'After a Dragon's scale is shed, a new one grows from the same root, using the mana conductivity reached by the old scale as its starting point. This way, the new scale develops an increased mana capacity and durability, strengthening a Dragon's, or in your case a Tiamat's, natural defense with every cycle.' Leegaain said via the mind link.
'Thanks, and get out of my head, please?' Lith didn't like the intrusion but he didn't dare challenge the Guardian of Wisdom in his own home. Also, disrespecting Leegaain while he was teaching Lith something about his own bloodline was beyond stupid.
'You are welcome and no can do. You are in my turf and you share my blood, child. From this up close, I'd need to willingly shut you out and we are not on so friendly terms that I can trust you too much. By the way, who taught you Dragontongue?'
'Grandma.' Lith glossed over the fact that he only knew the words for Dad, those that Valeron used from time to time, and "Where is the bathroom" since it was the first one he learned back on Earth whenever he tackled a new language.
Salaark had furrowed her brows at his odd and specific request but she had granted it anyway.
The Divine Beasts stopped kneeling in front of the child and Lith handed Valeron to Leari who was the closest one to them. Then, while the baby was distracted, Lith walked in front of Protheus.
In his human form, the Father of all Doppelgangers had Thrud's silver eyes, Jormun's emerald hair, and bore a semblance to both of them that made Lith struggle between conjuring Ragnar?k to his hand and apologizing.
'Do your thing but keep it brief. If Valeron uses Life Vision, we'll break his heart.' Lith's eyes narrowed in spite.
Spite for Doppelg?nger but also himself for what they were about to do. Protheus nodded and after walking behind a corner, he shapeshifted into Jormun's form. He was now an exact copy of the late Emerald Dragon, even the smell was identical.
Only the energy signature could reveal the truth.
Leegaain summoned the handmaidens, making them walk to Protheus' side to keep the baby distracted and make sure that the fa?ade would hold.
The Guardian too hated lying to Valeron, but the truth would lead to lots of pain and more lies. He couldn't tell the baby boy that his foster father had killed his biological father without destroying the bond between them.
Leegaain couldn't explain the circumstances of Thrud's death either unless he wanted Valeron to grow up feeling responsible for his mother's madness and the death of hundreds of thousands of innocents.
The Dragon blood that flowed in Valeron's and Elysia's veins made them smarter and gave them a peerless memory compared to normal children but it also deprived them of the blessing of oblivion that their young age usually ensured.
"Em'har!" Protheus/Jormun said while extending his arms.
"Dya! Dya!" The baby boy struggled to get free from the embrace of the Thunderborne and reach his father. "Dad!"
"I missed you so much." Protheus shed tears that he had to wipe off before they fell off his face and turned back into the gelatine that they actually were. "Have you been a good child? Is godfather Lith treating you well?"
"Lò. Yes." Valeron nodded, alternating between Dragontongue and human language.
Protheus looked at the baby with mock disbelief and turned to Lith for confirmation.
"He's better than good. He's perfect." Valeron giggled at those words and cooed as his father kissed his head. The initial instance of this chapter being available happened at N0v3l.Bin.
"I'm sorry for being absent so often, but your mother needs my help and I can't leave her alone." The pain Protheus expressed was genuine, a lump formed in his throat as his voice broke. "I don't know when we'll be back, but always remember that your parents love you.
"You are our first and last thought every day." Valeron clung to the Doppelganger as hard as he could.
The pain of the separation was great but it was nothing compared to the relief he felt knowing that he wasn't abandoned nor forgotten.
"Always listen to what Lith says and when you are in doubt, ask Ophya and Vyla for advice. They will always look out for you." Protheus said and Valeron nodded.
After a few minutes, the fake Jormun handed the baby boy back to Lith and Warped away. Valeron sniffled for a bit, but the still-lingering smell of his father gave him hope while that of his stepfather reassured the baby boy that he had a loving family and a home.
Seeing how the baby clung to Lith for comfort, the resentment of the Divine Beasts melted like snow under the spring's sun. Thrud's former Generals knew that they were Valeron's past and that they could offer him no future but to walk in the footsteps of his mother.
They waited for Valeron to fall asleep before talking but it didn't take much. The baby boy tired easily and the whirlwind of emotions had left him exhausted.
"What do you want, Tiamat?" Leari spoke the last word with so much hatred that it sounded like "murderer".
"First, explanations are in order. Leegaain, can you please tell Ufyl what you did after I destroyed the Golden Griffon? Ufyl, do you mind explaining to your former associates how you have earned your second chance?"
"Sure." Leegaain briefly explained how he had felt that the role that the lost Divine Beasts had to play wasn't over yet and how he had saved them from death, granting them asylum.
After the Guardian was done, Ufyl stepped forward. He recounted to his former allies how after surrendering to the Kingdom's forces he had begged for mercy and offered himself to the beast Council.
"How could you stoop so low?" Ophius said in disgust. "How could willingly become a test subject and cast the True Queen's gift to the swine that killed her?"
"You sold yourself and the worst part is that you did it for nothing." Leari Hushed Valeron's ears before starting to yell. "Had you fought until your last breath like I did, like everyone did, you wouldn't have died.
"Lord Leegaain would have saved you and brought you here with us. You sold yourself like a slave because you are a coward! You betrayed the Queen and turned your back on everything she represented just to save your skin!"
The other Divine Beasts cussed the Seven-Headed Dragon in turns, only Protheus kept himself out of it, and only because he was still torn from the remorse of what he had just done.
"I'm not a coward, you are!" Ufyl snapped back when the outrage for those accusations beat his survivor's guilt into submission. "I kept fighting until the Golden Griffon was destroyed. After that, there was no honor to have, just bloodshed.
"You guys refused to surrender only because you were afraid to meet your punishment. You kept killing innocent people because deep down you knew that there could be no forgiveness for what we had done and that what we had done was wrong.
"I didn't betray the True Queen, she betrayed Phloria. Thrud betrayed us all!"