It's been a while since the lat story I wrote. I wanted to continue thestory of Flare and Nyepu, so here it goes... they finally reach to city 45! ^^ hope you like it :D

the other chapters:
Lost traveler 1: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/21138550/
Lost traveler 2: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/21157647/
Lost traveler 3: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/21232130/
Lost traveler 4: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/21307276/
Lost traveler 6: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/42074410/

corrections will be done eventually, if you spot something, tell me :)

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At the left, infinite seas, extending far away to realms of wonder and madness, the night in the horizon painting its mirror surface a dark purple.

At the right, the hiding sun, the ending of the Techno Goddess’ supremacy and the beginning of the Arcane God’s. The last rays of sun painting white, orange and red the horizon.

And in front of them, their destination: a seaside cliff over which tall figures loomed, only standing out from the darkening horizon thanks to the many lights in their windows and the ones coming from the many places down below the huge towers. “So this is city 45”, had thought the young Princess Flare DeFleur, as their makeshift biological transport kept closing distance to it.

It doesn’t take long before she notices the coastal defenses…

Huge stationary cannons were set on metallic platforms built on the cliff and what looked like water monstrosities were patrolling the shoreline in the company of what she immediately identified as other magic users like herself, some of them showing off their powers by flying above their magical servants; others were “boldly” riding them, and others were accompanying their creatures by driving small motorboats close to them.

Flare could felt the gazes of some of them, after all, they could feel her presence the same way she felt theirs.

-This place seems way more protected than any city I’ve ever been…- mutters Flare to herself.

-That’s because it is- comments the beautiful but manly voice of Nyepu, startling her a little. When she faces him, he was already packing away his cellphone.

-How was the call…? - asks her with a little smile- …it… wasn’t as bad as it sounded? – the dragon just snorts in annoyance.

After defeating the water abomination some time ago, the remaining of their trek was silent and uneventful. The felixin mage, whose name the little princess never asked (she just put “mysterious cat” in the name space), spent most of his time taking a nap. The other passengers kept to themselves, busying themselves with their phones or sleeping a little. And, after telling Nyepu about her situation, the dragon decided that they should probably talk in more detail in a more private place. By the time they started to see the city, the dragon took out his own phone and called someone… and a very heated conversation started, judging by the angry expression in the draconic researcher’s face and his violent gestures; although, in an intelligible combinations of sounds that she’d never heard before but was pretty sure was supposed to be a language… The rest of the survivors showed some interest at first, and even asked Flare if she understood the alien gibberish Nyepu was saying… but she was as clueless as everyone else and, except for the felixin, who recorded a good part of the conversation, everyone else lost interest pretty soon… even
Flare… until now…

-Well, let’s just say that I’m in big trouble thanks to you… so you too are in big trouble…- he says, annoyance very clear in his voice – …that and we are getting someone to pick us up in the train station-

Before Flare could ask anything else, a booming voice caught everyone’s attention. It was informing them that they were going to be taking a test to determine if they were possessed or were daemons in disguise by personal of the local police forces as soon as they reach the train station, and they better obey without question. The voice came from a slim dark vehicle that was flying above them with thrusters, its lights cast upon the passengers, blinding some of them, before it flew away as silently as it came.

The passengers spent the rest of the trip to the train station in silence, since they were about to get there soon, anyway… Flare only had time to watch a little of the city and was awestruck by it. She saw how the railway they were on was built in the middle of a canyon that ended up in the sea and went way into inland, basically splitting the city in half. She saw the myriads of bright adds in the walls of the canyon, offering services, naming businesses and stating slogans. She saw how said walls had been carved in many places to form fenced balconies, small plazas and passages.

Flare saw a lot more things in this city, and while she came from a busy city herself, this one felt to be in a different level. By the time they finally got to the station, her mind was still reeling with the many catwalks in the cliffs, stairs, the flows of people going everywhere, more stairs, and the transports swarming the bridges and airspace she’d seen so far… and let’s not get started on the noise and the lights…

Once in the train station, a white place built in such a way that it was suspended between the canyon’s walls and seemed to be bigger inside, the passengers were escorted by a bunch of officers, some lapin, humans and homunculi (the goat-people) wearing green uniforms, to a reclusive office inside the way-too-well-lit station. There, they were met by a pair of male estirges carrying with their mechanical arms instruments that Flare had seen a lot of times in the past: Aurometers.

No one out of the reduced circle of people directly involved in the production and maintenance of those things new exactly how they worked, but they were capable of detecting and measuring the intensity of magical aura in a given space… in this case, the space was the close surroundings of the survivors… and when they were put into two lines to be measured, a lapin officer noticed that something was off…

-Wait a second… - said the rabbit-looking officer, narrowing his big dark eyes- There is one more of you than we were reported…- bearing his fangs in annoyance, he ordered the passengers to form a line to inspect them all… that’s when Flare decided that it didn’t make sense to remain silent.

-I am the one you are looking for, sir- says her immediately, flying to the rabbit’s face- I wasn’t in the original list of passengers- she wasn’t sure if there was an actual list, she’d always traveled in the private train of her family, after all, but she still declared this as apologetically as possible.

-Oh yeah! I almost forgot that!- suddenly says Nyepu, floating to them, and catching the little princess and the pint sized officer off guard- Excuse me, officer, but this girl is my assistant and, you see, she is a powerful magician, so she used her magic to boost her flying speed to catch up with me as soon as possible while I was in the train… she met with us after our wagon was sacrificed…- “Wow… he sounds so natural…”, thinks Flare after hearing how casually he was lying, “who would say that Nyepu was a good enough liar”.

-Why hadn’t she waited for another train instead of doing something so stupid?- says the officer, crossing his little arms in a very skeptical pose with a way more skeptical face.

-Because she is a very reckless girl, aren’t you, dear?- asks him to her with a toothy smile that clearly tells her “Don’t fuck this up”. “Har har, so funny of you…” thinks her, managing to keep herself from smiling at the dragon’s description of her. She is a princess after all, and while she’s very honest and frank most of the time, as someone who have to live in the world of politics, the ability to read a situation and “convincingly play along” was a required must that her mother drilled on her with a lot of effort…

-I kind of am- says her in an impeccable display of false embarrassment, and with an apologetic look she says- you see, I was so worried about what could happen if the boss didn’t receive this part of his device that I decided to take it to him and, well, instead of waiting for the train I was like “he hadn’t left too long ago so maybe I can catch up with the train with my magic and ask him to open a window or something…”- and then, avoiding the eyes of the police-rabbit, as a very shameful person would ordinarily do, she added- by the time I thought of all the things that were wrong with that idea I had already catch up with them-

-Wow… you must be really stupid if it took you that long to figure that out…- begins to say the officer, still looking skeptical, when Nyepu interrupts him.

-I won’t allow you to say that- says him in a slightly offended tone- I’ll have you know, sir, that my assistant is a very capable lady, her problem is that she sometimes gets a little too caught up in doing something one way that it takes her a while to consider other options… that and her magic gives her a very good boost, so she really got to us very fast…-

-Well, she certainly is the queen of making bad ideas work in the end- says suddenly the mysterious felixin from before- When she saw our predicament, you know, the sea daemons coming towards us, she went and fought them off all by herself… it was stupid and inspiring at the same time-

-That’s true!- says the giant lapin that had been with them, smiling proudly- man, had you’d seen her in action, you’d fell in love with her! This girl might be reckless but is damn good at magical combat! – his passion apparently motivated the others to says similar things… some even took out their cellphones to show to the law enforcers what little they could record of her during her daring rescue mission.

Seeing how genuinely excited and impressed were the passengers and the officers with the descriptions of her heroics and what little the limited video records could provide to back them up, the young avian princess was feeling very abashed…

-What is this? Are you getting redder under your feathers?- asks the dragon with a sly smile. She couldn’t help but laugh at his comment and said:

-Well… yeah, I am… I… certainly wasn’t expecting this much excitement from them, at all…- she landed on the dragon’s shoulder and covered her face with her wings- I’m so happy but also so abashed!- Nyepu only laugh a little before saying:

-Well, while they couldn’t see all of what you did, they still saw you doing something really stupid and actually succeeding in making it work in the end…-

-Pri! It was not stupid! I knew what I was doing the whole time- claimed her, her chest swelling with pride.

-Yeah… I guess you almost drowning back there was also part of your plan…- said him playfully.
Before she could retort anything, though, the officers ordered them to form the two lines again, stating that they were accepting their still difficult to believe explanation of why was Flare here in account of her heroism, but she was still taking the test as everyone else, especially since she’d been the one most exposed to daemons today.

The test was actually really simple, the male estirges carrying the devices only needed to get close to the person to be inspected and measure his or her magical aura. Non-magical people like Nyepu had an aura of low intensity which oscillated inside a range that was always below the intensity of daemons’ magical auras… magical people like Flare, on the other hand, had to prove that they were capable of altering the intensity of their aura since, for whatever reason, daemons seem to be unable to do that. So, if someone supposedly non-magical had a too high intensity of aura, or someone magical couldn’t alter the intensity of his or her aura, then they sure were possessed or were daemons trying to pretend that they were the real deal…

Each one of the passengers passed the test without any big surprise and, after the estirge and the lapin officers try and failed to subtly ogle the young princess, Flare and Nyepu said their goodbyes and crossed the hot sea of people going all over the place to get to the western entrance of the station, bombarded by the noise of many boarding calls, varied announcements, conversation and the sounds of the departure or arrival of one of the trains on one of the four lines that converged at this station. As they made their way, many gave curious or weird looks to the half-naked dragon and the little princess; they were also pretty sure that someone actually called them “sexy pair” along the way but they didn’t stop to check it out…

-Sooo… who are we waiting for? - asks Flare after a while of silent contemplation of the beautiful and strange fountain in the center of the underground plaza they were currently in… yes, they were underground, in a plaza carved out of the land itself, sitting, him on a bench, her on his shoulder. They’ve been waiting there for some minutes already.

- A colleague of mine… - says him vaguely, staring at the same fountain… or more accurately, the water it was spraying into its pool. She clearly notices how he forces himself to look at her with his big reptilian eyes – His name is Giorgio, a homunculus with the annoying habit of getting on my nerves…- his face now shows neutrality, but his words had some disgust in them – he must be arriving soon- “Hmmm… he really seems to dislike the guy” thinks Flare. Since her companion didn’t seem interests in saying anything himself, she decides to ask everything she had in her mind.

- I see… and where is he going to take us? – asks the little avian. At this, the dragon seemed a little more distracted of his negative feelings from earlier.


“Fricking water…” he had been thinking before Flare talked to him. He had been thinking in how strangely empty he was feeling by being in dry land after having been for so long at the sea. “Is that damn ‘Called of the Seas’ nonsense”, he had thought, trying to force himself to just get over it, just as he’s done before for the most part of his life… but this time, that hollowness had come with way more strength than expected… And having a water fountain pouring water into its pool in front of him was not helping matters… Thankfully, his avian companion was distracting him with a conversation now. “The little troublemaker…”.

- Well …- he began, now more focused in answering her than in his corroding emptiness. He was about to go along with the plan of his colleague when he stopped to look at her and saw with surprise how was she looking at him with her sky-blue eyes: she trusted him, her eyes had an innocence that was telling him that she was going to believe whatever he’d say… “The effects of her drinking my blood might still be on effect…” thinks him, and then considers that he probably was still under her “unconscious” blood magic, because he was entertaining the idea of actually ignoring the original plan so he could keep her around longer, “That I’m still feeling quite hollow might have something to do with it as well”, he thinks bitterly.

-Well? – she prompts. The dragon gulps some saliva… his day had been a horrible mess… and it could only get way worse if he goes and brings her with him to his workplace… but… if he does that, he can save money in unnecessary lodging, breakfast and taxis… not to mention that, by having her with him, he can present her to his superiors… and if the guys are clever enough, they’ll see in Flare an opportunity instead of a problem… “All I have to do is break the rules… well… fuck it… let’s go for it…”.

-We are going to go to the outskirts of the city… we have a little research facility there with very good lodging…- he says, “yep, screw the rules, I’m a genius…” thinks for himself, his hollowness forgotten. The plan his assholish colleague had cooked with him by cellphone had implied that the homunculus would not take her to their research center; so the dragon had to invent a story so his colleague could just dump them in a random motel or something before Nyepu could get the money and get rid of her… But Nyepu had concluded that bringing her along would be more beneficial… and, well, he still wanted to help her in her crazy mission of defeating her evil clone, so they should stick together… “We should talk a little more about this mission of hers later, though”, he thinks.

-Wah! I’ve never been in a research center! – says her excitedly, her sky blue talking gem shining with more intensity than usual. -And what are you doing there? – her eyes are suddenly filled with realization and her excitement fell as she asks -Ahm… was… was the thing I destroy part of whatever you were working there? – He only laughs lightly at her reaction, “at least she seems really ashamed for it…”, thinks Nyepu.

-It was… and it was really expensive, but don’t worry… I can build another one… with the right components, that is- says him with a small smile and the little princess’ expression lights up.
That’s when the dragon’s eyes catch a familiar homunculus wearing a magenta track suit walking towards them, crossing the pleasant plaza they were in with long strides. When his strange ovine eyes finally land on them, Nyepu was very sure that the annoying guy blushed before doing his best to look slightly pissed off. “Yeah… I forgot this bastard has the hots for me or something”, thought him in disgust, releasing a heavy sigh… “What and awkward moment to be half naked”.

-Nyepu!- exclaimed the white goat guy with grey wool, sounding as reprehensible as possible, but failing, while finally getting closer to them – what was all that crap about you losing the control core?! A-and put something on, geez… have some d-decency – he muttered the last part after forcing himself to look at the dragon in the eye, traying too hard to keep his annoyed expression while fighting a smile and blushing furiously… “Man, you are more transparent than a crystal window…”, thought Nyepu slightly amused.

-Hi, Giorgio- he forced himself to answer as neutrally as possible- I already told you what happened earlier, nothing else to add to it… by the way, this is Flare DeFleur, the girl I also mentioned- says him, motioning to the little avian in his shoulder.

-Good evening, Mr. Giorgio! Is a pleasure to meet you! - greets her enthusiastically. “Believe me girl, it is not…”.

-I agree, it is a pleasure to meet me- answers the male lamb in a cold tone… the very same one he uses with people he doesn’t like; Nyepu had heard him talk like that to way too many people…- So you are the problematic girl that put my colleague here in so much trouble…- he says, crossing his arms. Flare falters at this, but Nyepu intervenes.
-She’s the girl that had accidentally destroy the device, yeah, but that’s not a big deal… she says she will pay for it and, with the help of my notes, I can have a new control core in less than a month…- says the dragon- Also, she saved as all of that mess of a train trip from this morning- adds him. At this, Flare gives him a look, which he quickly returns, hoping that that is enough for her to understand that he had kept in secret the negative details of her involvement in the whole incident. “She had picked up very quickly on my ruse with the officers after all…” thinks the dragon.

-Yeah… I remember that- answers Giorgio, still with his arms crossed and giving the young princess a disapproving look- Anyway, come with me- says him, beginning to walk away- let’s take you two to a place to stay for the night… we have a lot of work tomorrow- the dragon and the estirge followed him, flying.

-Actually, I think you better take us to the research center…- says Nyepu.

-Excuse me? I don’t think we have rooms there, don’t be silly- answers Giorgio a little too fast without looking back, although he had winced a little at the mention of their workplace and started to walk faster.

-You and me know that that is not true…- retorts Nyepu matter-of-factly. - Now let’s go there now, I don’t feel like taking up a taxi tomorrow when I can be there already… that and I also need to put something on… is getting colder…- For a dragon, the night was not exactly the best part of the day, being cold blooded and all that. Giorgio stops and gives the dragon an incredulous look…


Flare was not sure of what was going on at all.
This goat-guy was very weird, not only was he getting flustered just by looking at Nyepu, he also seems to be disgusted with her for no apparent reason, and now he is acting weirdly about the research center. Didn’t Nyepu told her that they lodging there? Why was he lying about it now?

-Ok… man, I can stand you being a little careless… I can even stand you having some affair with this bird! But you are just pushing it now… you know the rules… so what the hell?!- “And now he looks really pissed off! … Wait… affair with me?!”, thinks her, her beak hanging open out of shock “What’s the deal with this guy?! Is he his boyfriend or something?!”.

-I already told you that I really don’t want to waste time with a taxi tomorrow and paying for a hotel when we have a place is kind of pointless, don’t you think? Also, I have a plan, ok? … and, I had no affair with her! And even if I would it be none of your business, anyway– answers the dragon, sounding eerily calmed. Giorgio was redder than her feathers by now, looking embarrassed and furious at the same time; but, instead of doing something regrettable, he takes a deep breath.

-Listen, asshole, rules are not there to be step over… and you already are in trouble as it is… do you really want more? – Says Giorgio, massaging his temples, and wisely ignoring the last part of the dragon’s answer.

-I already told you that I have a plan… now let’s get going- says Nyepu, his eyes clearly saying that he’s not going to accept any other argument. Giorgio just sighs heavily in defeat and keeps walking while muttering something about Nyepu being a “stupid sexy asshole”. “Well… that explains a lot”, deadpans Flare in her mind, flying at her dragon friend’s side, remembering that the dragon had better hearing than her so he must have heard everything that the apparently gay goat was saying… judging by his annoyed but resigned expression, he was and was also used to it… the young princess couldn’t help but laugh a little in bemusement at this.

Giorgio took them to a parking lot where they boarded his car, a green, slim and seemingly expensive model that levitated, before they finally started their journey to the research center… the dragon had to coil himself in the back seat since he was too big for the front one, so Flare had to go there instead, much to the driver’s and her mutual annoyance… specially since the security belt was too big for her…

They spent most of the trip to the outskirts in silence, so she had more time now to better see the city. As in any other city, evenings were also bustling with activity. Since mages were at their peak power at night, most of them prefer that time to do their things than daytime; she herself was like that after all, and so, many magicians were moving around the city, be it flying, levitating of mounting their servant daemon… of course, there were standard sizes for daemons to be allowed into the streets since there were still lots of people who used technological vehicles.
The night was full of magical auras, the businesses were still open and attending, the many ads were bright and numerous, and many noises filled the air. She could hear varied music tunes, people discussing, haggling and, sometimes, could even hear sirens and others noises.

It was when they were crossing one of the bridges that crossed the canyon in their way to get to the surface that they all saw a big screen over a building where an anchorwoman, a well-dressed human, was announcing the news… and was informing about the incident in the train track that connected City 45 with City 79. Some videos were shown where one could watch how Nyepu and the passengers built the hover bio-vehicle on which they manage to get to the city; are others, when Flare flew into the horizon, using her magic to attract the daemons; the appearance of the monstrous water demigod; the ultra-flashy explosion with which she defeated it; and a short video of the two of them flying back to the survivors after winning. By the time the screen showed how a little and very bright fairy was interviewing some of the passengers, they were moving and almost done crossing the bridge. Flare was very proud, but the many things that weren’t said (like her being the one who cause the whole problem in the first place) make her feel a pang of guilt. Giorgio seemed enthralled by the shots of Nyepu and, at the end, blushing furiously again, felt obligated to congratulate the dragon and the estirge for their heroism… he also commented on how Nyepu had actually gone and done something heroic for a change with a smug face… the alluded dragon, who was now blushing in embarrassment, didn’t answer anything back for some reason… but that’s when she remembered how adamant the dragon had been at first to help… “Nyepu wasn’t exactly a hero when I met him… and… and he only helped because he was influenced by my probable blood magic…”, that thought saddened her and she made her best to hide it. The news could have been completely different had she never had drunk the dragon’s blood…

The moon was high in the dark sky and in company of many stars, it was a cool night. Flare’s power was close to its peak and she could already feel the many formless spirits that filled the air going everywhere: summoned by the magic users to fuel their spells, creating spaces where powerful daemons could manifest and generally just being carried where the most powerful magic sources were. This were the aetherical flows, and magicians usually used them to search for overpowered mages, magical artifacts, dangerous cults and hiding daemons; but only really powerful and experiences magic users could feel these during daytime… Right now, though, she could feel them with clarity and by the time they were in the outskirts of the coastal city, where the buildings were smaller and more improvised looking, and people look shiftier and more dangerous, she could sense that their path coincided with one of this flows, but she dismissed it as a coincidence…

By the time they finally abandoned the city (after passing by many defensive turrets and a control post where they had to be bio-scanned for identification by a very bored human officer) into a vast dessert and began to get close to what looked like a distant outpost, Flare was fairly sure that not just one, but many aetherical flows were converging somewhere close to the outpost they were going to… it was just too much of a coincidence to not to ask about it. When she commented on her observations, both males remain silent for a moment. Giorgio looked resigned and just laugh bitterly while Nyepu explained that indeed, they were going to that outpost, which actually was the research center they mentioned before, and the aetheric flows were converging in some sunken ruins they found in the river at the bottom of the canyon, at which edge was the research center. She was not given the chance to ask if there was a connection between their research and the ruins, since the draconian researcher explain it anyway:

Their work there was about “reviving” an ancient weapon of the legendary Empire of Leviathan (the empire of the Sea Dragons), apparently, the sunken ruins had a sort of “factory” or, more appropriately, “hatchery and surgical facility”, where these things were born, grown and prepared to turned into living weapons…

-That… sounds cool… and kind of cruel…- had commented the young princess on the topic. She knew, as everyone else, that part of the technology of the civilized world was literally alive, as in it was made of living non-sentient beings which apparently were design by someone to fill particular purposes… that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t a lot of people who cringe or were outright disgusted by these bio-tech for obvious reasons, but since it was useful, very few people complained… most of said bio-tech came from the Sea Dragons (like Nyepu) and the Myquita (the race of sentient fungus), so they were the most used to these technologies.

Flare now understood the secrecy… they were bringing back ancient technology, which in on itself was pretty awesome, but it was bio-tech which was considered to be… a little unpredictable… so people usually gets very nervous with ease around “new bio-tech advancements” and, more often than not, tend to shut down any operation at the first sign of weirdness… similar stuff happened with magical research since the weirdness usually was way more difficult to control, so she understood the whole situation here. She’d seen some weird stuff in her school days… and had met some people that is no longer around the living for causing it…

When they finally got to the outpost, they were greeted by felixin guards who bio-scanned them again and, after Nyepu told them that Flare was with them, were allowed to enter into the facility. She could see and feel a good deal of felixin and human mages patrolling the perimeter of the outpost, which was composed of various prefab buildings of metal, plastic and the strange organic tissue with imbibed crystals that some buildings were made of. They went to a parking lot and then, silently, were guided by Giorgio to one of the buildings… people was eyeing her with curiosity and she noticed a lot of dragons in the place, most of them seem to be scientific personal, wearing white bio-suits similar in appearance to the one Nyepu had worn when they met.

-Well, here we are… - said the homunculus at the entrance of the well-lit place - so, what will you do? As you know, all the rooms are occupied, so where is your little friend going to stay- asks innocently the goat guy – I can lend her my room and we can stay together this night- said him, getting very red again while traying to keep a straight face, much to the amusement of Flare and Nyepu… “Wow… this guy is so transparent”, thinks the avian girl, giggling lightly in spite of herself.

-I don’t think so…- answers the dragon dryly- actually, I think she can sleep with me… she doesn’t needs too much space… of course, if there is no problem for you- he adds the last part while looking at her, giving her a sly smile. The girl smiles back and gives a sidelong look to the goat guy who was looking at her intently as if saying, “say no!”. She made then a show of thinking it for a while and then said:

-I agree, I prefer to share Nyepu’s space; after all, I wouldn’t even dream on imposing on you, Mr. Giorgio- says her with a pleasant smile to the disappointed homunculus. The guy tried to stammer something, but the dragon beat him:

-Well, that settles it then, we are going there so I can show her where to sleep and to get some biomass for my bio-suit… go tell the admin that I’m back so we can get done with businesses for today- said him and began to move towards an elevator that was at the right of the entrance to deny any chance of argumentation. Slumping in defeat,
Giorgio sighed and left saying that he was going to do that.

Once on the lever, Flare and Nyepu share a laugh at the expense of the very obviously gay homunculus.
-Wow… I wasn’t expecting him to be like that… does that guy harasses you all the time like that? - asked Flare after having been laughing for a while.

-Today he’d been a lot more blatant than usual… but yeah… one day, he started to act different towards me for reasons I can’t even begin to fathom… it took me a while to understand what was going on…- said him, getting a little more serious- I told him, repeatedly, that I’m not gay and I’m not interested in him… but that hadn’t stopped him…- now he was looking a little annoyed- It had been very stressing, really, but since the guy is still one of the best technobiologists I’ve ever met, I had learnt to just let it slide and focus on working…- he shrugged while saying that.

-Wow, that must suck- said her when they left the elevator and were now flying over a corridor with many doors with very organic-looking panels at the sides. – And, well, I can relate… my mom had been very insistent on me having boyfriends… like, very, very, insistent… and some of my pretenders had been horribly stubborn themselves, prii… and it just got worse when some girls began to try to court me as well after noticing how I kept rejecting the guys… it was maddening!- said her, getting exasperated just by remembering how many times her pretenders had interrupted her training sessions and had basically hunted her all the time… they would even fight each other for the “right” to be with her… although, she had to admit that when that wasn’t utterly embarrassing, it was kind of funny to watch…

-And here I was whining about my problem with him… your case must had been a living hell! - said the dragon sympathetically, touching the panel of a door with the number 307 over it. The door slide open and they entered into a small room (he had to slither to do so since his antigravity generators were too big to enter flying) with a big tank full of water, a desk, a chair and a closet. There was a smaller cylindrical tank at one corner with a strange fluid in it that Flare guessed was the “biomass” the dragon had mentioned before. She noticed how damp was the air inside the place instantly, wish made sense since he is a dragon after all; she was sure it wouldn’t a problem…

-It was indeed! Pri! - said her, resting on the desk, there were many books piled there, as well as a lamp and a personal computer (the computer was actually a very thin sheet that would generate a holographic keyboard and a “touchscreen”). - I had to threat a lot of them with arrest if they didn’t stop!… at least, that diminished the number of nuisances to a more bearable level- said her, exhausted by just remembering all her efforts to try and get away from her pursuers…

-No shit? - asked him with disbelief, while removing the cap of the biomass tank.

-No shit- answered her, solemnly- my mom wasn’t very happy with my solution… and the girls gave me the silent treatment after that- said her, then added smiling- my next pretenders had all told me first how I couldn’t arrest them because they had diplomatic immunity- The dragon laugh at that (it was a beautiful laugh) and she laugh with him with her chiming voice while he submerged his clawed hand inside the strange fluid. Flare saw with awe how the beige-colored biomass began to cover his arm and moved to cover his exposed torso before coalescing into the familiar blue body armor she’d seen on him when they met today… “This had been a very crazy day…” she thought, remembering all the things she’d done today while looking how his armor changed in color from blue to white.

He then took a part of the biomass and, as it were plasticine, molded it to look take the shape of a small pillow… although, for Flare, it was a big pillow…

-Here- he told her, putting the pillow on the desk next to her, she immediately sat there… “This… this so comfy!!”, thought her, snuggling into the pillow - sorry for the simplicity, princess, but is what I have… I can make you something to cover yourself with if you wish, though- offered him, sounding as polite as possible. She accepted the offering and he went back to the biomass tank and created a small sheet, slightly bigger than a handkerchief. - Well, now I have a certain bigwig to face…- said him.

-Would you need my help? - asked her, flying beside him. He stopped at the door for the moment, pondering her question. Then he shrugged and told her to tag along, then…


-…as you heard, the royal couple is quite excited with their upcoming wedding and the current harem of princes are more than eager to have their next brother in love joining them soon…- was saying a rather beautiful female felixin reporter in the holographic screen generated by a personal computer. Looking at said screen with utter disbelief are four individuals:

-I can’t… This is…- sputtered Giorgio, now wearing a protective white suit.

-Well…while this confirms nothing… it certainly makes things… interesting…- says a dark green dragon wearing a red bio-suit, recovering his collected demeanor from before. That guy was the administrator of the whole operation, Nyepu and Giorgio’s boss.

-Damn it, girl… she is…- began to say Nyepu, still gawking at the male-surrounded estirge appearing in the holo-screen.

-She… she is identical to me…- finished Flare, her beak hanging open as her little talker gem broadcasted her words with some little shines in a very low volume.

Flare and Nyepu went together to the Administrators office, the dragon had told her to stay outside until he ask her to come in, though; so, when they got to their destination, the little girl had waited in a small reception at the entrance of the building while Nyepu entered to be verbally beaten by his superior for his incompetence, disregard for the rules and general lack of professionalism… Giorgio had been there, watching impassively how the white dragon face the abuse with stoicism worth of a military man. When he was given a chance to speak, he offered the required apologizes and suggested a solution for their current predicament that wouldn’t involve further investment of the directorate… He then mentioned the situation of Flare: a stranded princess in an unknown land that had somehow appeared here with no memory of how while a mysterious alter ego of her was impersonating her for unknown reasons… the girl was already indebted with him, but helping her could provide a lot more benefits in the long run…
Of course, the admin and the other researcher in the room were very skeptical of the incredible contrive convenience of all of this, so he was asked to prove his words… that’s when he asked the young avian princess to come in and, to prove she was been impersonating, they turned on the admin’s personal computer and look out for news about her… it didn’t take long and the result was the current scene: the four individuals gawking at the incredible similitude between the two birds.

Effectively, the estirge being now interviewed by the felixin reporter in the news feed was ridiculously similar to Flare… although, this other Flare had certain notorious differences with the one at the dragon’s side: she wasn’t wearing a magical armor (she was naked, except for a gorgeous necklace with many gems of different colors imbibed in it); had some sort aura of elegance that the original one lacked; and was surrounded by four males of different races: a estirge with a generic moustache, a young although bearded human, a fairy with really long eyebrows, and, the one that was apparently going to get married with her, a lapin giant… looking at these guys, Nyepu could only focus on one question: “Didn’t Flare told me that she had no harem?”.

Now, while that wouldn’t come as a really important thing to consider most of the time, for a supposedly harem-less avian, the group in the holo-screen seems a little too big… “so, there are three possibilities: this bird had been lying about having no boyfriends (or husbands, as seems to be the case), she has a severe case of amnesia, or the imposter had been very busy…” thought the draconian researcher… if there was something he was sure was that she was not lying; so it just left the possibility of amnesia and the actions of the impostor… the amnesia theory had only one problem: her own goals. If the girl were to be believed, then she just woke up today and, as such, there is just not enough time to change her life goals from having a happy family to becoming a heroine… unless there’s some mind control involved, but then, it could have been easier to the probable mastermind to just directly control Flare instead of having a clone going through the painful job of convincing every person who knew Flare that she was the real deal… That only left the possibility of this harem of males being the result of the impostor’s work… but that theory had another big problem: how long had that taken? Even with the mentioned pressure of Flare’s mother, the impostor still had to act as the real deal… and real deal, supposedly, was adamant to get married… not to mention that royal engagements usually are very carefully planned, all of that requires time… a lot of time…

Nyepu was unable to get to a conclusion… he had thought in all the possibilities in a matter of minutes but he simply had not enough information to put all the pieces of the hypothetical puzzle together, and by the look on Flare’s face, she was having as much of a hard time as him in trying to understand what was going on… “This is a mess… but… I can probably start with something…”, he thought before taking a decision and finally starting to speak, catching everyone else off guard:

-As you said, admin, this doesn’t prove much… but now I have a theory…- he began and, giving the still shocked Flare a look, he’ll need her support for this and, by the understanding in her eyes and by how she finally closed her beak, he could tell she was going to support whatever bullshit he’d tell to his boss.
He explained to them the amnesia theory, suggesting that Flare did knew all the members of her harem, even the future one, but whatever freak event had left her lost and allowed the entrance of the impostor, had taken away a lot of her memories and, as such, she was regressed to her days as a lone princess… explaining why her first and only impulse was to call her mother. Flare showed very real confusion at this, but quickly played along and said that she was beginning to remember things, starting by identifying the estirge husband as prince Heron and the first one she married… at this, and just to be an asshole, Giorgio searched in his own cellphone for the information, and ended up confirming that prince Heron was indeed her first husband… and that they got married 10 months ago…

At this information, Nyepu and Flare had been very close to drop the act, the dragon managed to fake a fit of cough, which he blamed on having his chest exposed for a long time, to keep himself from showing too much surprise…
Flare, on the other hand, while unable to keep herself from gawking in shock, managed to make it look like said shock was for having forgotten so much time of her life… although, there was a worry in her eyes that the dragon interpreted as the very real concern of that been the actual case…

The admin stated the very clear disadvantage Flare would be in if she really had lost so much of her memories… but the estirge claimed that she was beginning to remember things, although, they were still a little fuzzy, and it wouldn’t take her too long to fully recover them all, especially if she were to find herself surrounded by the familiarity of her own city and people… since the green dragon hadn’t seem very convinced, Flare told him that there was a very easy way to prove she was who she was: by going to the entrance of their research complex and use one of the bio-scanners to confirm her identity. Doing this proved to be the right course of action, because the bio-scanner showed that she indeed was ‘Flare Gavina Aralfrava Timet DeFleur Hedrian Gibranda’… there were more names and surnames there, but that, and the mention of her being the third heiress to the Sky Kingdom’s throne, had been more than enough to prove that she was the real deal…

Some discussion later, the admin finally agreed to help them by providing them with tickets to the Sky Kingdom’s capital city, City 36; some money to spend in food and lodging, and, of course, permission for Nyepu to go with her and take as much time as it was necessary. Giorgio was a little sore about not being allowed to go with them. The admin would be getting the components to rebuilt Nyepu’s device in the meantime and was expecting to start other “businesses” with the Sky Kingdom once this mess was all over.

After that, the meeting was ended and everyone went to rest…


-Nyepu…- had said Flare in the darkness of their shared room, snuggled on the comfy pillow and covered by the sheet her friend had done for her. The dragon in question was submerged in the biggest water tank in the room but was capable of hearing her very well, as him taking his head out of the water demonstrated.

-What is it? - he asked, the lack of sleepiness in his voice suggested that he couldn’t slept.

-Do you… really think that I’m amnesiac? - asked her, looking at him in the darkness, her eyes adjusted to it; the shinning of her talking gem indicating where she was.

-I’m not sure… but if you aren’t, then you’ve been away from home for almost a year…- said him. “That is true…” she thought… The last thing she remembered doing was her going to deliver a message to prince Heron’s city before all of this… well… that and…

-Nyepu…- called her again.

-What? -

-There is… one thing I hadn’t told you…- she said carefully, she could felt the reptilian eyes of the researcher on her after she said those words, but his silence prompted her to go on- before I woke up… I was… in a dark place… hearing someone saying very… creepy things to me…- she was greeted with more silence, so she kept talking- I didn’t mentioned it before because I was not sure how real that was… but now… what I’ve been there for a whole year and can’t remember it for some reason? Because… because I remember how incredibly happy I was by flying… as if I hadn’t done that in a long time…- if that was true, then what had happened her there? Why was she there?
And who was talking to her? She could remember nothing except for the last words she heard before waking up… and for some reason, just remembering make her uneasy…

-I don’t know- said Nyepu, suddenly, startling her- let’s just focus on you getting back your life… you’ll probably find more answers by confronting the impostor- he gave her a small reassuring smile before adding- everything will be alright-

-Thanks… I’ve only met you for less than a day but I already think of you as a good friend- says her. He laughs a little at this.

-This has been the craziest day I’ve had… and you calling me a good friend just puts the cherry on top…- he says bitterly.

-What do you mean?-

-Nothing… let’s get some sleep, tomorrow is going to be a long day…- said him before sinking again inside his water tank. She eyed him for a while, debating with herself if she should keep the conversation he obviously wanted to end when she yawned and decided that sleeping would be wiser now… she’d have time for asking him more tomorrow….

And so, smiling to herself for having a friend accompanying her in this adventure, she finally slept.