Nepenthe

'Still, their power is lacking. Perhaps one day, one of these humans would turn into a powerful mage, powerful enough to rival me or even one of those Rulers of Sin in the demon realms. However, their arrogance in attacking me cannot be ignored. I will meet their hostility with hostility of my own.' Saraquel told himself.

Saraquel was powerful, powerful enough to fight several of the strongest beings in existence. He alone could turn the tide of any battle, except when beings of his level were also in the fray; in this situation, no one could compare to his power. The dragons would have been able to take him on, though only if they had their memories, which were taken by Nepenthe.

'I need to show humans that they are not yet ready to integrate themselves with politics of our level. Maybe someday, but definitely not in this century. It is... Regrettable that I will have to kill these humans. It reminds me of how humans act towards ants.'

Saraquel floated down, and when he touched the charred landscape with his feet, several humans rushed up to attack with dark spells. The first human neared his position and cut down with a blade reinforced by darkness. Weak. Saraquel took one step, though in that step, he instantly neared the human's position and touched his face. The human's face imploded and burst into a spray of blood, bone, hair, and organs. The knife, losing its dark power from the human, was picked up by Saraquel as it fell through the air. Saraquel simply tossed it at the next attacking human. The knife cleanly passed through the human's neck, free of blood, though the neck was cut in half along with the human's head and upper body.

The other humans that were attacking Saraquel stopped as they stared at the way Saraquel had killed their comrades. The angel didn't even have to think about what he did, it was purely natural instinct. They didn't want to die meaninglessly, but they still had orders.

"KILL HIM NOW!"

The humans heard the order of their superior, Director Luther. Fear ruled the humans' minds as they attacked Saraquel without regard to their life.

"Pitiful..." Muttered Saraquel as he poked an incoming human in the forehead with his pointer finger. The finger released a small beam of white light, which pierced and completely burned the human's brain and skull. The beam opened up a large hole in the back of the human's head, revealing an empty skull. One of the humans fled the scene, which was the smart thing to do. Though the remaining four apparently decided to martyr themselves for a lost cause. Saraquel dispatched each of the humans with simple maneuvers of his hand.

"Clean up here. I see no need to continue my presence here." Saraquel said to his fellow angels. Several seconds passed as Saraquel flapped his wings faster and faster, and the moment he moved, he instantly disappeared.

-

'This is so surreal, I feel like I'm in the middle of one of Tolkien's books.' I thought to myself as I stood back, watching Jia attack with all her might against Lamia.

It was a fairly one sided fight, or it should have been considering how both fight bare handed and Lamia is the only one with menacing claws. Still, I was surprised to Jia not once take a step back, except when to add extra velocity and momentum to her attacks. Even Jackie Chan or Donnie Yen would be hard pressed to match these two in their skills.

Jia swiped her foot at Lamia's neck, just barely touching the hairs present there. Lamia retaliated by trying to rend Jia's leg with her claws, though Jia managed to move her leg out of the way quick enough to wheel around and land a low kick on Lamia's own legs. As Lamia buckled down, Jia attacked Lamia's upper chest with another nukite, though Lamia's nimble hands negated it.

I wasn't sure, but I thought I saw Jia and Lamia get fiercer, or to be precise, more animalistic and bestial in their behavior as they fought. Though I attributed that to the fact that they're both dragons. 'Wait, if they're both dragons, then does that mean they can transform into one? Scales and all?' With that thought, I tried to imagine Jia as a dragon, though I already knew what she would look like- that long golden green dragon from those strange dreams of mine.

"And who are you? I see you have no relation to these trying humans, but you seem acquainted with our Miss Jia Fucanglong." Asked a passive voice from behind me, it belonged to that angel from before, Saraquel.

I tripped backwards, falling flat on my ass. I had no idea if he would kill me like those other suits. Though if he wanted to, I bet he could kill me any moment he wished.

I tried to speak, though I choked at first, "I *cough*, I know Jia..."

"Obviously, though it seems to be more than that. I inferred that you were brought here against your will and were used as a hostage to force Miss Fucanglong to call us. Is that correct? Do not worry, I have no wish to harm you." Saraquel said calmly with an air of grace and intellectuality.

I took a deep breath and replied with my utmost honesty, "I found Jia and took her in, since she had amnesia. It wasn't until a couple weeks later that I learned about dragons, magic, and angels, so I'm desperate for some respite. Still, I want to help Jia, help her regain her memories, I'll do that no matter how long it will take or how dangerous it will be."

I couldn't tell, but I thought I saw Saraquel flash a smile. "Did you know, that when Nepenthe was created, it was used by pagan gods in order to enslave powerful beasts to fight my kind. Even dragons were not spared. Beings like the Scylla, Charybdis, and even Hydra over there, were all once enslaved by Greek gods. We didn't know how to stop such powerful creatures from being taken control, so our natural enemies, the demons offered a deal, a political one mind you. It was basically a help us to help you kind of thing, they offered us a cure for Nepenthe for us to take care of a certain problem they were facing. Would you like some of this cure?" Asked Saraquel, completely ignoring his surroundings.

'Wait! Instead of just bringing back Jia's memories, I can just get a cure? How in the... No, don't question such a blessing.' I was beyond relieved to hear that there was a cure for Nepenthe, but still, I knew there had to be a catch.

"What's the catch?"

"Nothing big. All I want for you is to make sure that this aggravating little occurrence will never happen again. Miss Fucanglong should never again call us as a slave to humans, it is too pitiful." Saraquel pulled out a ball covered in white and golden swirls. He released it in his hand once it was eye length and it began to float while also glowing with faint light. "I request a large quantity of the cure for Nepenthe. Please send it to my location at once."

"What are you-" I was cut off by Saraquel.

"Another of my kind will be coming here with the cure. Please use it accordingly on all the dragons. It is time to take my leave." And with that, Saraquel turned into a beam of light that flew into the sky.

'Did he just go to Heaven? This is... Fucking weird, though it already was long ago.' I told myself with a sigh.

I more or less had finally accommodated myself with the situation, though I never ceased to be amazed at everything. Getting a handle on myself, I returned my attention to Jia and her sister.

"Come on sister! Why did they like you so much? You can't do SHIT ANYMORE!" Yelled out Lamia as she rent her claws up Jia's back.

"JIA!"

Jia looked at me for a single second, smiling as if her injury just now meant nothing. "Do not... Worry... Cahlan." She was confident, for reasons unknown to me. She must have had a plan.

"Oh? You're sure you can ignore me for even a single second in this fight? I'll kill you sister!" Seethed Lamia as she swung both of her arms down on Jia diagonally.

I closed my eyes in anticipation of Jia receiving another wound, but instead of the tearing of flesh, I heard a loud double "chink".

Golden green scales had formed along the entirety of Jia's arm, completely stopping the claws of Lamia. Jia grabbed Lamia's arms and pulled her forward; Lamia, who was in a state of shock at her failed attack, was pulled along easily. As she moved forward, Jia planted her elbow in Lamia's face, breaking the nose and probably even knocking loose a few teeth. Jia slammed the back of her hand on the side of Lamia's head, clocking her to the side. And in one fell motion, Jia struck Lamia in the back of her head, knocking her sister out.

"See... Cahlan... I win." Jia murmured as she stood up, shaking from the claw wounds on her back.

I ran over to her and held her up. "Yea, you did a good job!" I tried to sound as comforting as possible.

"This is all... I am... Good at... Anyways, Cahlan..."

"That's completely false, you know it. Nobody else can be you and you can do many things other than just fighting." I consoled.

Jia had a strange grin on her face, "Like... What?"

"Well, you can... Uh, we can think of those later, just know you're definitely not useless in everything but fighting." I looked back at the continuing fight between the angels and dragon girls and agents.

At this point, the angels have pretty much cleared out the area of any suits, and two of the dragon girls were knocked unconscious. I could still see Ddraig fighting her opponent, Hydra. I recalled Saraquel's words were Hydra was once enslaved in a situation just like this back in the day by Greek gods. So even pagan gods exist, or did exist at the very least.

I purged all useless thoughts out of my mind for now, and I focused on the battlefield. Each of the angels were cleaning the area of the remaining agents, though they kept a sharp eye on the fight between Ddraig and Hydra. They clearly understood the situation: one of the dragons is rebelling against their enslavement, most likely Y Ddraig Goch. I figured they thought it would be rude to interfere with that battle. How... Polite.

Ddraig blocked Hydra's axe with her tough baton. Simple physics would dictate that Ddraig would have to be pushed by the large axe with the level of power put into the swing, though she somehow held her ground. Ddraig swept at Hydra's legs, though Hydra stepped back and readied another swing of her axe.

Ddraig, with her carbon fiber framed baton rushed in, getting too close for Hydra to hit with her axe. Ddraig stabbed with her blunt weapon several points, in rapid succession, on Hydra's chest, solar plexus, groin, and neck. Hydra fell back, paralyzed from the attacks that seemed to stop her flow of energy to other parts of her body. With Hydra's movements halted, Ddraig painlessly knocked her sister out with her baton.

Suddenly, each of the angels appeared before Ddraig with their weapons at the ready. One of the angels, Nathan, asked Ddraig, "Y Ddraig Goch, are you also our enemy?"

Ddraig coughed up some blood. It appears that her fight with Hydra wasn't entirely in her favor the whole time. "N-no. I have been given the drug, Nepenthe. Along with my sisters."

"So that is why Honored Saraquel called for the cure to Nepenthe. Very well, Y Ddraig Goch, we will leave you be." Said Nathan as he sheathed his weapon, which was an ornate bladed mace. "Will you, Fucanglong, and the lone human need any help administering the cure to your sisters?"

Ddraig looked over to me and Jia, "No, but can you please heal sister Fucanglong first before you go? I beg of you..." Ddraig pleaded amiably.

"I apologize, our light will do very little to the wounds of a dragon. If that is all, then we will take our leave." Nathan bowed and "beamed up" with his female comrades to God knows where.

Ddraig rushed over to our position with a limp in her leg. Before I could say anything, Ddraig prostrated and apologized, "I am truly sorry for my behavior today and before. Your words were truth and I saw fit to assist you and the angels in this battle." Ddraig paused and saw Lamia's unconscious body, "Is she alright?"

"Eh?"

"She is mine and Jia's sister after all, it is only natural we hope that she is safe." Commented Ddraig as she confirmed Lamia's safety.

'That's right. Even if she tried to kill Jia, she is still their sister. Maybe she won't be so insane after we give her the cure?' I wondered.

BANG! BANG!

I heard two loud gunshots, which came from a pistol that was in the hands of Director Luther. Where he shot them were in the head and body of Ddraig. While I was no expert, I saw the bullets enter the side of her head and in her upper right shoulder, there was a chance she wasn't dead.

Even though I quickly processed the situation, I was still shocked. "Good, she was being annoying recently. Now with Fucanglong injured and Y Ddraig Goch dead, I can at least have a chance to salvage the situation." Luther said with livid words.

At least he didn't suspect Ddraig was still most likely alive.

"Now, you little shit, get over here or I'll kill you and Fucanglong." Threatened the Director.

I placed Jia's head on a soft bit of ground. I stood up slowly with my hands raised, I figured if I got to where Luther was, I could disarm him and turn the tables. With a calm mind, I strode over to Luther. I could see Luther's hands shaking, he was not in his right mind.

"It took years of my life to get to this point, and for what? To have some autocratic angel pricks arrogantly say humans aren't ready. WHAT BULLSHIT IS THAT? I'll show them... I'll bring over ALL the dragons and have Fucanglong call them again. This time we'll ambush them and SLAUGHTER THEM ALL. That'll show them where our rightful place on the food chain." Shrieked Luther maniacally, this was my chance.

Bolting into a sprint, I ran straight at Luther who was still spouting off nonsense. He didn't notice me until I tackled him into the ground, smashing his hand against a rock. Luther lost his grip on the pistol and I picked it up. I jumped up and aimed the gun at Luther.

"You're just another government official who got too full of himself. This happens every single time in the movies." I taunted as I aimed a gun at Luther.

Just to remind you, I have never have or wanted to hold a gun in my life. While I thought they were cool and all considering I'm a male, I still never wanted to shoot someone for real. I at least checked to see if the safety was on or off, which it was off. Other than that, I had no idea how to work a gun other than pulling the trigger.

Luther pushed his portly body off the ground, bloody from falling on the rocks. He must have been running on adrenaline by now. "Boy... You arrogant prick, give me back the pistol right now." Demanded Luther.

I shook my head, "Fuck off, you're going to call in a chopper and get us out of here. You're in no position to threaten me."

"Damn kid, YOU'RE in no position to threaten me." Raged Luther as he pointed his palm at my body. A blast of energy pushed me back several meters away, landing a considerable distance away from Jia who was watching the situation. Jia was still too weak from her wounds to do anything and could only watch.

Since when could Luther use magic?! Shit! I tried to stand up with the pistol in hand, though I felt resistance. A small ways away, I could see Luther holding his hand out, which sent more forceful energy my way to keep me on the ground, splayed for the world. As if I was making a snow angel, my arms and legs were out to the sides with my head facing straight up. Luther walked over to me and removed the pistol from my hand.

His words were calmer than before, though they still had a sense of lunacy to them, "Kid, the day you were born and sucking on your mother's tits, I was probably around eighteen years old. By that time, I had already killed around fifty men and women. Do you know why? No I suppose you don't. I killed them because my superiors in Theta Sector ordered me to. That was for the greater good, and ever since, every single person my fellow agents and I killed was not for the greater good, but exclusively for the good of Theta Sector. We of Theta Sector only kill because we need to. Our desires are for the betterment of humankind as a whole. You are an obstacle to that goal, thus I will kill you now."

I couldn't speak, even if I wanted to, because the strange magic force that was holding me down also choked me, stopping my airflow. Still, it seemed that death by asphyxiation wasn't satisfying enough for Luther and he aimed the pistol at my body and released the remaining bullets into random nonlethal spots. I felt the full force of the pain, which felt very excruciating. I fell asleep to what I assumed was death.

-

No, I didn't die. I came here again.

I found myself standing in front of the face of the golden green dragon from my previous dreams. I knew now who this creature was, Jia's true form.

"So you finally... Figured it out... Little one." Said the dragon, seemingly aware of my thoughts.

"Jia?" I asked.

"No, I am... Fucanglong. Though I am also... Jia Fucanglong. We are one and... The same... If you will. I only exist in... This form, which... Is also... Jia Fucanglong's form. Jia Fucanglong... Exists in the human... Form, which is also... My form."

Damn riddles. "Why do things like you always speak in riddles?"

"Tis' not... A riddle, I am... Explaining it as... Simply as possible. Let... Me put it this... Way: I exist as... A dragon. Jia Fucanglong exists... As a human. Separate... Personalities if you... Will. Though we both share... The same thoughts... Emotions... And feelings for others... Like you. Jia Fucanglong is... Too shy to say... It face to face. She is quite... Cute that way... Let me say it... On behalf of both... Of us... We... Love you as well."

Hearing it come from Jia would be one thing, but hearing it come from a giant dragon was another. Still, in this dream, it felt natural. As if I was hearing it from Jia herself. Perhaps what the dragon was saying is true, they are the exact same, though different at the same time.

If this place weren't a dream world, I would be feeling extreme awkwardness. Though I shrugged it off.

"It seems it is... Time for me... To finally act. Would you like... To accompany me?" Asked the dragon as it moved one of its slender paws to me in order to form a sort of stepladder.

"It would be my pleasure." I climbed up Fucanglong's paw and climbed onto its back, no, her nape. Grabbing on tightly, I felt a wave of air trying to push me back as Fucanglong took off into the air.

-

"Damn bratty kids. We'll have to whip them into shape once I gain the power to change humanity." Luther spat on the kid he just killed and walked over to the test subject, Fucanglong (Luther calls her Fucanglong, not Jia).

Jia was wide-eyed at the death of Callan. She was supposed to protect him, in thanks for all of his kindness to her... Yet she failed. That reminded her of something... A circumstance from her past.

"I remember... Before." Said Jia.

"What's that? Shit, Nepenthe can't be wearing off, impossible! She can't be regaining her memories." Marveled Luther, dumbstruck.

"You threatened... My sister... Whom you had... Already indoctrinated... Into your insane... Plot. But you did... Not kill her... Yet you killed... Cahlan... Why?" Jia asked as she began to cry.

"Shits like him are expendable, as are all humans who fail to live up to my new standards that I will bring to them. Good, it seems you aren't regaining any more memories, now get up, Fucanglong." Warned Luther as he reloaded his pistol and aimed it at Jia.

"I remember more... Not just the... Short past... But the... Long as well."

"Did Nepenthe truly wear off?"

"I am a... Dragon... Whose name is... Fucanglong. I guard the... Eternal vaults of... Treasure of... Man and nature. I left to... Find my... Most treasured... Possession... Only to find... Its destruction."