pishirogane | prismatica

"... But, another thought. Raising the eggs and babies, they required so much Chroma themselves. If dragons need Chroma as well... and if supplies have been low..."

She sighed. So many dragons had been born now because the Moonblessed, Moonlacing, and the sacrifice of the Chroma they produced. Hopefully, as the dragons aged, they required less or there were alternatives to surviving until more Chroma was present.

However, she was a pessimist.

"Hmm, you're right. The King and others have been doin' okay though. They get by somehow. Prismals can't produce Chroma, but what if dragons can? They just need a bunch as they grow in the eggs, maybe."

Too many questions, not enough answers.

They'll get some soon, hopefully. They just needed to reach the drop-off point.

"It's possible. Though, if they can produce Chroma, why don't they assist the Prismals with the Chroma crisis? There's something going on, but how do they expect a solution to be reached if they don't tell us what's going on?"

It was frustrating. She would really like answers soon when it was so obvious there was a problem.

He scratched his head. No, she was bringing up a lot of good points.

"Okay, new theory- everybody's a dick, and that's why this energy crisis is as bad as it is, and they don't believe they're in a crisis until somethin' puts a bug in their ass."

He shrugged.

"Still, won't hurt talkin' to the King. He owes us."

Oh.

That's a hell of a climb right there.

"I can concur with that theory. However, it might be less a matter of people being 'dicks' and more trying to appease the populous from a crisis they don't have a solution for..."

She shook her head.

"Yes. We'll find out something... hopefully."

However, this might be a roadblock.

"... How are your rock climbing skills?"

There was a small, pleasant shiver when she swore, but he ignored it just as quickly.

"Uhm... I mean, never done it before, but I've climbed trees. Ain't the same, but..."

He canted his head.

"Same dangers. Man, if I was transformed- and I thought I'd never say that- I could probably clear this pretty easy. Damn. Think the plane's got ropes and stuff?"

"... Not exactly. With this incline, the chances of injury at a lower height increases, and once we reach a certain height... well..."

They wouldn't want to fall... at all.

"They should among their emergency supplies. Though, I don't think it's enough for this climb. There's also a matter of getting the dragons up too."

He folded his arms with a sigh, at a loss of what to do.

"So... that's it? That can't be it. These guys have to go back home."

He set his jaw.

"I'm goin' back for rope. It's better than nothing."

She continued looking over the sheer wall, hoping to find another route up, but there wasn't any. Unless they could sprout wings and fly suddenly, climbing was their only option.

"... Alright, I'll keep looking for a safe route up."

Naoto glanced towards the dragons. She'd try to keep them from following Kanji back.

Kanji turned, then paused. He swore and slapped his forehead.

"...Wait, whadda we need rope for!?"

He raised his arm and called on the Emperor card, following its descent before he crushed it between his fingers.

"PERSONA!" He felt the familiar split of his soul, and from it emerged the great red, white and gold-clad demon.

"Hm?"

Both eyebrows shot up at the head smack, eyes widening when he drew the Emperor card. Oh... oh! Wow, how could they possibly forget about that.

"... Right, our Persona can fly. I can't believe we neglected that option... but we did have the dragons on our mind this whole time."

Letting Yamato-Sumeragi play with the dragons would've resulted in less painful bites too.

He sighed, a short and weary puff. "Yeah, I'm really sympathizing with parents with toddlers... and those're human toddlers."

Zaiten lowered and offered his very large hands.

"Either way, I can get us all up no problem."

"Agreed. Whenever we return home, I'll have to call and thank my grampa again..." He might've raised her from a toddler, but he hadn't been in his prime.

Gazing up at Kanji, Naoto soon looked down and stepped onto Zaiten's palm. In turn, she waited for the baby dragons to get on as well. "It's alright you two..."

The ribbon dragon paused, trilled, and wasn't sure what to make of this other thing that smelled like Papa. But Mama seemed to be okay with things. After using a claw to touch the metallic carapace, she climbed on and wound her tail around Mama's ankle for safety.

Kanji hopped onto the opposite palm, and once everyone else was on, he tipped his chin and sent Zaiten slowly upward.

"Heh. Same with my mom... I was a fuckin' nightmare."

The other dragon had tried biting Zaiten before deciding to join Mama and their sibling. Naoto knelt down beside them, placing her arms around to hold them close. Going up into the air might startle them, but they would be okay...

"I heard suggestions that you weren't always..."

Kanji had gone momentarily quiet, thoughtful. He hadn't been there for what Yukiko said in the classroom, catching Chie, Yosuke and Souji by surprise. But Naoto... she likely had questions for his mom, for starters.

"Yeah... I mean, before Dad died, I wouldn't'a been different from most other kids."

He looked her way as Zaiten landed neatly, and lowered his hands again.

"But as a toddler, before any of all that..." He took in a breath and looked around.

"...I hated pants, a'right!?" 'Clothes' was more like it, but this wasn't the time or place to talk about a naked phase that gave his mom a lot of stress while his dad laughed his ass off.

Riding along, Naoto was quiet, letting Kanji speak while she focused ahead. Though, he too was paying attention forward just to make sure Zaiten didn't overshoot.

There was a pang when he mentioned his father, but Naoto remained silent.

Her head snapped towards him though, her jaw feeling loose. "Pants? So, you made a habit of strolling around naked... Goodness." She giggled softly at the thought of his father being quite unhelpful and his mother's exasperation. It wasn't what she expected him to say at all.

"I-I didn't say naked!!" But judging by how his face went through every shade of pink... busted.

"Stuff just... kept gettin' dirty from bein' outside or felt too tight on me, th-that's all." That's just what happened when you had frequent growth spurts like he did. He swore he grew an inch taller a week.

He didn't need to say he was. Looked like she got it right anyway.

"Considering your height now, you grew faster than your clothes could often keep up with." But she was going to take note of Kanji's mention of getting dirty while outside. Not wearing clothes would certainly keep them clean, but public indecency was a thing...

"Yeah, money got a little tight for a while, so it was kinduva 'swing and a prayer'. Lotta my stuff was handmade, but we had weeks apparently where in the time it'd take to finish a new pair of pants for me that it was already too small for me." He chuckled.

"Ah, anyway... I really should meet The Man, The Legend." He looked up.

"Your Gramps, I mean. I hear all these stories and I got all these pictures in my head...!"

"I see. That would be an issue..." Junes had only been a recent addition to Inaba as well. Not that Tatsumi Textiles seemed to be in the red like other stores ended up, but material wasn't cheap and a growing boy wouldn't be either.

Blinking in slight confusion, she opened her mouth, "Ah... Well, what do you want to know about him? You might be building him up as too much of an enigma though."

"'Course I've built him up... he raised you!" He hopped off the hand and went to gather up the ribboning dragon, who gave a soft squeal as she wound herself up around his neck and shoulders.

"How could I not? Hell, I wouldn't even know what to ask... s-stories, I guess? But I wanna be able to have, y'know, somethin' to talk about should we meet back home and he burns laser holes into me for dating his granddaughter."

He paused, paled. "Oh god, do the Shirogane Laser Eyes get stronger with age? Am I dead?"

Staring, she... guessed that made sense? Picking up their son, the darker dragon huffed but burrowed himself against his mom's chest anyway, tail wiggling despite grumpy face.

"Ah... That's a fair point. Still, I'm sure he'd be happy to regale you with all his own stories." Still, she let her mind search around, trying to decide on what tale to behold him with.

"That? Well, yes and no." Should she tell him that? Fine fine... "Grampa's had years of practice. However, he did tell me my mother could easily frighten my father despite honing his own Stare."

He laughed. "Cool. So I'm screwed. Good to know. I'll just have to build up some armor in the meantime... I'll be imperviousish!"

Zaiten faded, his job complete. Kanji dusted off his pants and proceeded onward.

Meanwhile, as Naoto's mind searched around, her eyes seemed to follow suit. They caught another pair hiding in the underbrush. With nary a movement, they disappeared within a blink.

"Haha, do your best. None have managed to withstand my grampa's gaze at full strength. Well, again, except my mother."

She wished she'd been old enough to know more about her mom herself. Noting Zaiten fading, Naoto followed... but paused. She stared at the underbrush, losing track of her initial task of deciding what story to tell Kanji.

prismatica | Overflow

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject