High above the sea of trees, the barefoot silver dragon maiden watched Jenkins with a faint smile. Jenkins wore a conflicted expression; he was certainly happy about this unexpected reunion, but he was also filled with questions.
"Long ti no see. Why... I an, why is it you?"
It wasn't the most polite way to put it, so Jenkins tried to soften his tone. What he ant to convey was his astonishnt that the ritual had, by so incredible coincidence, summoned a dragon he actually knew. He had, after all, only ever t two dragons in his entire life.
"This is no coincidence, nor did I intentionally respond to your summons. It was this that called to ..."
The silver dragon maiden tapped Jenkins over his heart with a slender finger, and understanding dawned on him.
"The Dragon Soul!"
"Yes. You already have an extrely strong affinity for the Dragon Flute ritual. With the Dragon Soul amplifying that connection, I am, in theory, the most powerful dragon you could possibly summon as a mortal. Anything stronger than ... well, it's debatable whether you could even call them dragons," the silver dragon explained.
Although they hadn't spent much ti together during their last encounter, it seed she had already accepted him as a friend.
"You know about the Dragon Soul too?" Jenkins inquired.
"Of course. I've heard a bit about the legend of the Four King Souls from the Star Spirits. Everything from humanity's forging of its own epic mythos, to the thods for fusing the King Souls, and even their origins..." the silver-haired girl listed off, counting on her fingers.
"The four King Souls need to be fused?"
"Of course. You didn't think they'd just rge on their own, did you?"
She looked at Jenkins with her hands behind her back and her head tilted slightly, as if he had asked a ridiculous question.
At a loss for words, Jenkins didn't know how to respond. She had a point. He decided he would simply have to consult the Star Spirit Rakul about it later.
After a mont's thought, he asked about another acquaintance.
"Good point. No one ever said they would fuse automatically. Huh? Where's the princess?"
"I responded to your summons by myself. It's not easy for beings from outside the material world to return these days. I didn't have a proper passage, so I couldn't bring Sophia with ."
"Oh, I think this might be able to help."
As he spoke, Jenkins took out the Silver Spoon and offered it to the silver dragon maiden. He had expected her to say she would be leaving the material world again soon, making it unnecessary to open a passage just for the princess. To his surprise, she accepted the key casually, without the slightest hesitation.
Then she laughed.
"So you had this key all along. Excellent. This can indeed open a temporary door. I'll teach you how to use it and how to pinpoint her location. I can't use it myself."
And so, a few minutes later, the princess the silver dragon maiden called 'Sophia' appeared above the forest canopy. Jenkins recalled a red dragon once ntioning that the silver dragon lord had altered the princess's very form of life so her spouse could live an equally long life. Yet, seeing her now, the ancient princess Sophia still looked entirely human. If not for his Eye of Reality, he would have thought she was identical to the woman he had t countless epochs ago.
"It's been a long ti. Good day, Jenkins."
Like the silver dragon maiden, she used his first na, though the princess was decidedly more formal. After appearing, she joined the dragon in gazing out over the vast sea of trees, finally letting out a long sigh.
"I haven't seen a forest in the material world for many years."
"You two..."
Jenkins wasn't entirely sure how to proceed now that things had taken this turn. He had indeed summoned Anathasia to the material world, and he couldn't very well ask her to leave right away—they were friends, of a sort. Yet, just standing there, he couldn't find the right words. Even if he asked what they were doing here, they would likely just reply:
"You're the one who called here."
"Um..."
He still struggled to find his words, but thankfully, Princess Sophia was very perceptive. He had no idea what they had been doing before entering the material world, but the princess was now dressed in a simple blue and white dress with lace trim, a small silver coronet resting on her head.
"It seems that after you t us, you truly found your purpose in traveling through history. We were relieved to see you appear in your own proper ti. Congratulations on finally conquering that calamity. It was a remarkable achievent."
Her expression was serene, but Jenkins could still faintly see the fragile princess who had once tearfully begged him to fight against the dragon swarm. For him, that had happened only two months ago. For the dragon and the princess, it had been ten thousand years.
"So you knew I wasn't from your ti when we t... No, I didn't defeat it. I think I only made a small contribution, delaying its birth."
Jenkins grew dejected at the ntion of it. A Savior had sacrificed themself to seal the Beast of Calamity, but because of him, the monster had reerged. The history of the material world had veered onto its current path because of his actions. He couldn't begin to imagine how many people had died over the ages because he had unleashed the Beast of Calamity. Jenkins knew it was all his responsibility.
"That was no small contribution."
Princess Sophia winked at the cat on Jenkins's shoulder. Chocolate had no interest in the silver dragon and the princess, rely flicking its tail as a greeting.
"Due to certain past events, we are normally not permitted to enter the material world. But since you were the one who summoned us, it gave us an opportunity. A great deal of ti has passed, but there are so matters we must return to handle. Thank you for helping us once again. We never had the chance to give you a gift to thank you for last ti," the princess added. Jenkins quickly insisted there was no need for thanks. Learning that the Star Spirits knew how to fuse the King Souls was more than enough of a reward.
But then he rembered the gash on his forehead. He reached up to touch his head, then shot the silver dragon maiden a pointed look.
The dragon maiden blushed slightly, which confird she had indeed thrown the stone. She averted her gaze, pretending to be fascinated by the squirrels that were gathering nearby, but Princess Sophia looked at her gently before speaking in a tone that was anything but gentle.
"Anathasia, if you do sothing wrong, you should apologize."
The silver dragon bit her lip, giving her princess a look of slight annoyance before turning to Jenkins and saying earnestly:
"I'm truly sorry about that. I was afraid the old man next to you would beco suspicious, so I threw a stone. It's been a long ti since I've been to the material world, and I'm a little unaccustod to the gravity, so I accidentally..."
Then, catching Jenkins by surprise, she reached out and touched his forehead. After carefully brushing his hair aside and finding no wound, she continued:
"Ah, that's right. You're a priest of the World Tree. A little wound like this would have healed on its own long ago. Well then, as an apology, I'll tell you a secret I probably shouldn't."
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