Location: Dragon King of Destruction's Temple, Bushyasta; Corridors
With one foot after the other, Zahhak says, "Aunty, where did you go? I promise I won't be too angry if you're stuffing your face, so just come out and reveal yourself."
Not hearing any response, worry starts to fill Zahhak's mind, but soon a tapping enters his ears that grows ever louder as time passes. "The strength of this foot, it can only be one Dragon."
Pinpointing her location, Zahhak charges forward, whispering, "I have found you now."
He paces continuously until he reaches two giant doors, and says, "Huh? Isn't this the throne room? Did she really store food in the place where she receives guests? Silly Aunt-."
A surge of force slips through the slim gaps between the doors that knocks Zahhak back onto his butt, creaking the large doors open ever so slightly. Shocked, Zahhak quickly peers his head, and whispers, "What's going on?"
His eyes see four Dragons, including Olodumare, all on one knee in front of the Indrani, who paces around the room in anger. With sweat trickling down his head, Olodumare says, "I am sorry, but that's what Ahura said to tell you? We petitioned him vigorously, but it was to no avail. Zahhak shall never be allowed to set foot in either the Dragon King of War, or Truth's Territory, and any Dragon from either who knowingly interacts with him shall be expelled from the Kshathra and the Shahāneh."
In an instant, the words from Olodumare hit Zahhak, and all the sound around him vanishes from his mind.
Φ Aunty has a scary face as she speaks, but I can barely experience any of it, as my mind erases everything in front of it from view, because in this moment, it tries its best to use all its powers to figure this out.
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
My mind poses this question again and again, but it can't find an answer, no conclusion it can come to can solve this with my self-remaining completely, with my heart remaining intact, and so it takes control of my flesh against my will and runs.
It moves like the wind itself, rushing through the temple with no regard for any structure, object or being I see as I move, bursting through it all and sending them flying away from me. If people roamed the temple instead of Wyverns at night, the place would be filled with the brim with blood and guts. That fortune is the only thing blessed onto me in this moment, as my body tries to exhaust itself so that thought can no longer continue, so that this can just become a memory.
Yet in this moment, my body was far more aware, far more reactive than it ever was, and as those words left the mouth of random servants, it couldn't help but listen.
"I guess that's the end goal of being a cursed birth. No other path than to be shunned, I feel bad for Zahhak."
In an instant, my body was presented with possible answers, and despite the fear those answers may bring, the fear of uncertainty was far more intense, and so it rushed towards the servants, landing on and restraining them both to the floor. They both wear armour similar to the Hunting Dragon, yet don't impose the same aura, so my body instantly decides it can threaten them both. It grabs their necks and squeezes tight;y before asking, "What are you talking about?"
Their faces surge with fear as they try to understand the situation. I feel sorry for them, I wish to let them go, I want them to smile when they look at me, but the answers that I crave have turned me into nothing but a mindless beast, so all I can do is shout, "ANSWER ME!!!"
"Is that the way to ask for something, boy?"
My body turns, and my tail whips around, though it is quickly impaled into the ground, as a fist smashes against the side of my head. Looking at the attacker, I see the Hunting Dragon standing over my body. His two men rush to his side, and he cracks his tail against both their heads, knocking them out. "You fools should have had your guard up. Dragon King's blood or not, you shouldn't have allowed him to best you so easily. As well as talking about sensitive information in the open."
"What do you know? What is being hidden from me! WHY AM I NOT ALLOWED BACK HOME!" I ask.
Through his black armour, he stares down at me and says, "Children should live in a land of delusions."
"ANSWER ME!"
He strikes me in my face, against bouncing my head against the floor before saying, "Yet I believe discipline is needed for nonsensical behaviour like what you commonly show. So I shall enlighten you today. The reason you're forbidden from returning home is because you're birth killed the Dragon King of War."
"YOU'RE LYING! NO DRAGON HAS EVER DIED IN CHILD BIRT-."
"Yet one did. In the entire history of our race, the first child to end their mother's life in the womb was you. The birth of a single boy brought down a goddess of war, slaughtered one of the greatest legacies in our country, and stole the Dragon King of Truth's other half from him."
"No, no, NO! I didn't do such a thing, my birth didn't cause such a thing, you're lying, it is impossible for me to kill my mother, if I did, aunty would have told me. You're just making up th-."
"Do you really believe the idea that you'd be in a different Dragon King territory for the beginning of your life just due to Indrani's whims? I have a question for you: Did you even learn of the fact that no Dragon has died in pregnancy from your cousins, or was it through an outside source? Did you ever think about why you've never even been allowed to leave the 7th city without a family member's approval? It was all to keep you in one place just so you'd never have the disfortune of ever landing your eyes on one of your family members' bodies, because to them you're nothing but a curs-."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" my body yells as my feet smash against the ground.
In an instant, it dashes away from the words that envelope it. The uncertainty that was cast over filled me with pain, so my flesh ran looking for any answer to try and deny the reality in front of me, but this truth, this existence, is far worse than anything I ever could've imagined. And my feet move forward again to run from it, hoping to escape.
Yet it seeps in far quicker than the uncertainty; there are no delusions of hope I can give myself to ease the pain. I am unwanted, I am a curse, I am a destructive existence, I should have never been born."
Location: Mount Hara; Prison Room
Φ With his tears growing heavier as his body drags itself down the narrow pathway that he usually skips down with Joy, Zahhak brings himself into the small room.
And forming into a fat bunny within the orb, Angra stares out at him and says, "Zahhak? What's wrong?"
Trying his best to hold in his tears, Zahhak says, "Angra, I can't, I can't continue like this, I ca-." He falls to the ground and smashes his fists against it, shaking the very structure of the room.
"Zahhak, please don't rampage like a monster, use the words that have been inscribed into your heart. I promise that no matter what, I will listen through it with you like I always have. Just trust in me."
He slams his fist into the ground again, and drags his right hand through the ground before forming it into a fist and smashing his chest with it as he says, "I SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN BORN! I WAS A MISTAKE, A CURSE, A FIEND BORN INTO THIS WORLD. MY MOTHER, THE GREAT DRAGON KING OF WAR'S LIFE WAS ENDED BY MY POINTLESS EXISTENCE. THE PAIN CAUSED ONTO THE DRAGON BY THE VERY ACTION OF MY BIRTH IS FAR MORE THAN ANYTHING I COULD EVER ACHIEVE IN MY LIFETIME.
THAT'S WHY THEY HATE ME. THAT'S WHY THEY DESPISE ME SO MUCH THAT MY VERY EXISTENCE ON THIS PLANET SHALL FOREVER BE EXPUNGED FROM THEIR RECORDS SO THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE TO LOOK AT ME. MY BROTHER, MY FATHER, MY NIECES AND NEPHEWS, THEY SHALL NEVER LOOK UPON MY EXISTENCE WITHOUT DISDAIN, AND I CAN'T FAULT THEM.
MY WORTHLESS LIFE AS A DARK SHADOW CAST ON THIS WORLD IS FAR TOO GREAT FOR HOW LITTLE I HAVE ADDED. My birth was a mistake, and so is my continued life on this planet. I should've just killed myself as I drew my fist breathe, I should've never been born."
Zahhak's tears surge from his eyes, as his body writhes in pain far worse than even the strain the Basileia crystals placed on my flesh. His mind, his body, and his soul break down bit by bit the more he just exists, like he sheer rejection of his life is forcing his existence to self-implode.
And faced with his fragile state, it sees an opportunity to pounce and strike at him with full force. So, wielding the key he has obtained for the boy, Angra says, "I can change that for you."
"What?"
"I can end the life you have and change your body to a form capable of helping many. For I am an old friend and partner of the Dragon King of Enlightenment, if I were to come back, it would restore an ancient ally to the Dragon's who has once been lost, and you can allow that to happen, Zahhak, your life can have a purpose."
With the eyes of a starved man, Zahhak looks up and says, "Then do it! Please turn this flesh of mine into a tool for this country, for my people, for my family. Make it so that it matters in the end."
"Then break this prison for me. With the power of your Regalia, you can undo this seal."
Zahhak rushes forward and grabs the orb with both of his hands, before spewing darkness that covers and begins to absorb the orb into it, yet as he produces more and more with a desperate smile on his face, a realisation hits Zahhak. "How did you know I manifested a Regalia?"
His hands freeze for a moment, and Angra responds, "Because I heard it from your mind, like how I have heard all the other thoughts you've released since you were born. It is an extremely simple task for one like me, just like how I knew all the answers to your heart, just like how I knew what information to give you, just like how I knew the fact you'd never be allowed to return home, and just like how I knew you'd one day have enough power to free me."
As the words of Angra begin to dawn on Zahhak, he quickly releases the orb out of instinct, yet in that moment, a giant hand bursts through it and grabs Zahhak's body before placing him on the ground.
"Angra?"
"The one and only. Now, my little puppet, let's create a new world together."
In that very instant, Angra takes possession of Zahhak's flesh and mutters the words, "Dragon blood battle arts; Rebirth." And across his body, scales grow faster and faster, overwhelming the entire area.