Chapter 322

“Oh, I got caught!”
“Sita you bastard—!”
Ronan growled. He could taste blood in his mouth from all the running he’d been doing, and Iriel’s eyes flashed with embarrassment when he caught up with him.
“Ro, Ronan?”
“Hey sis—whoa, is business good?”
“Well, yeah, but what happened to you that you were all sweaty—and then all of a sudden, Sita?”
“That’s literally Sita in your arms right now, humanized.”
“What?!”
Iriel’s eyes widened. Ronan snatched the cup of water from the guest next to him and gulped it down.
“Profit…!”
“Phew–damn, now I’m going to live.”
I could feel the cold water sliding down my heated esophagus. I hadn’t sweated like this since the war with Nebula Clazier. Ronan wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve.
“Then why is your face so red, did you kiss that Schlieffen bastard?”
“Hey, what are you talking about, it’s just the heat!”
“Oh my God, I was just kidding.”
Ronan waggled his eyebrows. Iril covered her flushed face with both hands and turned away. Schlieffen remained completely frozen, mouth agape. Just then, a young man stepped through the front door.
“Finally found it.”
“Okay. Thank you, Ir.”
“I thought I told you not to call me that.”
Itargand frowned. The youngest son of the Navardoze was still enrolled at the Phileon Academy.
“Let’s get past that. How do you sit there singing the five letters of Itargand every time?”
“What an insolent bastard—.”
Ronan’s winglessness is due in no small part to Ithargand, who uses magic to give him real-time information about Sita’s location and triples his running speed.
‘I hope we don’t run into each other.
Ronan breathed a sigh of relief. The barely real Iriel looked down at Sita and asked, “What is it?
“Are you sure it’s Sita?”
“Yep. Busted.”
“Wow–so cute! You look almost as pretty as Ronan did when he was little.”
Iril pulled Sita into a hug. It was absurd, but strangely believable. Sita purred, her eyes still closed, and then she spoke.
“Thank you for always being so good.”
“Ehehe, what’s wrong with you?”
“I’m telling you, I was so happy to be with you, and now that I’m a big boy, I can’t get in the house, but I just wanted to tell you.”
Sita buried her face in Iril’s arms once more. Suddenly, moisture formed in her eyes. Memories of their days together flashed through her mind.
One afternoon, after their daily meals and sleepovers and dozing off while stroking Sita on her lap, Iril lifted her apron and wiped her eyes.
“What do you mean–you’ve been protecting me.”
In retrospect, Sita spent much more time with her than Ronan. It was Sita’s job to watch over Iril in Ronan’s absence.
And Sita performed her mission admirably. It was a touching scene, but Ronan was not willing to waste any more time. The polymorph magic wouldn’t last forever. He crossed his arms and opened his mouth.
“Anyway, we’re done playing hide and seek. Come here.”
“Hee hee–I wanted to play more.”
Sitha bowed his head deeply. He pulled away from Iril and turned toward Ronan. Thank goodness you caught him somehow. Ronan was just about to drag Sita away.
“Come on, let’s play a little longer!”
“What?”
Suddenly, Sita’s four wings exploded open. His blurred form shot forward.
Ronan’s eyes widened. He stretched out his arm in desperation, but Sita brushed past him, her fingertips barely touching his. In a flash, she was out of the restaurant, past Itargand, and stopped at the curb.
“Ahhhhh, I won’t get caught this time!”
“Damn it, I can’t stand right now!”
He was caught off guard. Cursing, Ronan rushed out of the restaurant. Sita, with her tongue playfully out of her mouth, was about to take flight.
There was no time to pull the Auror back. We had to take a gamble, like it or not, and I’m not sure it’s going to work,” Ronan exclaimed, eyes widening as he switched power sources.
“I told you to stop!”
“Huh?”
At that moment, Sita’s world went dark. Nothing could be seen or heard in the darkness. Even the wind had fallen silent and left his side.
“Oh, Dad?”
Sita cringed at the eerie sensation. The pressure of being alone weighed heavily on him, and it seemed like this had happened once more today.
“Huh—?”
Sita felt a sudden stab of flesh, turned her head, and froze. Ronan was nowhere to be seen, and a giant black lion glared at her.
“Come down.”
“Bam!”
The snake said. A new scream burst from Sita’s mouth. Her unconscious body fell limply to the ground. With a swift fling, Ronan caught Sita.
“Pow—pow—pow.”
“Holy shit, I can’t believe I’m using this here.”
Sita was playing like she was having a nightmare. It was going to be a while before she woke up, Ronan thought with a self-deprecating laugh.
Everything I learned from Nabirozé. I knew I would use it someday, but I didn’t expect to use it while playing games.
“I got it anyway, so what the heck.
At least he was able to grab Sita. Having accomplished his primary objective, he turned to go back to the car, when a bizarre voice from behind him grabbed his leg.
“Gurgle-gurgle-gurgle.”
“Ah.”
Ronan turned his head and stiffened like a statue. The men in front of him had been stunned when he unleashed Mansa.
“Uh, Mother—.”
Directly in front of him, Ithargand was biting down on a bubble, and behind him, Iril, Schlieffen, and Jozef stared at him in disbelief. Ronan wiped a hand across his face and muttered softly.
“Shit.”
****
Unsurprisingly, the situation was quickly resolved. Ronan’s inexperience in all things was a blessing in disguise. Ronan apologized to Iril and the guests and left.
“Sorry. You’ve ruined my business.”
“No. I don’t know why, but everyone seemed to like it, not dislike it, and they said they’d come back again.”
The stunned customers left declaring that they would be returning customers. They all had one thing in common: they had all been briefly nursed by Iril. Barely swallowing what he wanted to say, Ronan turned away.
“That’s not easy–I have to go. Take care, sister.”
“Ronaldo is a pain. He comes every other day anyway. Next time Sita turns human, be sure to bring him!”
Ronan picked up the stunned Sitha and made his way to Pileon, the sunset coloring the sky and the streets. They reached the gates. Sita groaned and opened her eyes.
“Ooohhh—.”
“Are you awake?”
“—Dad?”
Sita shook her head. Her head felt dizzy, as if she’d been flying through turbulence. It wasn’t long before she realized what was happening and buried her face in Ronan’s back, whimpering.
“I got caught. I was so confident.”
“It’s because you look at your dad funny—no wait, why am I your dad, do you want to keep doing that?”
“Can’t we call it that?”
Sita lowered her head, frowning. It seemed like she’d become an asshole so quickly. Ronan sighed, his lips twisting together.
“Well, whatever, I won’t be able to talk when I get back to my original form anyway.”
“Yeehaw, yeah.”
“But if I’m the dad, who’s the mom, the furry tweety?”
Ronan asked nervously. It was Marpez, Varen’s dream bird, who had laid Sita’s egg in the first place.
He was worried that she was getting involved in a scandal with the birds. Sita shook her head slowly.
“No. Márquez is a friend. And a transmitter.”
“Loremaster?”
“Uh, yeah. I don’t know what to say in human terms, I mean—who gave you a home to be born in?”
“That’s hard. Who’s your mom then?”
“No. Ronan is my dad and mom, because he gave me the dream.”
Ronan frowned at the unintelligible words. Apparently, dreambirds and human common sense differed in many ways. Sita rubbed her cheek against Ronan’s back as she recalled the events of the day.
“Hehe, anyway, I had a great time today, are we going back to Varen now?”
“Ugh. You should.”
“Woof—hey Dad, can we stop by somewhere?”
“Where? I don’t mind, as long as it doesn’t take long.”
“I can’t get there on foot. Wait!”
With that, Sita suddenly spread her wings. Hwaah! Ronan’s body was instantly lifted into the air. He laughed in disbelief as he suddenly found himself flying.
“You’re a dirty worker.”
“Hee hee hee, right?”
Sita giggled. She may have been smaller as a polymorph, but she seemed to have retained some of her strength. Gliding across the sky, they landed atop one of the towers of Phileon Academy.
“Is it a secret base?”
“Yeah! My favorite part of the place!”
Sita smiled. Sure enough, the gently sloping roof was littered with black feathers.
“—That’s good.”
Ronan whistled as he surveyed his surroundings. The vast expanse of Pileon Academy came into view, the landscape he’d been indebted to for years blazing in the setting sun.
With their backs to the sun, the buildings and spires looked like shadows plucked from the earth. The cooling evening breeze ruffled his hair. Ronan gazed at the view like a man possessed by something.
“You know, when I was still an egg, my dad’s memories flowed into me.”
“What?”
“I remember every detail,” he says, “and he was always so sad, and he would say to me, when he was still sleeping, ‘I’m so sad.
Ronan flinched. When he looked back, Sita’s eyes were closed tightly. Her thin lips slowly curled.
“I wanted to save them. I didn’t want them to die in front of my eyes. If only I could stop the bleeding, if only I knew how to fix this wound, no one would have to die.”
“What—.”
“I wanted to fly, I was helpless before the flying giant, only I can cut his bald head, but my sword can’t reach up there.”
Ronan’s eyes widened. These were words he’d kept to himself after the hell of his previous life.
“I don’t care if I’m covered in blood, if I can keep everyone safe, that’s enough, so don’t die on my watch anymore.”
Paaaaah! Suddenly, Sita’s body began to glow. The polymorph spell was about to be broken. Sita didn’t seem to mind.
“So I was born, to live, to fly, to bleed for everyone. I drank my father’s dream.”
It seemed to make sense now. Sita’s powers were everything she craved. Healing powers that could save her dying comrades, flight powers that could call down flying giants. Truly, she was worthy of the name Dreambird.
“Thank you for showing me the dream. It was short but I really enjoyed it. I’ll never forget this day….”
Suddenly, Sita trailed off. A long shadow fell over the tower’s roof. Ronan, who had been watching the sunset in silence, spoke up.
“I had a good time, too.”
“Pahhhh.”
I heard a familiar cry. Ronan turned his head and saw Sita, who had returned to her true form. Ronan stroked her cheek as she nuzzled against him, muttering softly to himself.
“You are me, Sita.”