A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale

Side Story 55: Da Capo—Repeat From the Beginning.

Dravlia Kongun—Revolution Queen, High Queen of Ankor-Nazta, reincarnator of Earth, Saint of Goddess Crustacia, War for the Faefolk commander; there were many titles you could attribute to the most famous otherworlder Peolynca had ever nurtured. After all, unlike her fellow otherworlder blessed, Hestia, Dravlia had already ascended to godhood with her divine name, Chihiro, Goddess of Change, Ingenuity, and Ambition.

She was known to all dwarves, as her contributions to Crustacia’s golden age immortalized her within Ankor-Nazta’s history and taught to every dwarven child, nevermind how her ardent followers in the railroad guild, the church of Chihiro, and the many Beats’N’Rocks fandoms were growing more numerous with every year. Even outside the realms of the dwarves, she was known by elven artisans, dragonewt artificers, Aleistunum mages, and the historians and military commanders of the Folschreck Empire as an grand ally or vicious enemy from the time of the War for the Faefolk.

Born in 2418, Dravlia only managed to live for 35 years before her untimely death in 2453, an age most dwarves would still be working as an apprentice at a renowned smithy or artificer workshop. In fact, having started in the year 2431, Dravlia was only 13 years old when the War for the Faefolk had initially begun.

She was a tinkerer and thinker, not a combatant like Hestia and Saori, and had already focused on crafting and inventing even as a young dwarf, due to her mental age being that of a middle-aged woman. With the help of her dwarven body’s naturally dexterity and the wealth of knowledge her clan, the Konguns, had available to teach her when they first learned of her being an [Otherworldly Reincarnator] and a blessed of Crustacia, young Dravlia quickly adapted to her new environment and rose in importance as an artificer.

Even more impressive was how she became the youngest High Queen of Ankor-Nazta, officially nominated into the position by about 70% of the clans after the previous High King had died in the war. They didn't need a warlord to support their allies in Saelariel, they needed the support and funds of the High Queen position to enact Dravlia’s plans of the first manatech train.

It took four years to dig the tunnels and create the foundation of the current underground train network, and during this time, the first train had been finished. With the ingenuity of the dwarves in creating something as fantastical as the train, with most believing Crustacia had anticipated the War for the Faefolk and had reincarnated Dravlia as a dwarf to lead them to victory through her, the project was finalized far sooner than Dravlia had anticipated.

With the train’s invention, supply routes could finally be accelerated, expanding from Saelarial to the far eastern part of the continent, allowing the dwarven and elven forces to be sustained. Victory came quickly with Folschreck divided between three wars, and the humans eventually deciding that surrender to Saelariel was more preferable than to lose to Carmaniate or Bole’Taria.

With victory crowning Dravlia and her train as the deciding factor of the war, she continued with her position as the High Queen, despite the fact her age made her less than suitable for the role with the ensuing post-wartime era. To many, their opinions of the queen became validated as Dravlia wasn’t the most active High Queen, preferring to continue her days tinkering in her laboratory to continue working on her inventions, wishing to improve on dwarven technology. To others, though, it was this period of eight years until her death that solidified her as the Revolution Queen.

Her story has been written and a new one had already begun … and now, in the position as a goddess, she would watch this adventure unfold. Although not as strong as her fellow gods, as she was turned into a goddess by Crustacia through people’s near zealous fervor during her time as the High Queen, she still held a lot of influence due to her ability to promote innovation. Through her newest, and only, blessed, Grimnir, she would once again oil the engines of creation; only this time, she would perform it in the same position as her Origin Goddess, Crustacia, with her original name back on Earth, Chihiro.

“It took a year, but they finally are executing their plans. From a small camera I tried to emulate from my memories, to an entire production line made with the designs of modern recorders in mind. The Edjurl gods’ helped the demonkin summon in ‘fodder’ for their plans, but it sure backfired on them with half of them helping Peolynca’s technological advancement.”

Watching through the lens of one of the recently finished video recorders, Chihiro was currently observing Hestia’s excitement at the possibility of starting her streaming career. Her mouth widened in a warm smile as she could empathize with everybody there in the room. Creating and using something new that you’ve made was already fulfilling, but seeing it being praised by somebody else would fill any inventor with pride.

Chihiro looked at Grimnir, Metosei, Borom, Jadhund, Haruka, Daichi, and everybody else involved in the digital media guild’s creation, with an uncontrollable desire to join in. She wanted to jump through her blue administrative window, back to Peolynca, to bask in the raucous roar of dwarven success.

She wanted to smell the nausea-inducing, but addicting, smell of dwarven beer-steam whenever a runesmith finished their product, or the satisfying sound from the sizzling artificers would make with their wands, and this wasn’t even mentioning the skin-warming inferno dwarven smiths would set their furnace’s temperature to. The music dwarven workshops could produce could make one’s mind go into a trance.

Chihiro missed all of that. She wanted to once again raise her artificer wand and create something. She wanted to order around ill-mooded dwarves to correctly follow her blueprints to the T. She wanted to once again share warm ale after a day of work with her fellow craftsmen, treating their arguments and insults to each other as if nothing had happened, as they laughed and celebrated with each other inside a lively tavern.

Japanese work-life cycle with the izakaya experience, but unlike the workplace, you don’t have to hide your actual mood and attitude, Chihiro thought as she remembered her first life on Earth and how she had to keep her emotions hidden from her co-workers.

As a Japanese woman born in the middle of the 20th century, Chihiro had faced her fair share of trials with the more conservative nature of Japanese work culture. Not only did her reincarnation thrust her into the industrial age-like state of the dwarven underground kingdoms, but she was also completely unfamiliar with the blunt, unembellished nature of the dwarven men and women.

While she was familiar with some parts, especially the conservative attitude dwarves had for new inventions and unfamiliar crafting techniques, Chihiro still spent a good portion of her life trying to become a dwarf. Integrate herself in this new life, yet once again, brain cancer had taken her life.

She missed them. Her dwarven parents, her colleagues, and the elven friends she had made during the war. While many elves of that age were still alive now, she had to personally watch as many as her dwarven compatriots died after she became a goddess. She witnessed her parents’ souls enter the realm of Ilsaphone, allowing her one last chance to say goodbye before their souls were reset to be reborn as new beings, whether they be humanoid, monster, or fae.

She longed for her mortal life. Her new divine, immortal presence now allowed her all the time in the world to tinker with her ideas for as long as she wanted, but similar to many former mortal subordinate gods, she longed to walk amongst the lower realms again. As such, a compromise needed to be created.

While subordinate gods were allowed to enjoy some time on the mortal realm, within reason and that they wouldn’t influence any significant mortal affairs, Chihiro wanted to live as a mortal again. Therefore, to quench this desire, her mind was allowed to return to Earth with the permission of its divinities, while leaving the majority of her divine self in Peolynca to govern her domain.

This small mortal self of hers was similar to Danterno’s current arvisian form, meaning they were the god in question, although their bodies lacked most, if not all, of their divine powers. They still possessed their knowledge and experience, though, including their affinity to their divine domains, which made them still more dangerous, or capable, than most “newly-born” mortals.

Away from Peolynca, Chihiro was allowed to act outside of the Origin Gods’ divine laws, as long as she accepted Earth’s pantheon’s regulations and wouldn’t compromise their influence. As such, while a part of hers still worked as a goddess of Peolynca, another was living her joyful life, allowing this newly-made divine a chance to sooth her soul for the millennia to come.

“Oooh,” Chihiro awed as she saw a figure appear on her computer’s screen.

Her figure was similar to Hestia’s, although she lacked draconic features and the memorable crimson hair. Instead, she was entirely human with her soft, pinkish human skin and possessed dark brown hair like most Asians, which fitted her face well. Although she looked like a normal woman in her late adolescence, her body was extremely fit with visible muscles, to the point she could pass as a martial artist with years of experience.

The young girl was wearing a stereotypical idol outfit, consisting of a small dress with a thigh-long skirt equipped with numerous frills and ribbons to accentuate not only her cuteness but also dance movements. The dress was predominantly white but had red and cyan fabric here and there to showcase her personality and taste.

This mix between strength and flashiness was an instant eyecatcher for Chihiro as she stared in wonder, nodding slightly until she noticed the girl had left her eye-colors unchanged. They were still crimson and slit-eyed, making her gaze almost as intimidating as the hunting-stare of a focused crocodile. Yet, once again, a dissonance was created as her predatorial look was subverted by the shy, enthusiastic smile she was showing to everybody in attendance.

That’s some serious gap moe, Hestia. That’s what the kids call it nowadays, right? Subversion of expectations makes people look at you more, and that is what every entertainer wants.

“Looking good?” the girl asked the people behind the camera, raising her two shaking hands up in a thumbs up. Her uneasy smile made Chihiro almost want to cuddle her … but this was needed for her plans.

“Yes, Lady Hikari! You look wonderful!” Tasianna could be heard, with her hands momentarily entering the picture.

“Beautiful!” Haruka’s voice followed, the loudest to be heard, as she was the one operating the camera within the subspace. The filming had been relocated to the Nordor dragonewt’s mansion’s courtyard, so Haruka was currently adjusting the recorder for this new area within the portal’s opening. “Hikari-chan, you look like an idol ready to debut, that’s for sure! Show some more confidence. You should have Hesti-chan’s memories, right?”

“I don’t want to hear that from you, Haruka-chan!” Hikari, or maybe it was Hestia, shouted in response, almost as if she was trying to calm herself down by becoming like her soul’s dragon self.

As prompted by the divine Quest Chihiro had just proposed to Grimnir, Hestia wanted to film a music video by having Hikari perform it, as the two had promised back when they were trapped inside the earth on Inferno Nest. The two girls were the same, but also different, and it showed in their demeanors whenever they spoke.

To her friends and allies, seeing Hestia act more sheepishly confounded them greatly. Tasianna, though, was already used to certain aspects as Hestia had shown her lack of confidence early on before she overcame it. Meanwhile, Melloxtressa could only smile with pride as her “second” daughter was finally trying to break out of her shell.

Melloxtressa, like the rest of Aurora, had already been aware of the presence of Hikari since Hestia was first able to resist Hikari’s memory wipe. They knew of the other Hestia, the original one before her partial amnesia. So, to see her able to take control over Hestia’s body after she replaced the parallel minds forced everybody to acknowledge that this would have been Hestia, if her memories had never been wiped.

Yet, to Aurora, this surreal fact didn’t really matter. To Tasianna, Hikari was simply Hestia’s repressed feelings for herself and the fears and traumas she developed over her years of failure to become an idol. To Grimnir, the two girls had the same spirit and desires—his muses—so as long as Hestia accepted her other self, he would support Hikari as if she was the “seventh” member of Aurora. To Vifi, the first to have met Hikari after she gained the ability to take control over Hestia’s body, she was simply Donut-Two.

Yet, to Melloxtressa, seeing her daughter dying her hair black with ocran powder nuts and assuming this different, yet similar, personality made her fully acknowledge she had gained twins in a way. She saw her two daughters fight to awaken her from her coma during the Prince of Envy battle, hearing their voices directly serenade to her soul. This wasn’t even mentioning their heartful retelling of themselves and the motherly instincts she felt when her daughters were in trouble.

To see Hikari act like this, Melloxtressa couldn’t help but feel a sense of extreme pride and love for this girl. She looked at her like a human mother watching their child taking their first step to fulfill their dream.

“Hikari, you look fantastic, my dear!” she screamed as her hands unconsciously clapped, creating multiple soundwaves that blew the dwarves around her away. Her eyes became wet as her mouth curved into a smile, gazing at the young girl with a piercing look.

“M-Mom, you really should control yourself, you know?” Hikari replied, giving the dazed dwarven craftsmen a look of sympathy. She wondered if she they had taken any damage.

Grimnir nodded carefully, shaking a bit when he saw everybody fly away from a single casual move. “I-I agree, Your Majesty. Please, don’t forget that not every dwarven artisans trains themselves martially everyday. Not to mention, our expensive equipment …”

Melloxtressa did not speak, simply reducing the strength she placed in her arms as a reply. She didn’t want any commotion before her daughter performed.

Seeing this, Hikari sighed. “… Have to start now. Haruka-chan, I think … I think I’m ready!”

“You sure? Don’t you need to warm up?”

“Ahaha, Hestia already wrote the song and the dance choreography is all imprinted. We sort of wrote it together when we were traveling north with Vifi; we just never had a chance to perform it.”

Hearing this, Haruka gave Hikari the okay and raised her hand in the air, three fingers could be seen. “Three! Two! One! Action!”

As the button of the recorder was pressed, activating its recording function, Hikari’s fingers moved in the air as a piano began playing. Its slow, somber-sounding notes were accompanied by the howling of the icy wind of Iceskale, giving this sorrow-filled song an almost mystifying or magical backdrop.

“This flaring inferno has died down at night ?

Ash and smoke in the sky ?

All that remains are these embers ?

And they flicker with a dream ?”

[Music Resonation (Minor)] immediately appeared on everybody’s Profile who was listening to Hestia softly singing, almost like in a murmur. Her hand movements were practiced, moving up and down as she caressed the air, staring at the sky with a longing expression, like a person who had lost it all. A shadow was cast under her face as her mouth wavered, biting back the grief.

“Yet the truth is haunting for their life was naught but a flame ?

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Thought it could grow big, be like the sun ?”

Hikari lowered her head, before snapping it up as the piano paused for a moment before peaking to signal for a raise of tempo.

“Yet, the fuel is there; gotta give it up ?

I want to burn wide—You’ll just burn yourself up! ?

Your time is up, your chance is gone—!?

Then let this be my last! ?”

This single pacing change was enough to overturn the somber music, filling it with energy as Hikari snapped her head from one side to the next for each line, almost as if she was simulating an argument with another person. Switching her singing style and the intonation her voice gave the lyrics made it almost seem like she was singing a musical, which wasn’t entirely inaccurate to say, as the way Hestia usually structured her ballads made it seem like so.

Her dramatization of words was her way to put emotions into them, influencing her body to follow along with the rhythm. Although it had initially been a coping mechanism for Hestia due to her lack of confidence in her dancing, it had become the norm for her. Her acting was initially a mask, but as her body became more limber and she gained trust in herself to execute the choreography she designed for herself, it became her trademark.

As Hikari was influenced by this experience, it became her trademark as well.

Yet, unlike Hestia who put her practice into action immediately, Hikari showed signs of hesitation. The lyrics flowed out of her mouth without any issue, as if second nature, but every move she performed looked like she was second guessing if she was supposed to do it like this.

This fact did not escape Chihiro.

This looks boring, the subordinate goddess thought, unable to become enraptured by the song.

Her immersion was easily broken as she wondered if Hikari had practiced enough, although she quickly reminded herself if this was Hestia, she wouldn’t have had that issue. Through the lens of all video recorders, and her worshippers, she had watched and seen Hestia perform countless times already.

Unless the song is slower and you have the props to help you hide it, you can’t perform the song like this. No proper dancing choreography would have been better than a botched one, Chihiro critiqued as if she was a K-Pop producer, having watched far too many idol and talent shows.

Due to this waning interest, Chihiro was more focused on assessing and finding faults in Hikari’s stage performance, instead of listening to the song. She knew the songstress could sing well, she didn’t need to be reminded of it. She wanted a music video, though—a professional one. Not an amateurish one she could find on the most popular video hosting site en masse.

Her smile waned as she sighed once Hikari was done, elated she could finally respond to it. She watched as Haruka stopped the recording, followed by everybody behind it clapping and cheering for Hikari. The girl’s mouth grew into a beaming smile as her chest grew and deflated, heavily breathing to replace the exhaustion and anxiety she was feeling.

However …

This video was rejected by the Quest giver. Please, perform another

A Divine System message appeared not only in Grimnir’s mind but also on the camera Haruka was using, allowing everybody to see it. Including Forminaxtrass and Melloxtressa.

“Oh …” The lich dragon’s previous grin faded as she took a step back, eying her battle sister with trepidation.

The ice dragon matriarch scowled at the message with silent rage, her pupils contracted in response to the point they looked like two daggers. “Rejected? You dare reject her effort after you asked for it your—”

“It’s okay, Mom!” Hikari shouted. “It’s okay … I’ll do it once again. I’m … I wasn’t happy with some parts. Haruka-chan, let’s do another, please.”

Hikari took in a deep breath, her furrowed brows betraying her true opinion on the rejection. That same elated, satisfied smile she showed before was now curved downward, revealing her gritted teeth through small gaps in her mouths. She was staring at her hands as she assumed her starting pose, imitating her piano playing once again with [Areokinesis].

However, unlike before, her singing felt more stifled. Her mouth was reproducing the same angelic singing, yet it lacked the same sentimentality and focus her previous performance showed. Her eyes were glued at her legs and arms, replicating her choreography perfectly this time with barely any signs of nervousness, although it did mean her performance lacked the intimateness an idol had to show her audience.

This time, it wasn’t just Chihiro who lost immersion, it was also her family, friends, and allies. They couldn’t feel anything. They were just … watching.

After almost half-way through with the song, Hikari’s face finally regained its vigor as her eyes sharpened. She looked up and immediately froze in place, the music continued playing as her mouth stopped singing. Her eyes widened, quivering as she gulped down her saliva. She shook her hands in front of her, signaling Haruka to stop the video as she took out a fragassa smoothie from her storage.

This video was rejected by the Quest giver. Please, perform another

It didn’t need to be said. Hikari knew for herself how robotic her attitude just now was. She was sipping on her beverage without rest, filling this deafening silence with her drinking sounds and her exhausted, and chilled, breathing.

Nobody could say anything as it felt like her racing heart was echoing in the air, creating a tension almost similar to an aura. Tasianna immediately recognized those motions her mistress was doing. As Saori would say, “Stop overthinking everything too much. If you require somebody else’s opinion, then ask them.” To her loyal maid, it looked like her mistress had regressed emotionally. She knew it was Hikari, but in her mind, she believed Hestia was having an internal crisis.

Melloxtressa shared a similar reaction, although she knew Hestia’s past on Earth more vividly due to their soul meeting. What Hikari was doing right now was exactly how she would process criticism and put them into action in an attempt to improve, which initially created Hestia’s habit of overthinking problems and keeping them to herself. Her emotional isolation was her shell to protect her vow to not cry.

Yet, unlike her time on Earth, Hikari wasn’t thinking by herself now. She had a “younger” sister who knew too well what her “older” sister would resort to if her confidence dropped. This same sister also had over a year of experience as an almost full-time idol.

“Haruka-chan! I’m ready!” she shouted, her face looking furious at somebody. Even seconds before the recording began, Hikari still showed anger, with her eyes squinting forward at something.

Yet, the moment the recording began her face mellowed out and she began her song as perfectly as she did during her first performance. Yet, at the same time, when she got to the second stanza, she was utilizing her second performance’s nervous perfectionism as the basis to give her acting a bit more realism, as if she actually was arguing with Hestia at this moment.

Nonetheless, the biggest change was when the first chorus began.

“Ooh?” Chihiro’s eyes widened when Hikari did a pirouette, before turning around in a dramatic fashion as fire sprayed from her hands. “I see! Make it seem like special effects, instead of magic! So the pirouette isn’t just style points, it was to hide the magic circle of [Ignite]!”

Due to how her skills worked, Hestia wasn’t able to fully use her draconic skills in her human form, even though they were all still inside her Profile. She still benefited from the stat improvements, elemental resistances, and a few passive skills embedded into them, but she couldn’t use her draconic abilities at all. [Volcanic Blaze] counted as a draconic skill, but the [Pyrokinesis] inside of it was still usable.

As such, Hikari couldn’t snap her fingers to create fire, as she didn’t have any scale-dust as a human, but she could still cast custom fire spells and manipulate them. Up until now, Hikari’s performance was grounded, similar to why she had transformed into a human for this performance, instead of doing it as a dragonewt. This was also the reason why she dyed her hair black.

She wanted to perform as Hikari, not as Hestia. Hikari had black hair in her mental image, Hestia was always crimson.

Yet, Hikari had to acknowledge that restricting herself to her human self without putting more effort to use her Peolyncian powers would restrict her creativity. That was little different from when Hikari had rejected her human father’s suggestion to become a streamer; to promote her music and singing through another platform, away from the traditional, rigid manner Korean and Japanese idols were forced to go through to join their respective industries.

She had to let it go.

“Let me reignite, let us reignite ?

Burn further and higher than ever before ?

Let me rise, let us rise ?

Above the past that we’ve regret ?

The end is just the start of our rebirth! ?

The mistakes must fade ?

Like a phoenix we will fly back to life ?”

Flames spread from Hikari’s back, soaring like wings before they turned white and vanished.

She stepped forward, as if she was walking on a catwalk, shaking her hair and hips to accentuate her skirt and frills, wanting to hypnotize watchers with the motions. Her face showed no hesitation, looking fierce as if she was challenging somebody to a fight.

“I’ve given up once already, the pits of darkness was there ?

And its sight sends shivers down my spine, the cold has frozen my soul! ?

Step it back, don’t cross that line ?

Look around you to the warmth of the whole wide world ?

Just you wait, let’s get is straight ?

This is fate ?

Let me reignite, let us reignite ?

From the ashes these embers will burn once more! ?

Let me rise, let us rise ?

From our past shadows of doubts ?

Here we stand, an oath remade ?

Grasp onto the chance ?”

“That’s it!” Chihiro shouted, banging on her table with elation. “That’s what I wanted to see! Come on!”

Yet, there was still something missing for this video to be perfect. Chihiro wanted to point it out, but she was plenty satisfied with how the third take had ended. However, Hikari wasn’t.

“Once again!” she shouted after she was done with the song. “I forgot something. One more time, I think I got it!”

Hikari performed every move to the T, only with more confidence and practice, with her arms and legs looking precise. She looked snappy, professional, and had the gaze of an idol wishing to spread her music to people, wishing for nothing more than to entertain her audience.

“I hear the sounds of a million cries of shame ?

The ghosts of that pain tell me that I am to blame ?

So I wished that I could let it all be gone ?

Yet, I accepted it all, let this heartache be my dawn! ?”

Hikari raised her pitch, holding the note as she began covering her hands with fire.

“Let me reignite, let us reignite ?”

Once she entered the last chorus, Hikari began combing her hair with her fingers, letting the flames flow through the strands like wind blowing through. She shook her hair as if she was maintaining her locks, only for their black color to disappear, returning to her crimson red once she finished massaging her head.

Hikari “transforming” herself into a new person with the color change captivated everybody as they hadn’t expected Hikari to “shed herself” for Hestia. Yet, this showing didn’t end as the flames around her intensified, growing in size with some of the flare-red changing to crimson and white.

The vivid sight of all these flames would dazzle many, but seeing the human girl shining even brighter than the hellfire she had created drew the audience’s eyes. It almost seemed like a barrier of light was protecting her from all of it, like a halo of preservation.

To her allies, they knew the girl was simply manipulating the flames, turning it white for showmanship. Although her powerful flames could still scorch her human skin due to a lack of [True Draconic Barrier] and her scales, to many who would view this video, unbeknownst that all of this wasn’t special effect but real, they would either be left in awe or be aghast by the performance.

“These embers will grow into that inferno ?

Let me rise, let us rise ?

This crimson flicker will be your dream! ?

Hear me roar, as I awaken back to life ?

This is my lullaby ?”

Like a phoenix we will soar to the stars ?”

Hikari reached her hands up as the flames around her diminished in size, with some of it forming on her back in the form of two angelic feathered wings. In her mind, she murmured her [Battle Frenzy] words and assumed [Battle Frenzy (Minor)], coloring her crimson hair white before she punched the air, causing it to break like glass.

In the silence, without any music or other sound, but the quiet blowing of the cold wind, the air fractured apart, leaving a deep black hole behind. Hikari was completely obscured until the air reformed, revealing that the girl had collapsed on the ground, her hair back to crimson.

“It's a wrap!” Hikari shouted as tears fell down her face, touching her lips as she showed everybody a wide smile. She giggled while weeping, clapping her hands before she placed them together in a prayer position.

“That was amazing, Hikari-chan! My gosh!” Haruka cheered, not stopping the recording as she should have. She jumped up and down, clapping in applause, prompting everybody to shower the success-starved songstress her due reward—prove that she could become an idol.

“Thank you, Haruka-chan! Thank you, all of you! Thank you, thank you!” She repeated those last words over and over to include every single person who had watched her sing just now. “Ahh, this is so unfair! Hestia’s body is too bloody good for dancing, it makes me so mad! All the moves I can imagine can be done without looking like I’m throwing my body around like a random bimbo!”

“The streaming also worked!” Karydrinos, Guyulthanos, and Siegragxus shouted from inside the mansion, waving Aurora’s [Crystal of the Divine System] around. They had watched the entire show from inside the dining room, having used [Air Shield] to prevent them from hearing anything but the performance’s stream.

This proved that the new recorders worked well enough, allowing the three dragons to understand how to utilize this in the future. All three could not wait on how they wanted to use them, prompting Karydrinos to urge Guyulthanos to quickly pick up the digital media guild for Iceskale’s branch.

Naturally, the three weren’t in frame, but Hestia still gave them thumbs up as she called two of them uncles. She then went to Tasianna and Melloxtressa.

“How was it? Better than Hestia?”

Tasianna burst in a giggle. “My lady, please do not make me want to choose between the two of you. You were phenomenal, and that is something one cannot argue against. You would make your human parents proud!”

Hikari grinned so widely as she washed her tears away. “I guess so … Papa and Mama would have loved to see this video. Man, if I only had thought of this earlier, instead of now. Haha.”

It was a laugh of condemnation. Hikari knew the irony of her statement, but still couldn’t help but imagine the faces of her human parents. Yet, in this very moment, she might have accidentally forgotten about another parent she would impress.

“You made me proud as well, my hatchling,” Melloxtressa added, having broken in tears with her daughter. “Y-your first performance. I-I am happy to have seen it, ahaha. Oh, goodness, this—aha. To see you smile—ahaha-hiek!”

Forminaxtrass, her retainers, and Hikari saw Melloxtressa unable to finish a single sentence, clearly overwhelmed by her own emotions to convey them. The lich dragon smiled as she caressed her friend’s back, unable to help herself to think of the many times her own child did something to remind her that he was growing. To see a child slowly become mature, to see them taking a hold of their lives, and for all of that to culminate into a success. Wasn’t that what every good mother wished for their child?

Haaa, the power of youth. Seeing them stirring up storms is what gives us ancients our energy to live, Forminaxtrass thought as she watched Hikari approach to sooth her dragon mother.

… Perfect.

This video was accepted by the Quest giver. The Divine Quest has been successfully finished! Recording will be stopped and sent to the Quest giver

“Eh?” Haruka and Hikari exclaimed, snapping their eyes to the blue screen appearing on the camera.

“Y-you didn’t turn it off, Haruka-chan?” Hikari’s eyes widened. “D-did that just—?”

“Oh no! The video included you crying! I’m sorry!”

“Wh-what! Ch-Chihiro!”

“That’s a wrap indeed.” Chihiro snapped her fingers as she closed her interface, ending it before Hikari or Hestia could say anything to what happened. “Goddess Crustacia and her big mouth already told you I got reborn on Earth, right? Well, I can guess what you would want me to do with this video. Should be enough footage. Have to translate the Common though, but the Divine System shouldn’t have an issue there. Hmm … Yeah, should be in English. I’ll have to edit her mouth movements, but I have to cut some things, anyways, sooo …”

Chihiro looked over at her fourth monitor, seeing the news on a German website dedicated to music fans. The headline stated, “Das letzte Konzert des Dirigent Leon Schartner storniert? Die Tragödie einer Familie raubt uns den Zauber eines Big Five Maestro!” Translated, it said, “Conductor Leon Schartner's last concert canceled? A family’s tragedy robs us of the magic of a Big Five maestro!”

That was Hikari Schartner’s father’s name. That was Hestia’s Papa.

“… People need some hope, and that is what idols are for, right?” Chihiro smirked before she looked at her third monitor, viewing the message there as she felt a chill run down her spine. “Took me too long to persuade Earth’s divine. Have to make sure I can’t be tracked and that it gets to them in a manner that won’t attract too much attention … How in Crustacia’s name is that supposed to work?”

“Dear!”A woman’s voice pierced through her door, prompting Chihiro to snap around.

“Sorry, Oka-san!” she replied to her new Earthen mother, before turning back to her monitor. The goddess eyed her desktop, creating plans on her blue screen to execute what she needed. “Can’t reveal Peolynca … but they will ask questions about her. They wouldn’t be able to stop themselves. Can’t find a proper excuse if I were to try to stifle their excitement. The video contents will be confusing as well, hmmm.”

Suddenly, Chihiro snapped her fingers. A giggle escaped her mouth as her mind wandered to her new birth family. “Can’t help it, gotta have dad pull some of his strings to help out. Hopefully, one of them has a connection with Leon’s friends and acquaintances, right? The timing is bad since Hikari has been dead for a while, buuuut, we should be able to do something.”

A messy plan, indeed, but it had to be done somehow. Chihiro then cracked her fingers, opening a writing program to state what needed to be edited on the video to make it look as amateurish as possible, while giving it the looks of an old video.

“Sorry, Hestia. Hikari. I gotta change what you said in the end to make this believable. Just one last joy for your family to help close the book of this tragedy!” She smiled but knew what she was doing wasn’t the best, yet this was all she could do with the restrictions placed on her. “‘Create tech to do good for others!’”

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A note from AbyssRaven

Today's song inspiration comes from Disney's "Let it Go" from the movie Frozen. Rawr

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