Flora let out a soft sigh before placing her hand on her chest.
"In order to read a person's fate, I need to put my mana inside of a their heart. But it seems that yours had a barricade."
Everie gulped down before placing a hand on his chest.
"But no worries. I'm sure there are other ways I can help you!"
"How so…?"
Flora thought about it for a while before her eyes sparkled.
"Oh! How about an item. Do you have anything with you?"
Suddenly, Everie thought of the snapped blade that was in his bag. He pulled it out of his robe then handed it to Flora with doubt.
"If there's at least a hint of your mana on this item, I'm sure I can get a little scene of your past…"
Flora took a deep breath before placing her hand at the tip of the blade. Everie silently watched her, hoping it'd work.
Then, Flora saw a vision, a blurry one.
—
It looked like the royal palace. Two men. Swords in their hands.
Their appearences were foggy but the sound of the conversation was clear.
"You've lost, Everie," a man spoke with his sword pointed to the other man's throat who seemed to be Everie.
Then he mumbled. But just loud enough for someone close to hear.
"You're nothing without your power."
—
Flora let out a deep breath once the scene came to an end. She looked up at Everie with wide eyes before gritting her teeth.
Everie could only tilt his head in confusion.
"So…? What did you see—"
"You— Why are you here?!" she asked with her voice raised as she suddenly got up.
He looked shocked at her sudden change in personality then stood up, still confused.
"Sorry?"
"You… You don't belong here! Just go back to your damned palace!"
Before Everie could make another move, he was already kicked out of her flower shop. Just standing in the middle of the town with tons of questions in his head.
'What did she saw? Why did she got so angry? What did she meant by the palace?'
He looked at his shaky hands then clenched it tight.
"I… have to figure this out myself then."
As he walked home, he gripped on his robe tight.
'The seal in my heart… Could it be the reason I'm powerless? And the palace…'
He groaned before looking back at the blade inside of his bag.
'Each nation except Elzàr has a palace. There are around 4 other nations in this kingdom… Which one could I possibly belong in?!'
With his eyes not on the road, he accidentally bumped into a person. Maybe not really a person but he was indeed familiar.
"Master? Is that you?"
Everie gripped his blade tight before looking up at the man infront of him with a fake smile.
'Why did it have to be you of all people in this town?!'
Ciel smiled brightly in return.
"What a small nation we live in! Haha!"
"Yeah. Very. Goodbye."
He couldn't leave when Ciel was grabbing tightly on his arm.
"Awh, are you really leaving me like this? I wanted to have a conversation with you over drinks... Maybe we could even get closer!"
Everie wanted to refuse, but the second he heard of drinks, his body became weak.
—
Just as he thought Ciel was going to bring him to a tavern, he found himself at a café instead.
'Huh? I clearly heard him say drinks.'
"Could we get strawberry milkshakes, please? Oh, and some garlic bread!" ordered Ciel to a waiter then stretched his body.
"Luckily, it's cloudy outside or else I would have burned to death!"
"By drinks… you meant milkshakes?"
Ciel looked up at the devasted Everie with an innnocent smile.
"Hm? Yeah. What else could I have possibly meant?"
Everie laughed nervously at himself before slamming his head hard on the table. But then he peeked up at Ciel.
"And I thought vampires hated garlics?"
Ciel's eyes widened in shock as if he had never heard of it before.
"What?! They do?! Oh, they're missing out on a lot of things!"
Everie kept silent before observing Ciel from head to toe.
'He looks completely healthy yet he doesn't.'
"What's a vampire doing here anyway? I thought you guys belonged in another nation."
Ciel glanced up at Everie nervously before nodding.
"Mhm… We do. I just got a little lost a few years ago."
Everie raised an eyebrow up but before he could ask again, the food had already arrived.
"Oh, finally! I was starving!"
He refrained himself from asking when he saw how happy Ciel was as he sipped on his drink.
Ciel glanced up from his glass to look at Everie who was sipping his drink with a frown.
"Hm? Is it too cold?" he asked in concern.
Clearly, the look on Everie's face the second he gulped down the milkshake was disgust.
"No…"
He hated sweet things!
"Just… fine."
Ciel's bright expression came back on his face then continued to finish his drink in seconds.
As Everie looked around at the café, a person suddenly bumped into his back.
"Sorry," the person muttered.
At first, he didn't mind it as the person looked like he was in a rush. Not until his body suddenly felt like it was burning. He felt a surge of high amount of mana rushed inside of him.
"Kergh—" he groaned. Making Ciel glanced up at him in shock.
"M-master?!"
Then the world became dark for Everie. His eyes closed shut but once again, it wasn't just an endless voice. There was a clear voice.
—
"You're an amazing person, Everie. You'd make a great ?!&@!!" a boy said. A boy with golden hair.
But even with the brightest smile, his hand clenched tight on a wooden sword. As if he was holding a grudge that no one knew. But Everie did know.
He just hid it from the boy with golden hair.
'You're pitiful, ####. But I promise, I'll still see you as my own family. Even if you betray me again in another life.'
—
He was woken up in shock when he felt cold water splashed on top of him.
"Ah! It's cold—!"
"Hngh… Master, I thought you had died…" cried Ciel, hugging a bucket tight in his arms.
Everie felt the heat of embarrassment filled up to his face when he noticed how everyone at the café was now staring at the drenched him.
"Ciel…" muttered Everie.
"H-huh? Are you okay now, master?"
Then there were words from a few people at the other tables:
"That boy just called him master… Slavery is still a thing around here?" whispered a woman.
"Tsk! Causing such a scene on my peaceful day!" groaned another man.
Everie grabbed Ciel by the ear with his fakest smile.
"We should leave now, right?"
Ciel could only nod, still clueless of what his action had caused.
The vampire initiated to pay with money which was probably stolen by his victims then he was dragged all the way to the alley Everie found him at.
"Well then, goodbye to you—"
"Master, wait!"
Everie turned to Ciel with a bored face then sighed. But Ciel still kept his smile.
"Thank you for today. It's been a long time since I had drank milkshakes with someone else."
He kept silent hearing Ciel expressing his gratefulness but there was a sense of relief inside of him. Yet he still kept his cold face.
"Not that big of a deal…"
But as he left, he stopped his pace. Without turning back, he spoke again.
"But treat me to real drinks next time," then continued his walk.
Ciel who was left dumbfounded tilted his head at the Everie who was slowly dissapearing from his view.
"Real drinks…? Did he meant… a smoothie?"
—
But the dragon went home with doubts in his head. His mind flashed the memory of what he saw when he was out cold.
'I know that boy clearly, but I can't remember him. Could it be… the seal is preventing me from remembering my own memory as well?'
He clenched his robe tight then walked home as quick as he could. Because he knew he had to solve the mystery of the seal as quick as possible.
—
Dean's house was empty once he arrived. He went to the room he was staying in then took off the cloth around his head. He looked at the small mirror on the desk beside his bed then stared at his golden eye. Reminding himself who he is. Or perhaps who he could have been if only the seal in his heart did not exist.
—
Dragons are the most powerful being in this world. The mana inside of dragons are enough the crush the entire world. The feeling of fire burning from your head to the tip of your fingers, it was an amazing power. Making them always stay at the top of the food chain. And that alone explained how rare and divine a dragon is.
But with great powers, come danger.
—
Everie clutched his head from the overbearing pain then lied down on his bed.
'As much as I want to lay low here… The visions I had could happen in the future without my knowing. If I'm really a powerful being…'
He grit his teeth as he closed his eyes.
'Then I have to stop it. Even with the seal in my heart.'
To Be Continued…