Let Nature Takes Its Course

Clouds. Fluffy clouds. Soft, fluffy clouds. After all of the stress and exhaustion from yesterday’s events, being among these soft, fluffy clouds really put him at ease. This level of relaxation was all that Tatsuya needed to just let go of everything and just take it easy. It made him smile. He snuggled against the soft, fluffy clouds and buried himself among their silky, smooth surface. There was something about this that felt nostalgic in a sense. This feeling only made it easier for him to relax and unwind.

As he floated amongst them, he couldn’t get enough of their fluffiness. He caressed them in his hands and let their suppleness melt between his fingers like cotton candy. He was in heaven! His hands were infatuated with this unearthly fluffiness and they immediately went on autopilot. He didn’t mind at all since he couldn’t get enough of the feeling anyway. The clouds consumed his fingers in their fluffiness and bounced with each caress. It was like playing with a big ball of wool! His hands moved around and he suddenly came upon a part of the cloud that he had never known before. It was soft and smooth and cool to the touch. He lightly pressed against it and the response he got shook him.

A voice that wasn’t his nor belonging to anyone he knew rang out and awoken him from his dream. Tatsuya didn’t even know that it was all a dream until he opened his eyes. And the voice that had drawn him back to reality was one that he never expected to come across. It was light and sensual but also powerful and captivating. ‘A girl?!’ he realized startlingly. It had to be. The first girls that came to mind were the princesses, and he was quick to assume that it must be one of them. But the more he thought about the voice, the more he realized that he had never heard this specific voice before in his entire life.

“My oh my, you’re quite the aggressive one,” came the voice from before.

Tatsuya froze in fear. He slowly looked up and came face-to-face with a very beautiful girl. He quickly jumped out of his bed. “W-W-Who—?” he attempted.

The girl looked at him with a very relaxed smile. She had luscious wavy emerald green hair like beautiful ferns, dazzling yellow-green eyes like precious budding saplings, and pink-rose lips. A small beauty mark adorned the corner of her left eye, and she wore a very pretty red lotus hairpin. Her skin tone was of a very mesmerizing light green like the budding flowers of spring. She slowly got up from the bed and the blanket fell off of her. The reveal made Tatsuya speechless. His soul left his body and vowed to never return. The girl was now sitting on the bed baring herself to him with no shame at all.

Seeing her naked before him made Tatsuya realize something that only added more pain to his already injurious soul. Those clouds that he so relished in in his dream were…her naked breasts! He slowly looked at his hands and then quickly back up at the girl only to see her smiling back at him naughtily. It can’t be…. “W-W-Who are you?” he managed to ask her.

She stretched her arms and yawned. This made her breasts bounce and Tatsuya felt his blood rushing down his nose. They were the biggest pair he had ever seen and were on par with those belonging to the love goddess Amora. Well-rounded like ripe summer melons, smooth like alabaster and immaculate save for a small mole on the inside of her left breast, and fuller than water balloons, Tatsuya had never witnessed anything as magnificent as them before in his entire life!

“That was quite a night,” she said with a wink.

“Who are you?!” shouted Tatsuya for the third time.

“You mean to tell me that you had forgotten all about our time together last night?” asked the girl with a mock-disappointed face. “But our bodies knew each other so well. Perhaps if we sleep together again, you’d remember,” she suggested.

“W-W-What?!” shouted Tatsuya in protest.

“Oh, the way you caressed my body and fondled my chest, your hands were like lions attacking my precious body,” she said with a captivated expression, “Oh, the passion with which you attacked me, I could feel your love pouring out of you magnificently!”

“We didn’t do anything like that!” Tatsuya protested vehemently. ‘What is she, a pervert?!’ he thought hysterically to himself.

Suddenly, the door to his room opened and Aika came rushing in with Arashi, Kanjomizu, and Takara in tow. “Darling/Tatsuya/My Love/Boyfriend!” they all shouted worriedly in unison. They immediately went silent once they noticed the naked girl on Tatsuya’s bed. This was enough for them to quickly flash Tatsuya their disapproval with disgusted and disappointed expressions.

“It’s not what you think!” Tatsuya quickly told them.

“Are you still going to deny it?” came the girl. “We embraced each other intimately under the covers, rubbing our bodies together for warmth and love. Your hands touched my body and caressed my most gentle parts.”

“That was a mistake!” Tatsuya shouted back hysterically. “I didn’t know that I was fondling your breasts the entire time!” He quickly shut his mouth upon sensing dreadful auras coming from the other princesses. He slowly turned back to them and saw the devils in their eyes.

Arashi glanced at Takara and said, “If you would.”

Takara nodded and snapped her fingers. Suddenly, Tatsuya felt his feet getting swept from under him and he tripped and fell on his face. “Okay, I deserved that,” he said with a groan.

“Now then,” said Aika, taking the lead. “Who are you?” she asked with a finger pointed at the girl.

“My oh my, how rude of me to not introduce my name,” said the girl. She was about to say it when she slowly turned to Tatsuya with a grin and said, “Would you like to tell them my name? After all, we knew each other very well last night.”

“How the hell should I know?!” yelled Tatsuya in vehement protest.

“Darling? Did you—? But we haven’t even—!” said Aika in horror.

“I told you! Nothing happened!” Tatsuya screamed.

“Really?” asked Takara doubtfully.

“Yes!” came Tatsuya’s quick reply.

The door to the room opened once again and a new person ran inside. She was dressed in a maid uniform and had stringy green hair like vine and eyes the color of yellow daffodils. Her green-tinted skin was youthful and sparkled in the sunlight. However, her most defining was her figure: she was a little more on the full side with a voluptuous ample chest that would make even the most erotic of models jealous. She ran up to the girl on the bed and bowed her head. “Forgive me, mistress! I have promised you to be by your side in the early morning and I have broken it!” she said apologetically.

“Now, now, it’s fine, Flora,” said the girl with a reassuring smile. “I’m sure you didn’t mean it.”

“Your servant had found herself caught in the most unspeakable of positions!” lamented the maid.

“Oh? Really?” came the girl worriedly.

“As I was preparing to come to this room to aid you, I tripped on the first step and revealed myself to the leering eyes of nearby guards,” explained the maid with flustered cheeks.

“My, that’s awful,” consoled the girl.

“Um, who are you?” asked Tatsuya suddenly to the maid.

The maid turned to Tatsuya and bowed her head. “Apologies, O Great Dragonborn. I am Flora, my mistress' personal maid,” said the maid.

“And who’s your mistress?” asked Tatsuya with a finger pointing at the girl.

“She is Princess Kalira Wyvern, royal princess of the Wyvern tribe,” answered Flora.

“Princess?!” exclaimed Tatsuya and the other princesses in unison.

Flora helped her mistress dress. While this was happening, Tatsuya turned the other way with the other princesses keeping watch over him in case he decided to sneak a peek. Once they were done, Tatsuya turned around. The Wyvern princess was dressed in a very modest emerald green dress that stretched to her ankles and had a slit on either side that went up to her knees. It was adorned with tiny sparkling jewels and emblazoned with very delicate and thin golden dragon etchings on the shoulders. Around her neck was a necklace of beads, flowers, and leaves. Her hair was done in a long French braid with a small crown braid running across the top of her head.

And now that she was standing up, Tatsuya noticed that she was a little bigger than the other princesses (she was also taller than Arashi by a tiny measure), which gave her an almost motherly appearance, but with a small waist—she had a very defined hourglass figure. If she was in the human realm, there is no doubt that she would become the ire of many famous models and the target of even more magazines. And when compared to the other girls, she had the biggest chest of them all (which Tatsuya figured was the case…not that he was thinking about them this entire time). They stood out from the rest and left everyone else in the dust—they were in a league of their own! Compared to her, the other princesses were like growing children to her mature and voluptuous body.

She humbly walked over to Tatsuya and curtsied. “I am Princess Kalira Wyvern of the Wyvern tribe. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“S-Sure,” replied back Tatsuya. She looked at him with expectant eyes. Tatsuya quickly realized what she meant by them and said, “I am Owatatsumi Tatsuya. Nice to meet you.” He stiffly bowed his head while introducing himself.

“Now, then,” said Aika, stepping in between them with a forced smile. “Shall we go eat breakfast? I think it should be ready by now,” she said with a few chuckles.

“A brilliant idea,” agreed the Wyvern princess.

Everyone gathered for breakfast in the dining hall. The events of yesterday were treated as insignificant memories of a forgettable past and everyone didn’t pay it anymore mind than one would to a despised family member. In fact, everyone were more interested in their own conversations than to be reminded of that disastrous piece of garbage history.

Tatsuya was sitting in his usual place among the diners…with one obvious difference. Aika was sitting to his right like normal, but to his left, which was normally occupied by Kanjomizu, was the Wyvern princess. And what’s more, she was sitting pretty close to him and their elbows were kept in close contact throughout the entire meal.

King Rexus, who was enjoying a conversation with Tatsuya’s father, took notice of the closeness between the Dragonborn and the Wyvern princess and said, “Tatsuya, it appears that you have already met Princess Kalira of the Wyvern tribe.”

“Y-Yes,” stuttered back Tatsuya in reply with an awkward smile.

Aika was getting more and more annoyed by how familiar the Wyvern princess was getting with her Darling and she suddenly snapped, “What is she doing here anyway?”

“She had just arrived at the palace last evening after the duel between Tatsuya and Shen,” explained the king. “The Wyvern tribe have sent her as an envoy with the hopes of forming an alliance to stop the Okami tribe from instigating this trouble into a full-scale war.”

“Hah! Typical Wyverns,” said Aika snootily. “You are very naïve if you think you can convince a tribe of warriors to ignore this problem with your peaceful protests and nonviolent philosophy.”

“But doesn’t the Draco tribe also want to avoid this war too?” came the Wyvern princess.

Aika choked on her words and her face turned red with embarrassment. She sat back down in silence to avoid anymore shameful displays of defeat at the hands of the Wyvern princess. “Stupid big-boobed hippie,” she muttered angrily under her breath while rolling her eyes.

“Did you just meet this morning?” the king asked Tatsuya.

“Yeah,” replied Tatsuya slowly while averting his gaze, “more or less.”

“They were right when they said that the Dragonborn of the human realm was not like the Dragonborns of our realm,” said the Wyvern princess. “He was aggressive yet chivalrous at the same time,” she continued with an unassuming smile. “The way he touched my body, it was firm but gentle all the same. He was a true gentleman! Never before had I felt a touch as warm and comforting as his.”

“I-I-I told you! That was an accident!” protested Tatsuya.

“How shameless of you!” came Sunaji. “Do you have no sense of decency while out in public?” she asked the Wyvern princess with a bite to her voice.

“Oh? But I was just expressing my feelings,” said the Wyvern princess. “I am free to express myself however I like, do I not?”

“Yes you do, but—,” attempted Sunaji.

“Then that’s that,” said the Wyvern princess with a smile. She leaned onto Tatsuya’s arm and added, “Just from your touch, I knew that you are the one I’m looking for.”

“H-H-Huh?!” exclaimed Tatsuya with widened eyes.

“You can call me Kiai,” she whispered to him in a seductive voice.

Aika heard the whisper without really knowing what she said and jumped up from her seat. “No whispering at the table!” she admonished the Wyvern princess. “If you have something to say, you can share it with the whole table!”

The Wyvern princess looked at Aika with a gentle smile and happily obliged. She stood up from her seat and said, “I simply told the Dragonborn my human realm name. Shizenryu Kiai.”

“Oh? Kiai? What a name,” scoffed Aika.

“That’s a beautiful name,” said Ryujin.

“Indeed,” agreed Mr. Urushihara. “Tatsuya, you’ve picked another good one for your harem,” he joked.

“I didn’t pick her! And I don’t have a harem!” objected Tatsuya vehemently. He suddenly felt very intense heat coming from his right and immediately knew what it was. With a fearful glance, he saw Aika tightly gripping her fork as if she was strangling a small animal. She was pissed.

Aika abruptly stood up and marched out of the dining room without a word. As she was leaving, Kiai said, “My oh my, such an angry aura. Have I did something I shouldn’t have?” Tatsuya heard the sincerity in Kiai’s voice and knew that she was genuinely concerned for Aika. He didn’t know anything about the Wyvern princess, but based on this impression of her in this situation, he could glean that she was a genuinely caring and kind person.

Once Aika was gone, King Rexus asked Kiai, “Have you ever visited the Pyroignis Empire before?”

“This is my first time,” Kiai told him.

“Then how about we have Tatsuya and his friends show you around?” suggested the king.

“Come again?” asked Tatsuya, completely caught off-guard by this request.

“Please?” Kiai asked him. She looked up at him with beautiful, innocent eyes.

Tatsuya was speechless at how they sparkled. He immediately looked away and said, “Alright.”

Aika was lying down on her bed with her pillow tucked under her chin. She wore a very childish frown and grumbled to herself. Just when it seemed like she was finally able to get closer to Tatsuya, a new obstacle suddenly appeared to hinder her progress. It frustrated her so that she now has even more people competing for Tatsuya’s affections. It was already bad enough with five other people!

Attending to her in the room was Ingrid. The maid stood by the door and watched her mistress whine like a little child. She couldn’t bear to see the princess act this way much longer and cleared her throat before saying, “Princess, please do not be troubled by this matter. Owatatsumi-sama will never betray your feelings.”

“I know,” replied Aika.

“And he has already professed his love for you, hasn’t he?” appealed the maid.

“I know,” repeated Aika. “But the audacity of that big-boobed hippie,” she griped through gritted teeth. “Why did my new rival for Darling’s love have to be a nymphomaniac princess with no sense of shame?!”

“Princess—,” attempted Ingrid to mollify her.

“I’ve heard that Wyverns are shameless in their display of affection and expression of freedom,” ranted Aika. “But they’re also big perverts who don’t think twice about being naked in public or committing questionable ethical atrocities! I can deal with a directionally-challenged basket-case, a rebellious hussy, a lazy glutton, a phony hick, and a spoiled brat, but adding a nymphomaniac big-boobed hippie is just too much!”

“Princess, I don’t think that addressing to your comrades that way will help you calm down,” said the maid. “And I’m pretty sure that if Owatatsumi-sama hears this, he’ll take back everything he said before,” she added under her breath.

“I know,” sighed Aika. “I know that I’m being unreasonable.” She lifted her head and added in a longing voice, “But I was the one who loved him first.”

“And I’m sure that he knows that too,” reassured Ingrid.

A knock came on the door and Ingrid went to answer it. The guest walked in and Aika gazed disinterestedly at them before hopping out of her seat in surprise. “You're—!”

“A pleasure to meet you again, princess,” said the guest with a smile.

That afternoon, Tatsuya took Kiai into the city with the other princesses following closely behind. It was a little awkward for him once they got into the city because it looked like he was being closely guarded by a harem of beautiful valkyries while escorting what others may assume to be his voluptuous significant other. This was a moment that one would have to see in order to believe; words cannot do this justice.

Although Tatsuya had been living in the Pyroignis Empire for almost a month now, he was still unfamiliar with much of the area. He was certainly at a loss for where to go to entertain the Wyvern princess. Aika wasn’t with them this time; but if she was, she would’ve made for a more competent guide than Tatsuya. In fact, Tatsuya lamented Aika’s absence from the group.

They came to a café and Tatsuya suggested that they try the place. It was the only thing he could think of in that moment. He sat at a table with Kiai, Kanjomizu, and Shurai. Takara, Sunaji, and Arashi had to sit at another table next to them. They ordered their food and drink and waited for the servers to bring them out. Once the food arrived, Tatsuya did his best to enjoy his time here so as not to alienate Kiai and make her feel awkward. Meanwhile, the other princesses all consumed their orders while keeping their eyes focused on the couple.

“This is delicious,” said Kiai after tasting a tiny spoonful of her dessert. “Would you like to try?” she asked Tatsuya. Before she let him answer, she dipped her spoon into the dessert and navigated it towards his lips. The spoon had only made it halfway on its journey before an intervention from one of the princesses vacuumed it up.

Shurai quickly absorbed the dessert into her body and said, “Tatsu-kun doesn’t really like sweets.”

“Oh? Really?” asked Kiai in surprise.

Shurai answered with a nod of her head. She then glanced at the other princesses and flashed them her signature thumbs-up.

“How’s your drink?” Kiai asked Tatsuya.

“It’s good,” Tatsuya told her.

“Mind if I try it too?” asked the Wyvern princess.

“Umm….” Tatsuya was at a loss at how to respond to her request. But Kiai didn’t give him time to form a coherent response and leaned herself forward to grab his straw with her lips.

Once again, Shurai quickly intervened and guzzled down the drink until there was nothing left. She then turned to Kiai and said, “He’s right. It was good.”

“I—I see,” said Kiai with a small laugh.

‘Safe!’ thought the other princesses triumphantly.

Kiai looked at Shurai and placed both hands on the Druk princess’ cheeks. “I love how you’re so devoted to him,” she told Shurai. “You really are a very caring person. And you’re cute too, to boot.” Shurai heard those words and her cheeks reddened a bit. “You know,” continued Kiai, “I don’t hate a caring and cute girl like you.”

“Huh?” squeaked Shurai, her cheeks growing even redder than before.

Kiai brought Shurai face to her chest and hugged her. “My oh my, what a cute princess you are,” she crooned. Shurai didn’t know what was happening anymore, but she couldn’t fight back at all. In fact, she felt very calm and safe within Kiai’s breasts. Her arms went limp and she let herself sink deeper into the Wyvern princess’ grasp. “Why don’t you let your big sister spoil you?” said Kiai.

“Spoiling…big sister…good,” said Shurai with a muffled voice from in between Kiai’s breasts.

“Enough!” cried out Sunaji. “Let’s move on to the next place!”

They left the café and moved on to their next location. They were walking along the street when Kiai noticed a flyer advertising the capital’s zoo. Her eyes lit up and she pushed the flyer into Tatsuya’s face. “Can we go?” she asked him.

“S-Sure!” Tatsuya replied, surprised by her sudden elation.

They arrived at the zoo and joined up with a large crowd at the gate. As they waited for admission, Kiai was visibly shaking with excitement. This was a complete change from her initial personality, which stressed maturity and calm. Her childlike excitement made Tatsuya see her in a completely different light from before. ‘I guess everyone has more than one side to them,’ he thought to himself with a small smile.

Finally, it came time for them to go in. Kiai quickly grabbed Tatsuya by the arm and dragged him along with her through the gate. They maneuvered through the crowd and came to their very first exhibit: a Pegasus couple. Tatsuya wasn’t prepared at all to be manhandled by a dragon princess, but upon seeing the wonderful sight before him, he didn’t care about any of that anymore. Inside the exhibit, a pair of brilliant white Pegasi were cuddled up together. Seeing such a pure expression of love gave Tatsuya goosebumps and made him smile. He glanced over at Kiai and saw her wear one of the most genuine smiles he had ever seen in his entire life. She was sincerely happy to see the couple and to witness their love with her very own eyes. It was the same look one would wear to show their support for the love of a close friend.

“Do you like animals?” Tatsuya asked her.

“I love all living things,” she answered him without batting an eye. “It is in our nature as Wyverns to be connected with nature. But I myself genuinely care about all living things.”

Tatsuya could sense the sincerity in her words and knew that she was telling the truth. “If you ever get the chance to go to the human realm, I’ll take you to go see a human realm zoo,” he offered.

“Really?” exclaimed Kiai with twinkling eyes. “I’ve always wanted to see a capybara.”

“Capybara? Why that specifically?” he asked her with a laugh.

“There’s a lot of animals I would love to see,” she explained. “I’ve only ever heard of them from my parents. Penguins, grizzly bears, wolves, sharks, tigers, sloths, koalas, pandas….”

“That’s quite a lot of animals,” said Tatsuya with a slightly more awkward laugh.

“But I’ve heard that capybaras are one of the most cutest animals of the human realm!” she said.

“That’s pretty subjective,” he told her.

“When my parents told me that they are bigger than a carriage and can swim more than fifteen meters underwater, I didn’t believe them at first,” she continued.

“W-What are we talking about again?” said Tatsuya a little more awkwardly than before.

“But when they told me that the wonderful beasts devour orange melons on a daily basis and can take temperatures with their noses, I knew that I just had to see them for myself!”

“W-W-Wait, taking temperatures with their noses—?”

“I also recently learned that they can speak to birds and threaten other creatures with a powerful aura!”

“What kind of magical alien creature is that?!” exclaimed Tatsuya.

“What do you mean?” asked the Wyvern princess.

“I’m not sure you’re talking about what you think you’re talking about,” he told her.

“You mean they can’t?”

“Of course not!” This conversation reminded Tatsuya that he was talking to a nonhuman person. Though he knows of their unawareness of the human realm, it still surprises him to learn of their expectations when it comes to the human realm.

“Found you!” shouted Sunaji. She rushed over to the couple with the other princesses in tow.

“My oh my, what took you so long?” Kiai asked her.

Sunaji threw her a nasty glare. “So you dare to not admit your wrongs?” she asked the Wyvern princess nastily.

“What wrongs have I committed?” inquired Kiai innocently. She then took Sunaji’s right hand and held it with both hands as she looked at with a repentant expression. “I apologize for causing you any trouble,” she told the Python princess.

Sunaji didn’t know what to say. She now began to feel bad for her previous lashing out at the Wyvern princess. “N-N-No, I was too harsh. I’m sorry,” she apologized.

Kiai pulled Sunaji into her breasts and hugged her gently. “Forgiveness is key to building strong relationships, is it not?”

Those words somehow made Sunaji’s heart beat faster and she felt like she was being swept off her feet by a kind prince. “Y-Yes,” she agreed. ‘She smells so nice and she feels so motherly,’ Sunaji thought to herself with rosy cheeks.

“Hey, I thought you were supposed to be against her!” came Takara.

Kiai let go of Sunaji and turned to the Lindworm princess. “My oh my, there is no need for us to be enemies,” she said as she wrapped her arms around Takara and pulled her in for a hug. “Wouldn’t it be better if we all can be friends?” she urged.

‘Her body feels so warm and soothing,’ thought Takara in bliss. “Mm-hmm,” she replied to Kiai’s words.

“E-E-E-Excuse me,” stammered Kanjomizu.

“Yes?” said Kiai, turning her attention to the Naga princess.

Kanjomizu became silent and her eyes grew wide. She had wanted to assert herself as the leader of the princesses since Aika wasn’t with them, a decision she chose because she believed that her position as the second princess who had spent the most time with Tatsuya (disregarding Arashi’s status as the childhood friend) gave her some clout. But Kiai’s straightforwardness quickly became a little too much for her to handle, something that she had expected but was weak against nonetheless. “N-N-Never mind,” she mumbled, looking down at her feet.

Kiai tilted her head in concern and asked, “Are you sure?”

Those words were enough to elicit tears from Kanjomizu. All that time she had promised herself to grow stronger and worked toward that goal just to now cry because she couldn’t become assertive when she needed to be…how weak could she be?! The tears dripped down her face and fell to the ground like raindrops.

Kiai didn’t like this at all. She didn’t like seeing others cry—it hurts her heart! She gently took Kanjomizu’s hand and pulled the Naga princess into her breasts. With her other hand, she stroked Kanjomizu’s hair. “My oh my, these tears are a pain,” she comforted Kanjomizu. “Come, let your feelings out and we shall heal together.”

Kanjomizu sniffled and her hands quickly held tightly around the Wyvern princess’ waist. This feeling…this nostalgic feeling…it reminded her of being wrapped in her mother’s arms. The memory made her held on tighter.

Kiai smiled and said, “Let it all out. Your big sister is here to take care of you.”

Footsteps echoed through the tunnel. It was narrow and constructed of cobblestones. Along the walls were burning torches of blue flames, the tunnel’s only light source. Ino was more than familiar with this path. It was the only path that he knew by heart. He still remembered his first time walking down this very tunnel and becoming acquainted with the darkness that were written in these walls. It brought him a nostalgia that he couldn’t care less for.

Following closely behind him was his brother. This was Sasuke’s first time walking down this tunnel but he could already sense the darkness within. It has already been a month now ever since he joined his brother. He had become more familiar with the cult’s ways and had built up a stronger mentality and thicker skin because of it. But no matter how much he had to change himself to adapt to the situation, he was still the same person inside.

“Feeling alright?” Ino asked his brother.

“Fine,” Sasuke told him.

“Oh, it’s only going to get worse,” Ino told him with an evil chuckle. He knew what was coming next.

“What do you mean?” inquired Sasuke, feeling a little uneasy from his brother’s chuckle. That’s when it hit him. A putrid stench filled the tunnel and it attacked Sasuke’s nose with the intent to murder his senses. He quickly clutched his nose and coughed wildly. The stench still entered him through his ears and the pores of his skin, eliciting a strong reaction from his stomach. If his will wasn’t as strong as he had built it to be right now, he would’ve without a doubt hurl his insides out to the point of begging for death.

Ino, on the other hand, was immune to the scent. Years and years of travelling down this hallways has allowed him to become invulnerable to this dreaded smell. In fact, having grown accustomed to it, he enjoys the smell as if they were the sweet aroma of morning flowers. It delights his senses and makes his spine tingle in a good way.

“What is this?!” gagged Sasuke.

“You’ll see, little brother,” answered Ino with a cryptic smile.

‘I don’t like the sound of that,’ thought Sasuke with a scowl.

They walked deeper and deeper into the hallway until it opened up and prison cells appeared on either side of them. Sasuke could tell from one glance that the bars were made up of Draconite and lined with anti-magic. These cells were made with the sole purpose of trapping their enemies with no way of escape. No weapon or form of magic can help the prisoner to escape, no matter how experienced of a warrior or how powerful of a magician they are. They were designed to be the final graves of whoever is trapped inside.

As Sasuke looked around him at the cells, he saw some of the most horrifying things he had ever seen in his entire life. In almost all of them was a skeleton, some had more than others. In a few of them, the skeletons were held in some kind of bondage. The rest of them had skeletons lying on the ground like a bunch of morbid toys. Sasuke also noticed that some of the skeletons still had a few flesh on them. This tiny bit of knowledge sent ice cold chills down his spine and he almost really let loose his insides. The rest of the skeletons appeared to have been here longer. He could tell their ages by the hue of the bones: the older ones were browned and matched with the cobblestones upon which they lay, the newer ones still had a fresh white gleam to them.

“Is this place a prison?” Sasuke asked his brother.

“Welcome, little brother, to the prison of no escape and Ouroboros’ greatest achievement: Yelbeghen!” said Ino grandly.

“Yelbeghen,” repeated Sasuke in horror.

“Are you afraid?” Ino asked his brother with a backwards glance. Sasuke didn’t answer back. Ino faced forward and said, “I would understand if you were. This place is a hell that you do not want to be trapped in. It is used only to house our enemies…and traitors.” He added that last part in a voice that made Sasuke’s skin crawl.

“Are all of these here dragons?” Sasuke asked Ino.

“Most of them are,” Ino told him with a nod. “Some of them are lesser beings who dare to speak against our mighty race. Goblins, elves, lamia, Savra, centaurs, fairies…you get the gist.” He walked further down and beckoned for Sasuke to follow. “Actually, there’s one more part of Yelbeghen that I want to show you.”

“Another part?” inquired Sasuke suspiciously.

“We call it Yelbeghen Gehenna,” Ino told him with a lazy maniac smile. He stopped before a giant wooden door guarded by two Ouroboros guards. They immediately got on one knee and bowed their heads in reverence. They then crossed their right arm over their chest and held out two fingers over their heart, the organization’s symbol of allegiance. The two fingers represented the organization’s two core beliefs: Supremacy and Purity.

Ino snapped his fingers and the guards immediately opened the door for them to pass through. Sasuke followed closely behind his brother. Inside, the room was a large circle and had chains hanging down from the ceiling. The only light came from the glass domed ceiling above that was at the same level as a mountain peak. The walls were made of smooth rocks and the floor was a composite of concrete and metal.

The first thing that caught Sasuke’s eyes were the pile of skeletons that were neatly stacked along the walls of the room. It was like they were part of the room’s morbid aesthetic. And judging by their charred color, there was no doubt that they died very terrible deaths caused by magic and supernatural powers.

They walked further into the room and came to a set of stairs that led down to large open area. In the center of it all were three people with their hands chained to the ground. There were two men and one women; one of the men was dressed in Egyptian garbs. Their faces were bruised, their hair were disheveled, their bodies looked tattered and torn, and they wore the looks of sinners awaiting their final release.

“Who are they?” Sasuke asked his brother. He was prepared to hear the word dragons, or dissenters, or even ‘lesser beings’. But what he received in answer instead was something he had never expected to hear. And it made him angry.

“Humans,” Ino told him. Sasuke clenched his fists and his brows furrowed in fury. Ino noticed his expression and smiled. “Still feeling empathetic towards them?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “If you want to fight right now, I will gladly oblige. But don’t think that you’ll be able to defeat your big brother.” Those words rang true in Sasuke’s mind and he stopped. Ino appeared to be disappointed by this reaction and scoffed. He then turned back to the captured humans and said, “Don’t worry. These three right here are the worst scum of the entire human race. They rightfully deserve what’s coming for them.”

“What do you mean?” asked Sasuke.

“They are dragon-slayers,” explained Ino. “They have slayed many of our brethren for no reason at all. They depict us as vile monsters, but they themselves are Devils who butcher the evil and the innocent alike.”

“But that can be said about both sides,” reasoned Sasuke.

“We only take the lives of those who have no need for it,” said Ino. “Humans are evil creatures who have abused their gifts for far too long. Therefore, they no longer deserve to live.” Sasuke was about to say something else when Ino flashed him a glare that silenced him entirely. “These three dragon-slayers have followed our brethren to our realm,” continued Ino. “If we were to leave them to their devices in our realm, who knows how many innocent dragons will be killed by their hands?” He then pointed at each of the prisoners and told Sasuke everything he needed to know about them. “The first pig here is of The Eye of Ra. He has slayed more than thirty of our brethren and have claimed the lives of many innocent law-abiding citizens. Many of his victims were Amarus, Pythons, and Urs. The sow next to him and the other pig are of the same dragon-slayer division: the Order of Saint George. Combined, they have slayed more than fifty dragons and specializes in murdering innocent children and adolescents. They have claimed the lives of many Dracos and Lindworms.”

“What are you going to do to them?” Sasuke asked his brother with a tinge of fear in his voice.

“I am going to judge their crimes,” declared Ino. He turned to the Egyptian man and held out a finger. “Thunder Smite.” Thunder rumbled around the room. Suddenly, a bolt of bright neon blue lightning shot down from the ceiling and struck the Egyptian man, electrocuting his entire body. Sasuke watched in horror as the man let out ear-piercing cries of pain while his body quickly turned into a black crisp. The shock dissipated into nothingness and left only the man’s bare skeleton on the ground. The heat from the lightning bolt had evaporated his flesh and blood.

Sasuke swallowed a hard gulp. He was only a few seconds away from pouring out the insides of his stomach. But the thing that troubled his mind more than seeing the human man die before his very eyes was what his brother just did. “How—?” he asked his brother.

“Oh? Do you mean how I can cast spells with just a simple command?” said Ino. “Being a member of Ouroboros means more than just promoting propaganda and killing worthless humans and lesser beings. I have to credit the years I spent working for the organization for strengthening my magic and training me to achieve this level of magical expertise.” As he explained himself, he was looking at his hand the entire time and flexed it. Once he finished his words, he pointed to the woman and said, “It’s your turn.”

Sasuke was taken aback by his brother’s order. “W-What? You want me to kill her?!”

“To prove your loyalty to Ouroboros,” said Ino.

“Haven’t I proved myself already by joining you?” Sasuke asked him.

Ino ignored his brother and said, “Thunder Smite.”

Once again, thunder rumbled around the room and a giant bolt of bright neon blue lightning shot down to electrocute the woman. Her shrieks and cries made Sasuke sick to his stomach and he had to turn his face away to avoid witnessing another gruesome image. Her skeleton dropped to the floor. Sasuke couldn’t believe just how ruthless his brother was.

“You get one last chance,” Ino told him slowly.

Sasuke turned to the last man. It was clear from the man’s bewildered eyes that he was begging for mercy. After witnessing his comrades dying such quick but painful deaths, the man was beyond terrified like a pig at the slaughter house. He knew his fate was coming, but he desperately didn’t want it to consume him the same way it consumed the others.

Sasuke glanced back at his brother. Ino slowly reached out his hand with his index finger extending outwards. Sasuke quickly turned back to the man. His hand was shaking the entire as he brought it up with his palms faced outwards. He really didn’t want to do this, but he had no choice; Ino was watching. And if he didn’t do this now, Ino would mercilessly kill the man like he did the other two. And worse, Sasuke would lose his brother’s trust—which he had worked so hard to regain. Sasuke looked at the man with the eyes of a reluctant executioner. He gulped and steadied himself. “Ring out thunder and let the world know of Druk’s might! Punish this sinner with your merciful strike. Let them relinquish their evil ways through the power of your purifying grace. Repentant Storm!” An array of thin electrical beams shot out of his palms and struck the man. They attached themselves to his body like tentacles. The man screamed in horror as the electrical tentacles began to simultaneously shock him and absorb his life force to convert them into electrical energy. This feedback loop continued until the man’s body eventually grew withered like a dead tree and his flesh turned to dust. Now, all that was left was his bones.

“Good job,” Ino told him. He then left out of the room.

Sasuke couldn’t believe what he had done. He had taken the life of a human. He had used magic against an unarmed human being and turned them into nothingness. And all for what?—To prevent his brother from discarding him away again? Was this the price he had to pay just to be with his brother again? Can he truly say that he was the same person after committing this sin?