Journey of the Sanses

Chapter 7: The Falsehood Of A Draconian

When Geno woke up to the light of dawn shining in his eye sockets, he slowly raised his skull off of his pillow to search for Sera. His blurry eyes fell upon the pink Draconian, who was still sleeping on the side of the spire that was opposite to him. She was curled up into a ball, much like an animal would when sleeping.

"Oh my gosh, she looks so adorable," instantly came into his mind, but he immediately blushed intensely upon the aforementioned thought. It was somewhat bizarre how, despite the fact that Geno barely knew Sera, he was already falling in love with her.

He even felt like wrapping his arms around her and cuddling with her, but he didn't want to risk waking her up. So he left her alone, but he did watch Sera slumber peacefully as if she were living in a world without war. However, nearly everyone in the Multiverse knew that the current situation in their amalgamated realm was anything but peaceful.

As the bright sun rose higher up into the horizon, Sera started to stir in her sleep. When Geno caught sight of his new friend's motion, he instinctively rushed over to her side to make sure that she was alright.

Sera slowly opened her eyes and fluttered her eyelashes to get rid of the bleary drowsiness in her sapphire-blue irises. She sleepily moaned softly. "Ugh, Geno..." He gently hushed her, "Shush, it's going to be okay," although he didn't exactly know why he did so.

The pink Draconian slowly but surely got herself up, then stretched out her reptilian body and wings to rid herself of any kinks that she might have received from sleeping on the spire. She then used her paws to rub off the last remnants of sleep in her eyes.

Once she completed the aforementioned action, she yawned immensely. Sera turned to Geno in a friendly manner but she didn't walk towards him, as she wasn't entirely sure that he trusted her. Geno, seeing her hesitation, gave her a reassuring smile that silently said, "Don't worry, I trust you". With that, Sera walked up to her new friend but stopped short a few inches in front of him to give Geno his personal space.

The two of them stayed silent for a few moments before Sera gently spoke up. "Geno... are you feeling any better?" It took him a few moments to register and answer her question, as he was still rather drowsy. "Ummm, I... guess so." The pink Draconian smiled in relief before turning her head to the sun that was now burning brightly high in the sky, signifying that it was currently morning.

"Heh, I didn't think that I'd ever get up this early. I usually sleep until noon," Sera said. She then turned around to face Geno with a hopeful expression. "We're friends, right? I mean, we don't have to be if you don't want to..." He was shocked to hear that from Sera, as he knew for a fact that only true friends took care of each other like she had for Geno last night.

"Of course we're friends, Sera," he replied. "Heck, we could even be best friends, if you like." Sera's expression brightened up with joy. "Really?!" Geno nodded his head in confirmation. Sera continued. "Th-thank you. I've... never really had a friend before, much less a best friend."

He smiled for a brief moment at her acceptance of his friendship, but after hearing Sera mention the fact about being friendless, it wilted into a concerned frown. "Why... didn't you have any friends?" He really hoped that Sera wouldn't be offended by that question.

Fortunately, she didn't take it the wrong way and answered him in a rueful tone of voice. "Because everyone else always thought that I was a freak." Geno's eyes widened in shock upon hearing her response to his question.

He personally thought that Sera was the exact opposite of a freak - she was beautiful, kind, and compassionate. Why anyone would think otherwise about her appearance and personality was beyond him. However, the blank expression on the pink Draconian's face suggested that there was truth in her words and that she had a story to tell. He gave her a patient grin that showed that he was willing to listen to her.

When she saw his smile, she took a deep breath before speaking. "I'm not a real Draconian, Geno," she said. "I used to be a human." Geno, stunned from what Sera had just said, nervously muttered. "W-w-wait, what?" Sera, seeing his shock, continued on with her backstory.

"You know about how Yekel died, right?" Geno nodded. "Well, it just so happened that he passed away at the same time that I was born," she stopped before continuing. "Apparently, Yekel chose me to be his incarnation. When he did that, I turned into... well, this," she said, pointing at herself with one of her thumbs.

Sera continued. "Despite what happened, my parents took care of me and treated me like I was still a human, even though other people weren't as... accepting," she said, with tears gathering in her eyes. "Eventually... those people killed my parents and exiled me. I've had to live here ever since then, without anyone to help me." Crystal clear tears were now dripping down her cheeks. Geno instantly rushed over to the pink Draconian and gently hugged her reassuringly. "Shush, it's going to be alright. I'm here for you."

Geno felt so guilty now, because while Sera had been desperately in need of friends, he'd been ignoring his own friends like they meant absolutely nothing to him. "Well... if I'm not going to tell my friends about what I've been doing to myself and how I've been feeling lately, I might as well tell Sera."

When Sera had stopped crying, Geno positioned his head so that he was looking at Sera straight in the eyes. "Sera... I want you to listen to me very carefully. I need you to promise me that no matter what I say or what you see, you won't tell anyone, not even my friends. Okay?" Sera nodded her head in agreement. "A-all right." Geno then backed up a short distance away from her before pulling down his sleeves to reveal his self-inflicted injuries.

Sera was immediately shocked and scurried up to him to grasp his hands. "G-Geno, why?! Why did you do this to yourself?!" She was crying again, but for a different reason. "Please... tell me why," she pleaded. Geno closed his eyes and took a deep breath before answering her.

"B-before I met you, I... always felt like I was useless to everyone," he continued in a shaky voice. "Because of that, I either cried myself to sleep or... harmed myself. But when you took care of me last night, I finally felt like I was worthy of living for once. And when you told me your backstory, I felt like... I needed to return the favor."

Tears were now gathering in his own eye sockets, threatening to slide down his cheeks. Sera caught sight of them and opened up her arms in a welcoming manner. "It's alright, Geno. I'm here for you too," she said as he silently lumbered into her embrace. "Just... cry on me if you need to."

Upon those words, Geno started bawling into her chest. She gently rubbed his back reassuringly and spoke softly. "Shush, just let it all out, Geno. Just let it all out." Sera then wrapped her tail around him in a protective manner, and propped her head up onto Geno's skull to simultaneously further comfort him and keep on the lookout for any guards who might be watching them. But little did the pink Draconian know that she was already being watched.

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Queen Drackallia watched in cruel amusement as she glanced upon the scene of Sera and Geno hugging. She had already come up with plans for the five prophesied skeleton children and their three caretakers.

But after witnessing the interactions between the pink Draconian and the red-scarfed skeleton, she had devised a new plan just for the two lovebirds - to force them to fight each other to the death in the gladiator arena tomorrow.

She thought that it would be perfect for tearing apart their newfound friendship and possible romantic relationship at the seams. But little did she know that it would take more than an unwilling fight between them to separate them, for they had such a deep connection that only natural death itself would be able to do so.