The man who stepped through the dimensional corridor was 1,82 meters (6') tall, with handsome features and the lean but muscular build of a warrior. His pale skin highlighted his blonde hair and sapphire-blue eyes, which, along with his refined clothes, gave him a noble appearance.
The stranger knew the safety protocols of the house and waited for someone to e and deactivate the arrays that would trigger the moment he stepped off the raised platform.
All Warp Gates linked to the Kingdom's dimensional network were susceptible to the Royal Override, but the rest of the Mansion had no such vulnerability.
'I know how much Lith likes his privacy and hates uninvited guests.' The visitor thought. 'I tried to inform him of my arrival, but he doesn't respond to his amulet, and neither does Solus.
'I can't stay here all day, so I'll call Morok and hope I'm not ruining a convoluted plan of any sort.'
"Who are you and how did you get my contact rune?" The Tyrant didn't recognize the stranger, and his resemblance to Jirni made him suspicious.
'This could be a ploy of the Gernoffs to get to my mildly esteemed mother-in-law.' He thought. 'I don't really care for her, but I don't want to see Quylla cry.'
"It's me, you moron!" The stranger said. "How could you have already forgotten about your Awakened mentor? I'm Ajatar the Drak- I mean, the Sapphire Dragon. This is the form I take to use human facilities, remember?"
"You sure sound like Master Ajatar, but you don't look like him." Morok replied. "Give me a second."
He zoomed in on the hologram until the only thing left were Ajatar's eyes.
"That's really you! I'd recognize your annoyed glare among thousands. I swear to the gods, it always gives me the impression you are wondering whether to bite my head off and check if I need it or it's just for decoration."
"That's… surprisingly accurate, but beyond the point." Ajatar snorted. "I'm at the Warp Gate, Morok. You can confirm my energy signature just by looking at me with Life Vision."
"Why didn't you…" Morok tried and failed to access the Watchtower and identify the intruder. "Oh, right. You couldn't possibly know."
"What are you talking about?" Ajatar asked as the Tyrant Warped to his position and manually added the Sapphire Dragon's energy signature to the list of those authorized to move freely through the Mansion. "Also, why can't I feel the you-know-what?"
"It's a long story." Morok used a mind link to bring Ajatar up to speed with the changes in the tower after its latest breakthrough.
'Can I see it, or is there the risk someone might follow us to the keep and discover Solus' secret?' The Sapphire Dragon asked.
'More like the risk that Lith kills us both.' Morok replied. 'The tower's defensive systems are down when he uses the Lodestar, including the Veil. You are a Dragon now, Master Ajatar, and I don't think Lith would like you taking a peek at his depowered tower.'
'I'll ask Lith for a tour when I see him, then.' Ajatar replied. 'Can I see my godchildren?'
'Of course, but let's use words from now on.' Morok said. 'Jirni is already plenty suspicious as she is. She knows there's something off with this place, and I'd rather not throw oil into the fire by getting caught talking in a lengthy mind link.'
"Do you think Orikan and Jirya have forgotten about me during my absence?" Ajatar asked.
"I don't know. I don't remember anything of the time when I was their age, but I was just a regular Tyrant back then." Morok shrugged. "Orikan and Jirya might remember you, but I doubt they are going to recognize you dressed like that."
"Only one way to find out." Ajatar stepped through Morok's Warp Steps and reached the Mansion's Park.
"Kids, guess who has e to visit?" The twins were busy trying to break out of the Doomslayer crib when their father's voice reached them.
They froze like deer in headlights for a split second before dropping to the floor and acting innocent.
"Take notes, Master Ajatar. Whenever you hear my children cooing and giggling, it means you've almost caught them red-handed." Morok said as he unlocked the crib's magical seals. "They were up to something, but we'll never know what."
"How can you be so sure?" Ajatar asked in confusion. "They are just babies."
"No, they are very smart babies who play dumb only when they know what they were doing was wrong and want to avoid being scolded. Am I right?"
The twins nodded, happy for the pliment and already oblivious of what they had attempted just a few seconds ago.
'Father of All Dragons, they are brilliant idiots, just like their father!' Ajatar thought.
"That's right, my cuties." Morok took the babies in his arms. "Do you recognize this handsome stranger?"
The twins turned to look at the Sapphire Dragon, staring at him with an expression of utter focus.
Orikan's eyes went wide, and he spoke words that no one older than four months could understand. Jirya argued back and forth with her twin for a while until they both took flight and sniffed their godfather to confirm his identity.
Once they were done, they clung to Ajatar, pulling at his cheeks with their small Tyrant claws and expressing their disappointment with angry noises. They ended their examination by painting Ajatar's blue with the light from Orikan's eye and retching.
"I'm so sorry, Ajatar." Orion tried and failed to keep a smirk from appearing on his face. "They still remember you, but they resent you for leaving. Babies so small have no concept of duty or extraordinary circumstances.
"Whenever they don't see someone for a while, they either forget about them or feel abandoned."
"No, they are saying they prefer Ajatar covered in scales." Morok replied as the kids blew raspberries and gave the Sapphire Dragon a thumbs-down. "This is not a nice thing to do, children. You are going overboard. You made yourself clear with the retching."
Ajatar shapeshifted into a humanoid Dragon form while staring Orion in the eyes.
The twins erupted in cheers and baby babble, charging at Ajatar like small rockets. He didn't like the bites and the attempts to rip his scales off much, but Orion's disgruntled expression was priceless.
"I missed you too." The Sapphire Dragon moved his gaze to the babies as he caressed their hair. "I brought you a gift to remember me by until the next time."
He handed them two identical sapphire scales the size of a napkin, framed with a thin layer of Adamant. Orikan and Jirya couldn't believe their eyes and bit the scales to confirm it wasn't just a dream.
The scales, or rather the fragments of Ajatar's scales, were real, and the twins unwittingly imprinted them while biting them with all their strength.
"Isn't it a bit early for you to molt?" Morok asked.
"It is, and I didn't." Ajatar replied. "I chipped my scales more than once during sparring sessions, and those are just two fragments that I collected and shaped to look like perfect scales.
"I cut them to the millimeter to make them identical and ensure Orikan and Jirya won't argue over them."
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