Kai poured more tea into his cup, then cradled it in his hands and looked away. He remained silent for a bit, then continued the ominous story:
"After many weeks of battles and bloodshed, the Warmongers were pushed back, and my centuria was recalled back to the Ivory City, to rest and recuperate from the hards.h.i.+ps of war. We were met by a jubilant crowd that showered us with rose petals and sang our names… my name, too, louder than all the rest. Ah, what a beautiful sight it was! Victorious, we returned home, and everything was well. For a while, we enjoyed the beauty of the city and the warm company of our fellow citizens."
He took a sip, then shook his head slightly.
"The more I explored the beautiful Ivory City, the more elated I was by its prosperity and its harmonious way of life. It seemed as though people there were all content and happy, treating others with sincere kindness, love, and respect. It was as though they didn't have a care in the world… and there was a reason for that. The people of the Ivory City could live this way, and be this way, because they were protected by the mighty dragon, Sevirax, a true descendant of Sun G.o.d. Their lord and protector."
The young man s.h.i.+vered, then added in a hoa.r.s.e voice:
"The dragon protected them, provided for them, and guided them with his wisdom. It was because of him that the Ivory City was safe, sound, prosperous, and welcoming. Why its citizens were so kind and happy. This… was a paradise of his creation."
Kai took a sip of tea and smiled sadly.
"...Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Ah, but it was. I was just too slow to see it."
He remained silent for a bit, then let out a long sigh.
"At first, I only felt it. A slight, vague… wrongness. As if something was off with these kind, happy, beautiful people. As if there was something hidden behind their sincere smiles. I dismissed it, thinking that it was just my prejudice speaking. A mindset that I brought with me from the waking world. But the more time I spent with them… the more strange details I started to notice. And soon, a harrowing suspicion took hold of my heart."
Kai looked at them, his face growing dark.
"...A suspicion that there was madness hidden deep in their l.u.s.trous eyes. The same madness that the Warmongers were infected with, albeit of a different shade. I had never… had never felt as disturbed and afraid as when that thought first entered my mind. I was so afraid, in fact, that for a few days, I closed my eyes to the truth and pretended that nothing was wrong. But the suspicion kept gnawing on my heart, and so, I decided to investigate. It wasn't hard to confirm it."
A bitter grimace contorted his hideous face.
"You see, as it turned out, the Ivory City was indeed prosperous, safe, and beautiful because of the dragon. Its people were indeed protected and provided for by the dragon. In return, the dragon only asked for one thing in return…"
The young man clenched the teacup, almost causing it to crack.??eℯ?ℯ?n?ѵe?.c??
"...To feed him."
He gritted his teeth for a moment, then said quietly:
"To feed him with human flesh. Seven sacrifices had to be made to him every month, from the ranks of the citizens. And the kind, warm people of the Ivory City… were more than happy to provide. Ecstatic, even. Being devoured by the dragon was considered to be a sacred honor, and having a loved one chosen as a sacrifice was a cause for celebration."
The young man grew silent, then said hoa.r.s.ely:
"...The dragon never dictated who had to be fed to him. But the people of the Ivory City wanted above all else to please the dragon, and so, they always chose the best and the brightest. The most beautiful, the most talented, the most innocent, the most desirable. And there we were, young heroes who had just returned from a triumphant war. The month was up, and so, they chose me and six of my most brave and loyal soldiers."
Kai smiled bitterly.
"What a reward! The sight of them… was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen. Parents surrendering their children to death with zealous smiles, husbands sending their wives into the dragon's maw with wild joy, friends and neighbors singing and laughing as they led their fellow humans to be eaten by a hungry beast. Only little children did not share in their glee… they cried when their mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters were torn away from them, not understanding what was happening. But the crying children were punished and taught a harsh lesson about how repugnant their behavior was."
He grimaced, then put his cup down and looked away.
"The whole city was insane. Perhaps… perhaps one could argue that a few dozen souls a year are a small price to pay for a paradise. But what is a paradise built on blood worth? …Worthless. It's worthless. And even if it's not, at least the wretches could have made the sacrifice without the ghoulish joy. Without the songs, and the zeal, and the kind, warm, sincere smiles on their beautiful faces."
Kai took a deep breath, remained silent for a while, and then shrugged dismissively.
"...Anyway, we were brought to an island that bordered the Ivory Tower itself, and chained to a white cliff. The jubilant crowd disappeared, and soon after that, we heard the rustle of mighty wings. The dragon landed in front of the cliff, as majestic and fearsome as he was in the legends. A great beast with beautiful ivory scales, and radiant golden eyes that were full of wisdom, n.o.bility, and inhuman intelligence."
Effie was listening with wide eyes, biting her fingers. Finally, she couldn't bear it anymore and asked in her soft, childish voice:
"How the h.e.l.l did you survive?! Why didn't the dragon's flames kill you?"
A sad smile appeared on Kai's disfigured face.
"How did I survive? Oh… that was simple, really. When Sevirax appeared, I broke my chains and s.h.i.+elded my comrades, ready to defend them until my last breath. Seeing this, the dragon… he spoke to me."
His smile slowly disappeared, replaced by an expression of anger, shame, and regret.
"You must have already guessed that Ivory Dragon Sevirax is also Sevras, the Ivory Lord. One of the Hope's eternal shackles, a Transcendent whose Transformation Ability allows him to turn into a dragon. He is a human… or at least was a human once, a long time ago. And so, he spoke to me."
The young man sighed.
"He was amused by my reaction. We spoke, and what he told me… it broke me, a little, I think. You see, I had it all wrong. The dragon… he had never once asked the people of the Ivory City to sacrifice anyone, or anything, to him. They had invented the story themselves, and chose the number of the victims themselves, and started bringing him sacrifices of their own free will. Because doing so made them feel as though they were binding themselves to the dragon… that they were becoming a part of the dragon, and so, were of the dragon, and safe from him."
Kai shook his head.
"Sevirax… Sevras… he had lost a part of himself a long time ago, I think. He told me that, in the beginning, he wanted to be a good lord for the people, someone whom they could see, and whom they could strive to become. And so, he rarely appeared in his Transcendent form before them. But as centuries pa.s.sed, he noticed that people were disturbed by his human face, and were only at peace when he came as a dragon. As if they needed him to be something else… something greater than them. And so, after a while, he abandoned his human form completely. And not long after that, the sacrifices began."
The young man lingered for a few moments, and then continued:
"I asked him to spare our lives, but he refused. He told me that he had never accepted an unwilling sacrifice, and I was free. But the other six… it was as though they were in a trance, or had gone mad. They didn't even try to save themselves. No matter how I begged him to spare them, he refused. This was what his people desired, what they needed. They might have not been bound to him… but he was bound to them. Burdened by them. And so, when nothing else worked… I foolishly tried to stop him."
He smiled bitterly.
"But how could I defeat a dragon? I am not a dragon myself, after all. He swatted me to the ground with one swipe of his tail, breaking my ribs and almost killing me. But I did not die… instead, paralyzed, I watched as he turned his head, opened his maw, and turned my soldiers into ash with one immolating breath."
Kai grew silent, his face unmoving. After a while, he spoke again:
"...Overwhelmed with anger, grief, and despair, I screamed at him, cursing him, swearing that I will tell everyone the truth, that I will make them realize… that I will make them change. But he just looked at me tiredly and said… that I will see. And then, the Ivory Dragon was gone, leaving me alone on the empty island."
He looked down.
"I was too injured to move, and spent the rest of the night in the throes of pain. In the morning, the citizens of the Ivory City came. When they saw that I was alive…"
A pale smile appeared on his hideous face.
"...they were stunned, scared, and angry. And so, they built a pyre, tied me to a stake… and burned me. No matter what I tried to say, no matter how I tried to make them understand, they wouldn't listen. They only grew more scared and hateful. The dragon… he had been right. He had told me the truth. I saw."
Kai picked up his tea, took a sip, and looked away.
"My bindings broke before I died, and so, horribly burned, I shot into the sky like a spark. I flew away from the city, and somehow survived. Crippled and heartbroken, I slowly made my way east, finally reaching the Iron Hand island, and then the Sanctuary, where Sunny eventually found me. Lord Noctis had replaced my burned skin and damaged muscles with enchanted wood and tree bark, and here I am. As good as new."
He sighed, looked at them, and smiled:
"Luckily, I had friends that helped me pick myself up. You guys. I'll do whatever it is you decide to do... but if there is one thing I want to say, it is this. If Noctis wants to kill Lord Sevirax and end the dragon's reign, I would be happy to lend a hand."