Darbi removed the communication device from his ear and switched it off. He didn't care that it was a foolish move: by now he was sure that neither Haku nor Rhaegal was in any danger. Considering the arachnes enemies would be paranoid based on what he'd heard; he had listened to every single word his siblings had heard from the moment they had arrived in the underground city until Akenothustar had finished his speech, therefore he was sure of his choice and of his judgment. Also, he thought that now was the time to give his siblings some privacy, since from what he'd heard in the last few moments, they seemed somewhat perturbed.
Well, he was a little shaken up too, he had to admit. He wasn't sure he had understood everything Akenothustar had said to them (knowing himself, he probably hadn't understood even half of the speech), but he had understood the essentials and that was what mattered. He didn't even know what to start thinking about: the fact that under his paws was the largest dungeon in the world, the fact that there had been a civilization where dragons and newcomers coexisted, the fact that the gods were invaders or rather usurpers, that looking into the future was possible, that the God of Knowledge was friends with the enemy dragon commander, or that they foresaw their lives and made them exist and go in a certain direction. Yes, there really was a lot to think about. Darbi felt his head explode. He'd never been very good at thinking, after all...
In the end, Darbi decided to do as he used to do: he stopped trying to think and let his mind be guided by instinct. The first question he asked himself, or rather that his subconscious asked him, was what civilization was like between dragons and newcomers. Darbi knew that a civilization of dragons had existed in the past, and had often tried to imagine what it was like; but even though he had often thought of cities and buildings of absurd and incredible shapes, suited to the lifestyle of dragons, he had never felt a particular attraction to that society. Besides the fact that it no longer existed, it reminded him too much of any other society: one species or race in command of everything, and all others excluded. On the contrary, the civilization between dragons and newcomers that was born after the catastrophe of the second sun fascinated him: different species and races all gathered together, working to help each other, each with a well-defined social role that could only lead to the most absolute well-being, gathered in huge alabaster cities where no one suffered from hunger and no one died of cold in winter, governed from above by benevolent and wise dragons. Akenothustar had spoken of a civilization aimed at art, music and philosophy, in a continuous search for improvement and increase in their knowledge. Darbi hoped the old dragon had made sure to record some image of the ancient cities in one of those tablets, since he had claimed that within was contained the lore of his civilization; he would have liked to see them. The city of the arachnes in part mirrored that ancient ideal, in that it was built with engineering and architecture unmatched anywhere Darbi had hitherto visited or heard of, and was covered everywhere with art forms such as paintings and sculptures; and all this had been created by one race. A truly perfect civilization like Akenothustar's surely would have been thousands of times more splendid and extraordinary than that of the arachnes, which, Darbi was sure, could be at best a bad copy of it. Darbi had always been a dreamer, and he had always liked making friends with people different from himself, so he couldn't help but wish he could see for himself that civilization where friendship, beauty, cooperation and knowledge dominated. It was really a shame it didn't survive the time... or the gods.
While Darbi was thinking about this, and imagining huge theaters where orchestras with musicians of all races composed exotic and magnificent music while huge dragons sang in a wild and ancient tune like the one his sister Finiar used to sing, or imagining immense alabaster towers connected between them by marble bridges where newcomers walked quietly and perches where dragons landed after a peaceful flight, he noticed out of the corner of his eye someone coming out of the cave where he and his siblings dwelt; he was sitting not far from it, so it was not difficult for him to notice. It didn't take him long to realize that those who had emerged from this cave were his sisters Tikka and Teramon. Apparently, they must have been really shocked at what they'd heard.
Well, actually the situation wasn't all positive… some of what they had heard was very negative. It was natural that they were upset. Darbi wasn't sure how to react knowing that his birth and that of his siblings had been planned by someone; it really didn't bother him much. After all, a birth was always something planned: whether it was by the will of the parents or by that of the farmer who forced the animals to mate, a birth was always something that was decided in advance. Even unplanned births, in which the female became pregnant after casual intercourse, were still something that was beyond the will of the unborn child. So, Darbi didn't feel too different from usual in thinking that Akenothustar and the God of Knowledge had had a hand in it: sure, it wasn't nice that they had done it because they were convinced that they could defeat the gods, but otherwise it wasn't very different from any birth. Darbi didn't feel that his life was being manipulated because of it. In a certain sense, he actually didn't care about that. After all, Akenothustar had intervened only this time: for the rest, their lives had been theirs, and the decisions they had made were theirs and theirs alone. Sure, the God of Knowledge had tried to intervene a time or two… but otherwise, they'd done everything because they wanted to. Still, he doubted that all his siblings would think so.
And then there was the other matter, which was that Akenothustar and the God of Knowledge had birthed them because they were meant to defeat the gods. Or rather, because they had the best chance of defeating the gods. Or not? Darbi wasn't sure if Akenothustar had chosen them because they were the best warriors of the many that could be born or because they were the only ones who stayed together and therefore were more likely to understand the importance of helping each other and thus rebuilding the civilization they had. lost not as a tyranny of dragons, but as an equal relationship between the various races, just as Akenothustar and Balagaberan before him wanted. In any case, it was a terrifying prospect to say the least… but Darbi was strangely unafraid. After all, they'd always gotten away with it one way or another. He was confident that once again they would be able to meet and overcome any challenges that would come their way, whether they chose to follow Akenothustar's plan or not. A single dragon was difficult to bring down, an entire family was even more so; sure, the dri had defeated a civilization, but they had done it when the dragons still didn't know how to fight them; had the dragons been able to deal with them from the start, Darbi was sure the war would have ended differently. Therefore, he was convinced that now that they had access to Akenothustar's ancient knowledge, they would have a better chance than their predecessors.
Maybe he should have gone to talk to Tikka and Teramon? He followed their tracks to the exit of the oasis, but there he noticed that the two of them seemed to be solving the matter on their own. He decided it was best to let her deal with the situation without intervening; rather, it was now her duty to warn her other sisters as well. After all, at the moment only five family members knew what Akenothustar had revealed; by removing the four hibernating sisters, there still remained eight who needed to be notified. Darbi went back and called all the remaining sisters, who soon joined him, some in their true dragon form, others with simply their avatars. Once they were all together, Darbi told them everything, trying not to leave out any detail. When he was done, everyone looked shocked. "I don't believe it... you're kidding us, aren't you? There's no way such a thing could be true!" Kialandì exclaimed, remaining open-mouthed.
Darbi shrugged. "I assure you it's all true. Our siblings are now… dealing with the situation"
His sisters looked at each other with eyes somewhere between shocked and depressed. "So… our lives were predicted by a dragon who lived twenty thousand years ago and a god who wasn't quite sure which part to side with?" Corgorin murmured, losing her usual arrogant attitude for a moment. "Am I the only one who feels... used?"
"No, I think that's the common sentiment of all of us" Finiar grumbled with a certain note of anger in her voice. "Apparently, we were literally born for nothing more than to fulfill the goals and plans set forth by these two ancient beings. Everything we have done so far in our lives, we have done for them. I wish they were here to spit in their face..."
Darbi bit her lip. He could clearly see in which direction the conversation was likely to go. "It's not like that! We weren't born just for this!" he hastened to say. "In short, those two made us born for this... but they have no power over us! Akenothustar clearly said that the future isn't really written! I didn't quite understand the words he used, but it seems to me that he compared to a channel with different outlets or something. Anyway, they just made us born! Everything else was our choice!"
"Our choice which, however, has gone exactly as they wanted so far!" Serengal growled. "We're here now, aren't we? We're in this desert just like they predicted! We may have chosen our own path, but it's exactly the one they wanted…and I don't like that! It seems to me we've been treated like pawns!"
Darbi let out a snort. Yes, indeed it was a very unpleasant feeling now that he noticed it. Why hadn't he thought of that before? Because he wasn't good at thinking, of course. "Well... it's true, it's not nice. But just because it's been like this so far doesn't mean it will be like this in the future. And even if we have to meet their expectations, it will still be because we want it to, not because they wanted it Do you think we should feel bad that we are building this community together since that was the will of the newcomers? No, because we want this too! And here it is the same! Akenothustar and the God of Knowledge cannot force us to do anything , we alone make our own decisions! I'm not saying that we shouldn't be angry with them... but we shouldn't consider ourselves pawns, because we totally aren't!"
His sisters seemed to reflect on his words. They didn't really look very convinced, but at least they were a little dubious. At least Darbi hoped it was a good sign. There was silence for a while, then Keita asked: "So what do we do now?"
Darbi didn't know the answer to that question. After all, he only gave advice based on what was on his mind at the moment, he didn't know what to answer to a direct question. In fact, he hadn't even thought about it until now. Yeah, what should they do? Akenothustar had said what he had to say, and now how were they to behave? His gaze fell on the communication device in his hand. "Let's find out" he said turning it on and putting it to his ear, connecting again to the one currently in Haku's possession, and also activating image sharing to be able to see everything.