The Last Primal

Slowly coming back to reality from the land of dreams, Lily opened her eyes. Stretching her arms and yawning, she slowly turned to her side only to see that Aiden was sitting and looking at her with his stupidly charming, gentle smile.

"Ah, did you rest well big sis? The trial must have tired you out, you have slept for quite a while!"

"I-i did? I thought… ehrm, I just wanted to close my eyes a bit and follow your example…" she sheepishly said.

"Oh yes, you slept for 2 full hours. You know, sleeping in an unknown place is not safe, if we would have been out deep in the forest, this could have been a grave mistake…" Aiden lightly berated her. She had to understand that such actions while not harmful currently, could prove to be a fatal mistake in the future. She had to learn from such mistakes, as that was the goal of this entire training exercise.

"Sorry brother…" she answered, feeling embarrassed, casting down her eyes, not daring to look at his brother at all.

Standing up, Aiden walked over to her and patted her head.

"It's good if you understand. Don't be so sad..."

Helping her stand up, he sighed and continued.

"Look, this was your test, but my portion still remains. I have to tell you something important… about myself. However, please listen to me when I say, it is important that you keep what I tell you to yourself, and NEVER tell anybody! Can you promise me this?"

Looking in his eyes, Lily knew that whatever Aiden is trying to say, it is incredibly important to him. Not wanting to disappoint her dear brother, she held his hands in hers and nodded.

"Yes, brother. Whatever you want to say, it will be our secret. Nobody can force me to betray your trust, I will carry it with me forever, never to tell anybody unless you tell me to!"

"Thank you Lily. I'm…" he faltered, he couldn't find the right words to say. Sighing, he looked her in the eye, and after a few brief moments, he said. "...I'm not just a dragon. I'm something… else, something more…Here, let me show it to you."

Taking a step back, he closed his eyes, and at the same time, he gave the command to the system.

'Enya, it should be fast since I already mastered it, right?'

[That is not entirely true Aiden. If you mastered the form, acquired all that it could provide you with, and if the form is of the same tier or lower than yours, you will be able to transform into it without initiating the Morphing process. However, if the form you are trying to transform into is of a higher tier, even if you mastered it, then the standard procedure will be required.]

'I understand. For now, please turn me into my Cave Viper form.'

[Understood Aiden.]

Light shrouded Aiden's body, briefly blocking the view. Using her hands, Lily instinctively protected her eyesight with her hands. After a few short seconds, the light faded, allowing her to look at her brother… or in reality nothing as she could no longer see her brother in front of her.

"Brother, where are you?"

Scared if she suddenly lost him, she looked around nervously, only to see a yellow snake on the ground, where previously Aiden was. Confused, she crouched down, and looked at 'newcomer' not understanding what was happening at all…

Seeing the confused look on her face, Aiden laughed inside his mind. Sadly, in this form, he was limited regarding how he could express himself. He had however one idea, and with that, he slithered towards Lily, and as she was still crouched on the ground, she coiled up around her from her legs, all the way onto her hands. There, he looked up at his big sis, and just stood still, looking at her, waiting for her reaction.

Lily couldn't really process what was happening currently and was just frozen stiff, with the sudden turn of events. A moment ago, Aiden said he wanted to show it to her what he really is, and then some weird light shone around his body, blocking her sight completely. As the light faded, and she could once again look at him, he was gone, but a new creature appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

Sadly, in her confusion the fact that this could be Aiden, didn't even appear in her mind, she couldn't process the events at all. She looked at the snake as it rested on her palms, not sure what to do. Confused, and to calm her troubled heart, she spoke to the snake, not sure what to expect.

"Do you know where my brother went, little snake? He was here a moment ago..."

Not expecting an answer, she was about to look around, when she saw the snake fervently nodding his head. Stunned, she gazed at the creature once again, and leaning close, she continued trying to probe for information.

"You do? Where is he! Please point in a direction! I have to find him, he may be in trouble!"

The response confused her once again, as the snake, using his tail simply pointed at himself.

"Huh? I don't understand… Why are you pointing on yours-" Suddenly the realization hit her. "What?! Aiden? How...What… Can you change yourself back, or do you need me to help you with something?"

The snake nodded his head, as if to say "Yes, I can", then slithered down from her palm back to the ground and created a bit of space between them. Looking her in the eye, the snake suddenly was encased in the familiar black shell that Lily saw back at the river when they found Aiden.

This was enough to assure her that this little creature is, in fact, her brother. She sat down in front of the cocoon and patiently waited for her brother to emerge once again, this time, in his 'regular' form.

It took almost a full minute before the shell started to crack, and the similarly blinding light shone through the cracks. As more and more cracks started to appear, the blinding light once again blocked her eyesight. Shielding it, it took a few moments for it to settle down. Once it did, a familiar figure, her beloved brother stood in front of her.

She immediately stood up, and bolted into his embrace, snuggling against his chest.

"Ehehehe… Don't scare me like that brother!"

Patting her head, Aiden looked at Lily, and smiled.

"There, there I did say I will show it to you, didn't I? As I'm sure you have guessed it by now, I can change my body freely, and take on the shapes of the creatures I have defeated." While this wasn't entirely true, it was the easiest way to explain it to her. Aiden wasn't sure how deep her knowledge is about the various essences surrounding them. He will tell her one day, but for now, this was the perfect solution in his mind…

Her eyes lighting up, she looked up at her while with bubbling passion, she asked.

"Oooooh, and what other animals you can copy? Can you turn into a cute rabbit?"

"Not currently, sorry. I can turn into a tiny little bug, but that's not really helpful. If you would like I can try to learn that form later…"

Lily nodded her head with fervent passion glimmering in her eyes.

"Yes! YES! YES! YES! Please do it!"

Smiling, he reassured her.

"Sure, once we get the chance." Then the smile receded from his face, and with a stern expression, he looked her in the eye as he continued. "But please, remember, this is our secret, never tell anyone, nobody can know about this! It is very important!"

Still in his brother's embrace, her glimmering eyes showed determination as she responded.

"You can count on me brother! This is our secret!" Then realizing something, her giggles resurfaced. You know brother, this is our first secret! Something that only we know about!"

Aiden was about to respond when suddenly the air in front of them started to vibrate, and the magical essences in the air started to glimmer as a black portal, similar to the one they entered here opened up.

"Heh, I knew this was the first test. Look at it Lily, we passed the first trial and we can go back and rest as a reward!"

"Woah, we were so fast. We just arrived a few hours ago! Ehehehe, this is awesome!" Lily exclaimed. Separating herself from his chest, she held his hand and walked forward. "Come let's go home, follow your big sister!"

Aiden couldn't help but silently smile as he followed along and they both stepped into the black swirling mass of energy.

---

Back in the forest, in the backyard, Both Granny and Number 3 were already standing and looking at a particular spot.

Number 3 broke the silence first.

"They have completed their first challenge. Huh, such speed... I was expecting that it would take at least a few days, not just a few hours! You were right, these kids are indeed incredible."

"I know. But, are you really going to let them rest for a full day?"

Number 3 looked at Granny, and a cheeky smile crept up on her face.

"Oh, I have so much in store for them for tomorrow. There's no rest during training! Inside the pocket dimension, they can train their bodies and prepare their minds to face the various challenges, but back here, they will have to do something I'm sure they will hate more than anything…"

"And what is that?" asked Granny, however she had a faint idea what Number 3 had in store for the kids.

"Hehe… they will have to study!"