was starting to behave rather oddly. Or to be more precise, she had been acting strange already. Akeya had bluntly ignored the little squabble between Lumina and Mayu about how the girl had fallen for her, because she didn't really care and because she knew that close relatives like siblings liked to tease each other. She herself had some memories of that happening back in the village, although even then she hadn't really been the kind to participate in that kind of thing. But now there were more signs, which would most likely have gone unnoticed if the half dragon had instead been a human. It took sharp senses, but it was clear that Lumina was feverish (the fact that they were sitting next to each other helped a lot), she shifted as if she was uncomfortable even though there was no reason to be, and that little dragon was going so far as to ask if Lumina was all right, and it didn't sound like a jest or a feint. It was unlikely that this girl just happened to be showing symptoms of a normal illness just this moment, especially since she had also eaten one of those fruits which had managed to get rid of Akeya's motion sickness for the moment. When Lumina herself focused on asking Akeya what she was the half dragon answered, although she was still more focused on Lumina.

"A thing not understood by most people is that Dragon Slaying Magic is actually not magic designed to kill dragons. It is magic used by dragons, owned by dragons, shared with humanoids. It just happens that dragons are very resilient creatures, and they developed magic which bypassed that resilience so they could still fight each other properly. People saw that it worked against dragons and mistook it for Dragon Slaying Magic instead of proper Dragon Magic. However, wielding this kind of power isn't without consequences. The more attuned and comfortable you become using the magic, and the stronger you are, the more you yourself become like a dragon as your body adapts to the magic that inhabits it. I am an example of the in between stage. It shouldn't be much longer before I'll be a full dragon."

The explanation was matter of fact, without any hint of worry or discomfort. Akeya had no reason to fear or regret turning into a dragon. In fact to her it felt like a relief, that she could stop having to pretend to be like humans. She had once been a human, but even when she was little she had already shown signs that she wasn't like most, and once she started practising magic that difference had only grown. For her turning into a dragon was only the logical next step in her life. And the unspoken message was also there in her words: that eventually the same would happen to Lumina, if she kept using Dragon Slaying Magic.

It was at that point that Akeya sniffed as she noticed that a new smell had entered the air, a strange smell which actually managed to make the half dragon feel...something. A strange feeling. It made her feel slightly warm, in a pleasant way, but at the same time it put her on edge, although that might just be how she reacted to suddenly smelling something like that without warning. It took her several seconds to place it, enough time for Lumina to lean against her shoulder and fall asleep. The half dragon's eyes narrowed slightly as she stared at the other girl. Was she actually...? She was, wasn't she. Akeya sighed. It was a good thing that human noses weren't worth a damn. She didn't want to explain why the female sitting next to her was secreting sex pheromones. That would have been annoying, especially since she was pretty sure that if humans could smell it clearly they would quickly be turned on, lacking the mental discipline Akeya herself possessed. In fact, she thought she could already see at least one human located close to them shifting uncomfortably, as if feeling an itch they couldn't get rid of. This Lumina could be something of an issue.

However right now Akeya was pretty sure it was better to stick with her and learn more about her, especially since it was clear that this was the one who was to accompany her to that Sky Tower. At least Akeya was sitting closer to the path in the middle of the train so she could somewhat shield Lumina and that scent by spreading one wing slightly, creating a very crude barrier as at the same time she curled her tail around Lumina's waist. That Mayu said that she might hurt herself while she was having nightmares, so the tail was there in case she began moving. At least she wouldn't be able to easily leave her current position with that tail around her waist.

Lumina would dream for quite some time, thrashing about a bit but nothing to bad. Mayu on the other hand would jump back down after catching a smell of Lumina. She would crawl under the wing and jump on Lumina's lap. After a bit of work the little dragon made it up to Lumina's neck where she bit down gently, the smell Lumina was giving off grew weaker. She then looked at the dragoness and narrowed her eyes.


"You keep calling me a hatchling and honestly your a fool for doing so." Mayu jumped down and settled in Lumina's lap. "i guess you have questions correct?" mayu would wait for a response before continuing. "Well i will explain a few things first." The little dragon took a breath. "Lumina is not human... I'm sure you already figured that out... She was selected to become a Rose Dragon through... well the means your in the middle of. The reason being Rose Dragons were rare to begin with, and human liked to hunt us more so then most. Mayu streached out her neck and snached up the last fruit, she took a bit and then swallowed before continuing. "See our scales and blood cause even the most infertile land to be able to grow life, that is what caused men to hunt us. now before Lumina could even start the first step into dragonfication her..." Mayu paused and though for a second. "Our mother was cornered and killed, Lumina didn't understand why she was being trained. For some reason she though it was to protect me, which i guess is not completely wrong. Now i have all the memorys of my mother... and grandmother..., I know Lumina's importance and its why i saved her." Mayu took another bite of her fruit. "When the men raided the cave Lotusia gave her life to give Lumina time to escape, Lumina didn't run like she was suppose to she came back for me. The human cornered her and with her my egg, one said something... i can't remember what though... Lumina screamed at him and took a step back and the cliff gave out or she was pushed... i don't really know its to fuzzy. All i know is that she fell, not sure how far but i know that she was dying because of it. I could feel the life fading and so i did... something stupid i guess, I pulled her inside my egg... and before you ask I don't know how i did it." Mayu snapped up the last bit of the fruit and looked intently at the other dragoness. "I'm sure you made the conclussion that i should not be talking correct?" Mayu waited for a answer then would continue. "The reason i matured faster is... instead of Lumina being my guardian i am hers... and i could not protect her or even interact with her if i was nothing more than a baby... So my body adjusted itself, i changed to meet her needs. She is a girl out of time..." Mayu looked at Lumina. "she knows nothing about this day and age, everyone she knew is dead." Lumina shifted a bit in her sleep again talking in her sleep. Mayu nuzzled Lumina's hand and then continued speaking. "I act the way i do cause Lumina's needs a sister, needs someone to be with whom understands her... well i don't want to say issue so ill go with situation. Now if you want to learn about Rose Dragons... we aquired a book a while ago that i can let you read if you so wish... but that will have to come later... for now... Will you help me look after the last Rose Dragon?" Mayu nudged Lumina hand as she spoke.

Akeya just kept an eye on Lumina to make sure that she wouldn't hurt herself, more because having her partner for the mission injure herself before the mission even started would be more embarrassing and awkward than that she actually cared for the girl's well-being. Of course, since Lumina was still a curiosity for her she'd rather the female didn't get injured if it could be avoided in general, but even though she could quite clearly smell the Rose Dragon's attraction to her she didn't return the feeling. The Shadow Dragon wasn't one to develop fond feelings for somebody else that quickly. Right now she found Lumina interesting, much more than any human could hope to be, but more like a book could be interesting. Filled with knowledge that Akeya wanted to possess, a lot to learn, but ultimately not a target of real affection. Granted, Akeya treated books and the likes with plenty of respect since knowledge was a very important thing for her, but even so. Lumina would most likely be severely disappointed if she realized that the dragonness she had encountered was not nearly as emotionally attached to her as the Rose Dragon herself appeared to be developing feelings for her.

"Behave like a hatchling and you will be treated like a hatchling."

That was the only reaction Mayu got when she attempted to call Akeya foolish for calling her a hatchling. The half dragon honestly didn't care what the little dragon thought of her. Dragons might have a notably higher standing than humans, but if such a small dragon, who up until that point had only acted like a child, tried to insult her Akeya didn't really have any reason to feel insulted or even bothered. So a hatchling was being annoyed because she was called a hatchling. Big deal. Children always resented being treated like children. The fact that this one was using vocabulary above that usually possessed by human children didn't change that fact so far as Akeya was concerned. If it had been Mayu's intention to change Akeya's mind or agitate her she would be disappointed as the half dragon didn't even look at her, instead watching Lumina to make sure she wouldn't accidentally hurt herself in her sleep. When Mayu stated that Akeya probably had questions the Shadow Dragon nodded, but that was all that Mayu was getting from her. Beyond that the half dragon might as well not have acknowledged Mayu's words at all. Even when Mayu began to talk did Akeya not look at her. She was listening, but one didn't need their eyes to listen.

The story told my Mayu was an interesting one, although Akeya saw several flaws in it which she would keep to herself, if only because she didn't feel like interrupting the little dragon as she spoke. The first flaw was that humans didn't usually hunt dragons. Dragon Slayers could hunt dragons, but beyond that for humans to take down a dragon was just such a significant effort that there were very few groups of humans -large groups of humans- who bothered trying. And even then most dragons would quickly pick up on that such a group of humans was nearby and either get rid of them or leave themselves. Unless of course they were too prideful to accept that they couldn't defeat the dragons and get themselves killed. That also happened, but that wasn't really the same as being hunted, that was just being stupid, blinded by your own pride. For Rose Dragons to be hunted that either meant they weren't as strong as most dragons, or there had been some humans who had been spectacularly determined, so much that they had managed to develop their strength above that of most humans, even those who practised to become strong. Or they had been Dragon Slayers. That was also a possibility, although Dragon Slayers had never been that numerous so far as Akeya knew. For Dragon Slayers to have been the reason that Rose Dragons were so rare all the Dragon Slayers must all have been focusing on hunting down Rose Dragons, forgetting about all other dragons until the Rose Dragons were dealt with.

The second flaw was that even if Rose Dragons were rare, if they were that popular to hunt there would have been stories left behind of them. Akeya had found none, and she had gone through rather extensive efforts to find everything she could about dragons of all types. Of course Shadow Dragons had the priority, but that didn't mean that she had been neglecting any other dragons, even the less common types. If Mayu's story was true there should have been at least one story about how there used to be those mythical dragons whose blood could be used to restore life to even the most desolate and barren of lands. There had not been such stories so far as Akeya knew, so she wasn't really sure whether she should just believe Mayu's story. The little dragon was talking an awful lot, giving away a lot of rather personal things which Akeya was pretty sure she wouldn't normally have told to just anybody. Either she was being too trusting of the half dragon, which was a naive mistake, or she was lying. Either way, the half dragon kept silent and unresponsive as she instead just kept an eye on Lumina. Once Mayu was finished speaking and asked her to help protect Lumina Akeya shrugged.

"Give me that book to read and I'll help. However I also want to know why this one is so fast to secrete those pheromones. I very much doubt that is normal."

Those pheromones were usually only produced and secreted during the mating season or if otherwise aroused, possibly by being in the presence of your chosen mate. However while it was a fact that Akeya was beautiful (so far as she was concerned. It was also why people who called her beautiful weren't flatterers. Stating the obvious doesn't count as flattery) she found it unlikely that would be enough to make Lumina already treat her like a chosen mate, unless there was something else involved. Maybe the girl had been searching for a mate for a while, and her body had immediately just targeted the first dragonkin she met who wasn't her sister.

Mayu huffed as the girl again called her a hatchling, she was quite annoyed by the insult but decided not to bother correcting the shadow scale again. Mayu sniffed the air again to check the Pheromones, more percise how dense they where.

*Still dense...*

Mayu cast a glance at the shadowscale and thought about the question she posed. Lumina was an adult human, but only a hatchling in terms of a dragon. Lumina shifted causing Mayu to have to move over to the other dragon's lap, letting out a annoyed huff that Lumina had turned in such a way she could not sit in her lap. Mayu huffed once more and curled up in the shadow-scales lap.

"I think its because she is stuck inbetween her change, Shes a adult as a human and a hatchling as a dragon... so i think her body is acting on the older half... and i would imagine that it has something to do with the fact she has never met another dragon. Now if you don't mind I'm going to take a nap."

Mayu closed her eyes and huffed one more time, this time a small could of green spores, these spores would neutralize the pharamones that where in the air. Unless the shadow scale or Lumina woke her Mayu would stay asleep until they arrived at the station that they had to get off at. But it was at this point the Lumina woke up, mainly do to some kid kicking the back of her chair.

"OW! what the hell."

Lumina nearly lept over the seat as she went to accost the kid whom kick the back of her chair. a boy about 10 years old shrank at the sight of a very cranky lady he had just rudely woke up. She just glared at him and after a minute or so she sunk back down into her seat. She looked over to see Mayu sitting in the shadow-scales lap and blinked.

"what? how? but..." 

Lumina would never admit it but she was a bit annoyed that Mayu would sit in another persons lap. She proceeded to huff in a manner very similar to her sister, she looked at the dragoness and raised a eyebrow.

"so what is your name... i don't really want to keep calling you shadow scale." Lumina leaned out into the isle, pushing the dragonesses wing aside. She was hungry and was looking for a food cart or something, she caught sight of a lady pushing a cart loaded down with food about two seats away, she smiled and got up out of her seat. She obtained some food and came back, sitting down she popped open the salad she had gotten and dug in. Once she was done she turned back to the shadow dragon.

"So did you two enjoy your guys talk?"

The fact that Mayu was obviously annoyed at how Akeya was talking to her didn't bother the shadow dragoness. As she had told the small dragon already, she would treat a dragon who acted like a hatchling as a hatchling. If Mayu wanted to be treated as something a bit more mature she would first have to give the half dragon a reason to view her as something more mature. Granted, the way that Mayu had been talking already indicated that she was a lot more intelligent than a hatchling, but there was a lot more to maturity than having a large vocabulary and being able to understand and speak about a broad range of subjects. An important part was also behaviour. It would take a while of behaving like an adult before Akeya would change her opinion of the little dragon.

Meanwhile just like Mayu she noted how the pheromones were still thick in the air. It seemed like falling asleep didn't hinder Lumina in the slightest when it came to expressing her desire. It really was fortunate that Akeya was the only one who could smell this (well, and Mayu, but as Lumina's sister it was likely that she wasn't really affected by the sex pheromones). Unlike the humans, who would quickly begin to lose control as the pheromones affected their mood if they could smell the stuff normally, Akeya had enough mental and physical discipline that as long as the pheromones stayed purely biological with no magic involved, and she didn't want to be aroused, she could suppress the effects into a state of nigh non-existence. Still, she hoped that Lumina would wake soon and stop emitting the pheromones. The half dragon could keep herself under control, but that didn't mean she liked sitting here supporting this girl who was basically screaming with her entire body 'I want you'. When Mayu tried to explain why Lumina was releasing those pheromones so eagerly Akeya frowned, trying to see if that explanation was one that she could agree with. It wasn't that bad an assumption. As a dragon Lumina was just a hatchling, a whelp. As such meeting another dragon, one who wasn't hostile, would make her quite enthusiastic after only having humanoids to deal with. However at the same time she was an adult as a human, which caused her enthusiasm to become a different kind of enthusiasm. It wasn't the best reasoning, but it was the best she could think of right now (other than Lumina just being very horny and Akeya being very alluring). She glared at Mayu as the little dragon climbed onto her lap, but left her alone. They were still busy travelling with the train anyway, so the two sisters might as well sleep and conserve their energy. As for herself Akeya studied her surroundings, looking at the landscapes that rapidly passed them by as the train moved towards their destination. Normally when riding a train she would feel utterly awful, a result of being a Dragon Slayer. The fact that Lumina had created a fruit which got rid of that illness, even if it was temporary, was intriguing. And useful. She wondered what else Lumina could create if given adequate motivation and explanation.

The half dragon didn't react much when Lumina was finally woken up by a restless kid sitting behind her, just taking on a more comfortable position now that the Rose Dragon no longer required her as a support. It looked like Lumina didn't like being woken up so rudely. Granted, neither did Akeya. She was lucky that behind her there was the mother, who was far too mature to do something like kick the seat in front of her. The shadow dragoness watched Lumina from the corner of her eye, when Lumina noticed that Mayu was sleeping on Akeya's lap shrugging.

"You moved in your sleep."

At least Mayu had done her the favour of nullifying the pheromones before going to sleep. Being able to resist the effects didn't mean that having those things just float around constantly trying to draw her attention wasn't annoying. She didn't answer the Rose Dragon until that one had already escaped from her seat, getting herself some food before returning and asking her another question. Why would a dragon ever willingly eat a salad? That was one of the strangest things Akeya had ever heard of. Dragons were supposed to be omnivorous but primarily predators by nature. A dragon who instead just wanted to eat plants was... Well, it was just rather weird. However no reason to make a fuss about it. Instead Akeya just nodded and began answering Lumina's two questions.

"I am Akeya Kuusai. As for our conversation, it did give me some more insight in your backstory, although it also gave rise to even more questions to which I am not sure I will find an answer in the foreseeable future. Although your sister apparently does not like the fact that she will have to act like a true adult before I will treat her as one."

Whether Lumina got offended at Akeya's treatment of Mayu also wasn't too important. Lumina was proving herself to be interesting, but so far Akeya was more inclined towards observing than actively getting closer to her. They were both going on this job, so even if Lumina disliked her Akeya should be able to see more of her and her abilities, which would tell her more about the Rose Dragons and their legacy. The shadow dragoness looked out of the window.

"How much longer will the effects of the fruit last? I do believe we still have some distance to go before we reach our destination."

Akeya was still feeling a lot better than she normally would have while using a vehicle for transport, but she got the feeling that the fruit's effects were slowly weakening. At this rate it wouldn't take long before her motion sickness would return at full strength. Akeya was willing to ask Lumina to create another fruit if necessary to prevent that. Akeya had her pride, and very strongly as well, but pride was second to not having to deal with that extremely nasty experience of using a vehicle without some kind of spell or other technique to nullify the negative side effects.

Lumina didn't really know what else to ask or say when the dragoness said her name. Lumina took in a deep breath and held out her hand, a gesture she had seen humans do in the past.

"Lumina Rubyscale, I am a member of Lamia Scale... well kinda."

Lumina had simply joined the first guild that had asked her to join when Eclipse Soul went under. She really didn't feel like she did much for Lamia Scale, most of them were wise and full of grand ideas and goal. Lumina didn't really feel like she fit in as most of her goals were simply yet unaccoplisable for the most part. She also could not help but feel kinda dumb around them, Mayu had told her many times that it was far from true but that never rid her of the feeling. Lumina frowned at the thought's, she didn't have a home... that had been lost over 200 years ago. Lumina sighed heavily and turned to Akeya as she asked about the fruit.

"Oh? uh... it should last almost the entirety of the trip... if it does not then i can make more i suppose but if i give them to you to much they could stop working."

Lumina yawned and looked around the cabin again, she was hungry again... not suprising honestly, Lumina was a walking stomach. She looked back and forth for the lady who had the food last time but didn't catch sight of them. Lumina frowned again and started digging through her pockets, the rustle of something could be heard, after a bit she pull out a few seeds and set them in her lap. She held her hands over them and fed them magic, the seeds rapidly sproted form seed to full blown plant in the matter of a few seconds, producing plump red tomatos. Lumina smiled and pulled the tomato's off the vine and set them aside... and then proceeded to eat the plant itself. Lumina didn't really have anything more to say, and would remain silent... well save the sounds of her eating, until the arrived at their stop.

Akeya wondered why Lumina would imitate the movements and mannerisms of humans when she held out her hand. She didn't think that the Rose Dragon would be that well versed in the behaviour of humans. Then again, humans were quick to try and 'correct' others to behave in a way that they saw as polite, so maybe Lumina had just greeted a human once and then had to suffer through them explaining to her that she was being rude and that she should act more like a human. Well, it wasn't that important. The half dragon nodded and took Lumina's hand, not shaking it but instead holding it firmly for several seconds before letting go again.

"Kinda?"

It wasn't like Akeya didn't understand what Lumina meant by that. It was more that she was curious what reason the Rose Dragon would have to consider herself not completely part of Lamia Scale. Honestly Akeya didn't see herself as a part of Blue Pegasus either. She had been with the guild for quite a respectable amount of time by now (if you counted in human years), and done a lot for the guild and received a lot of benefits for it. Yet she didn't feel as if she was a mage from Blue Pegasus. Rather she was a person who happened to be doing jobs as a Blue Pegasus guild member. She didn't feel any sense of camaraderie, she didn't feel loyal, there was no sense of duty for her towards the legal guild which she had decided to join. She was a mage of Blue Pegasus purely out of convenience, a place where she could safely live and train and learn more about the world without having to fear running into an enemy too powerful for her to survive, and without having to worry about avoiding the Magic Council. Akeya was pretty sure that if she hadn't joined a legal guild as soon as she left her mountain village she would have been forced to stay low nearly permanently, as she wasn't exactly in a position where the Magic Council could afford to overlook her if she wasn't working for them. A half dragon with no respect for the value of human lives, who also happened to be an extremely focused and proficient assassin. Joining Blue Pegasus had practically counted as self-preservation for Akeya.

In the back of her mind she wondered if it was the same for Lumina, well, not entirely, since Lumina didn't give the impression of being a killer who absolutely didn't care about the lives of humans. However she was similar to Akeya in that she wasn't entirely human. Could this Rose Dragon get along well enough with the humans that her abnormality didn't get in her way, or did she share Akeya's sentiment that joining a guild of human mages is more done to have a safe place to stay than because she actually wanted to belong, or could belong? Akeya had wilfully chosen for the path where she would care less and less for humans, and it would without a doubt end at a point where she saw humans as nothing more as ants. If Lumina was different from her by being given a different path, was she once again similar enough to humans to be able to mingle with them and feel at home? Akeya wasn't going to ask, but it was actually a pretty interesting question, seeing how the answer could tell a lot about humans and other intelligent beings.

This all went through Akeya's head at the speed of thought, the half dragon showing no sign of her curiosity on the outside. Well, she did show curiosity in that she was focused on Lumina, her gaze like an actual weight pushing against the Rose Dragon, but beyond that the shadow dragonness did not do anything besides asking what Lumina meant with 'kinda'. When Lumina claimed that the fruit should keep Akeya from feeling motion sickness until they reached their destination Akeya nodded. She hoped that the Rose Dragon was speaking truthfully. It was good to know that Lumina could make more if absolutely necessary, but it was better if Akeya could just stop worrying about it for the rest of the trip. Instead she watched Lumina as the fellow draconic female went on a quest to gather more food. It seemed she was unfortunate, as the lady with the food had already left, but once again the Rose Dragon demonstrated her ability by making some seeds grow into mature tomato plants, at which point she began to eat the plant. Seeing that left Akeya with two questions, although she wasn't going to utter either one out loud.

The first question was whether it actually was of any use to make a plant grow with your own magic, only to then eat it. Magic was fuelled by your own energy, and one of the primary functions of eating food was to draw enough energy from it that your body could keep functioning. If you fed the plant the energy it needed to grow and become stronger, not to mention the materials as well, eating it should only return to you what you had sacrificed in the first place, with as only real gain being what little had been in the seed at the beginning. The only reason Akeya could think of for eating a plant you grew yourself with your own magic was if you wanted the experience of eating more than the actual benefits. Which meant that her partner for this mission was a glutton. Not the worst thing, but Akeya hoped that Lumina's desire to eat wouldn't become problematic down the line.

The other question was why Lumina didn't eat the tomato. The half dragon nearly grimaced at the idea of eating plants these days. Her diet had become more carnivorous very quickly as she abandoned her humanity and turned into a dragonkin, and she found it curious that Rose Dragons deviated from the carnivorous nature of dragons like that. But even so, a tomato was just another part of the plant. Why would she specifically avoid the part of the plant which was meant to be eaten? An act of protest? The half dragon couldn't make a lot out of it. Well, it wasn't exactly her problem. Lumina could eat what she wanted.

Akeya didn't have much to say for the rest of the journey either, so she remained passive and doing very little but keeping an eye on their surroundings and pondering practical matters (how could Lumina's abilities be best used, what was Lumina's limit in terms of what she could grow, how much of it she could grow, and how large, what they were supposed to do once they reached the Sky Tower, stuff like that). She only started moving once the effects of the fruit began wearing off, at which point she grimaced and looked out of the window to see if the trip would last much longer. Fortunately it did not, and it wasn't too long after Akeya began to feel queasy that the three of them could already get out of the train, which the half dragon promptly did (handing Mayu back to Lumina if the little dragon was still sleeping on Akeya's lap). Once out of the train Akeya looked around, inspecting her surroundings and wondering which direction they were supposed to be going now. The note had managed to make the half dragon curious, and she had to admit that she didn't regret meeting the Rose Dragon and her...sister (Akeya was still somewhat doubtful about Mayu's proclamation of not being a hatchling). Which meant that the rest of the message could also be true.