13 | Time-Skip (3)|
I could see that its belly didn't have scales, though; it looked sort of leathery.
The newly hatched creature suddenly let out a toothless yawn, toppling on its back after losing balance.
And in response, I was flushed with the overwhelming urge to embrace this creature.
"Kyu?" It locked its sharp eyes at me with intelligence that didn't match its appearance.
"H-hi there little fella, I'm Arthur." I stretched my hand out towards it as if it were a dog that needed to know my scent.
"KYU!" It jumped off of the chair and onto my lap, gazing up at me.
"See? I told you." Merl said as he watched us from a chair.
"Y-Yeah..."
"Then buy me that sweet crepe." Merl said.
"Sure" I unconsciously agreed while focusing on the little one on my lap.
I could feel my hands twitch as I suppressed the urge to squeeze it. Unlike the majesty and fearsomeness that Sylvia had, this creature was dangerous in a different sense.
Unable to hold in the urge, I carefully petted the adorable menace. The scales were surprisingly soft and the red spikes that ran down its back felt like rubber. I guess young animals, whether humans or monsters were all squishy and soft. It started purring, closing its eyes.
I could feel the tension on my face melt as I let out a soft laugh.
"Hehe..."
It rolled onto its back, asking for a more thorough rub. The belly felt like a very soft leather, making it very smooth to rub. I took a closer look at its claws and found it interesting that it looked closer to paws than actual claws. The only thing that was hard were its horns, which were surprisingly sharp as well. I couldn't help but compare it to the beak a bird would use to crack itself out if its shell.
"Aren't you just a cute lil fella?" My smile widened while petting this adorable newborn, to the point where it seemed intoxicating.
"..." I even forgot that Merlin is in the room as well.
After a little bit, I couldn't help but think of what to name it, which made me realize I didn't even know the gender of this mysterious creature.
"Kyu~!" Suddenly the newborn shot its tongue out and licked the underside of my left forearm.
"Ah!" I reflexively tried to move my arm back from the scorching sensation, but before I could, a glowing black light began enveloping my arm.
The prickling pain subsided fairly quickly so I just waited. The creature pulled its tongue back, revealing a black marking on my forearm.
"...I think you should cover that marking with that feather Art, it's emitting a unique mana" Merl suggested.
"...If you say so. Sure"
It looked a lot like the tribal markings that covered Sylvia before she passed on her will to me but the shape of this pattern was that of a wing. Just one open wing, but it was made up of several dashes and sharp curves that branched out, making it look very intricate and mysterious.
I was only eight but I already had a tattoo. I'm such a rebel.
[…Mama~?]
The creature was looking up at me with its mouth closed.
'What? I obviously heard a voice just now.'
[Mama?] This time I heard it clearly in my head.
I looked at Merl to confirm something but he's just looking at the egg's shell with no sign of reacting to the voice...
Was this…telepathy?
Shaking my head helplessly, I responded vocally,
"I guess I'm your mother. But I'm a boy so you should call me papa."
[Papa!] It suddenly jumped up and licked my nose.
I'm a rebel with a tattoo and a child.
After communicating with the creature for a bit, I had come to realize a few things. I guess after the mark had appeared on my forearm, a sort telepathic connection was established. The voice I heard in my head from the creature sounded like a girl's so I've decided to name her 'Sylvie' after her real mother, Sylvia.
[Syeevy?] she responded with her head tilted.
Picking her up and bringing her close to my face, I smiled at her,
"That's right! Your name is Sylvie."
She nuzzled her nose to mine while closing her sharp eyes.
"You already named it?" Merl asked but is still focusing on inspecting the egg's shell.
"Yep, her name's Sylvie" I proudly announced.
"Cool...Can I keep the egg shells? For inspection"
"Sure? What's special about it? I see that you've taken an interest in it" I asked back.
"It's...nice and it is strong enough to hold massive amount of mana."
"If it's you then Keep it. Do whatever you want with it" Art smiled at Merl said.
"Really? Thanks!" Merlin thanked Art with an excited expression as if he found a new toy.
Anyways, another thing I realized was that Sylvie had a pretty high intelligence for a newborn. She already seemed to have the mental capacity of a 2-3 year-old child. While we're communicating telepathically, I knew she's not necessarily talking to me in English but I just understood it as that. It was a very odd feeling, not knowing the words she's actually saying but knowing what she meant. Besides simple words like 'papa', most of the thoughts she communicated with me come through as emotions. I was able to get the gist of what she meant by how she felt.
"Okay Sylvie! I need to wash now. Do you want to come with me?" I said while setting her down.
"Kyu?" She tilted her head again while she looked up at me. I felt like she was asking me what 'wash' was so I just laughed and took her with me.
'She reminds me of helpless young Merl in the forest'
Getting into the shower, she seemed to cry out 'NOOOOOOO' as she wailed a shrill 'KYUU!'
"I guess you don't like water that much, do you Sylvie?" I chuckled, setting her down out of the shower.
Sylvia shook herself off like a wet dog and plopped down on the floor next to the shower, her tail wagging, observing me as I finished washing up.
Her behavior sort of reminded me of a mix between a dog and a cat. Never would I imagine her lineage to be that of a mighty dragon. Of course, this was assuming that she actually Sylvia's child.
That got me thinking though.
Was Sylvie really a dragon? She sure looked kind of like a baby dragon…
Why was she completely black when Sylvia was pure white? What baffled me the most was the fact that Sylvie had horns eerily similar to that horned, demon king illusion that Sylvia was at first and also to the demon that confronted her.
I got out of the shower and dried myself off. No use thinking about all of this now; how was I going to explain this to Gramps and Tess, though?
As I got out of the bathroom, Sylvie toddled behind me, kyu'ing me to not leave her behind.
Four months. In four months, I would be able to see my parents. I wonder if they'd still recognize me.
Sylvie must've felt the longing emotion of my parents because she cuddled in close to my face and licked my cheeks.
"Thanks little Sylv." Petting her horned head, I fell asleep.
.
.
"ARRGH! Get off me you little punk!" I was awaken by the sound of Merl yelling.
"KYU!" I heard Sylv voice as well, which caused me to abruptly got up only to see Merl and Sylv fighting...with Sylv on Merl's face.
"Get off me!" Merl caught Sylv by the back of its neck and stared at it before smiling creepily.
"ORAAA! I'll turn you into an ice lizard sculpture" Merl said as his body started emitting cold mist.
"Kyu!!" Sylv cried. 'Papa help me!'
"Ice Ti-Oof!" Before Merl could announced the name of the spell he's going to use. A pillow flew straight to his face.
"Cut it out. It's 7 in the morning." I said, visibly annoyed.
"Kyu~!" Sylv who managed to escape and hid behind me.
"Don't worry Sylv, he's my friend...though he's a bit wild." I reassured her before welcoming my beautiful sleep.
.
.
"KYAAAAAA!"
"What is it?! What happened?! Who's there?!" I jumped up on my bed, using my pillow as a makeshift sword, bed hair ablaze.
"Ohm gosh! What is this? It's so CUTE! Kyaa~!"
I turned my attention to Tess who was holding onto the squirming Sylvie.
"Kyu!!" It once again cried for a second time today. 'Papa, help!'
Letting out a defeated breath, I fell back into bed.
'Come back my beautiful sleep…'
"Her name is Sylvie and she just hatched from her shell yesterday. You should let go of her, though. It looks like she doesn't like being strangled," I muffled through the pillow that I covered my head with.
It's too early in the morning...
Sylvie had finally freed herself from Tessia's grasp and was glaring at her while she hid herself behind me.
"Grrrrr…" Sylv let out a high-pitched growl.
"Don't worry Sylv, she's also a friend like Merl" I said while petting her head, giving up on going back to sleep.
***
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