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Of course Almedha had people keeping an eye on the Greil Mercenaries. Of course she occasionally had someone hire their services. So of course she knew when they got involved with some of Iruka’s old inner circle, and of course she didn’t sit back when word reached her that some of the mercenaries were captured. Everyone knew there would be old grudges held against Ike and his friends. And Almedha knew that Soren’s one weakness was the family that had adopted him.
But she wasn’t about to let that be another cause of grief for him.
Which meant that the newly revitalized Princess of Goldoa spared no time leaving her castle to rescue her son when she had gotten word that he was part of the group of several other Greil mercenaries that had been captured by Iruka’s old comrades. And fortunately or unfortunately Kurthnaga was right on her heels as they were racing through the stone walls of the Daein camp that dared imprison their family. Granted he was the only one worried about keeping a low profile, trying to hold a hood over his head to obscure his features.
The commotion of fighting that wasn’t because of them was the first alert they had of something having gone wrong. Almedha’s fists made short work of the hired soldiers blocking their way. But their grunts of pain from her blows paled in comparison to the shrieked cries of panic that started to filter down the halls. Screams that cut off with sickening crunches, and the occasional gurgle. Almedha found she was only mildly worried, until a shrieked cry of “DRAGON!” reached her ears, causing her to quickly look for her little brother. Yet one look confirmed that he had not transformed, and therefore they couldn't be screaming about him. And her attention was brought towards the floor below when she heard further cries that wrapped her chest in ice.
“What did you think was going to happen? Why did you drug him?!”
“How else were we supposed to keep the freaking tactician that fought the Goddess in chains if his brain was intact?”
Almedha could barely hear their resounding shrieks as something collided into them from behind, crashing into their forms and bringing them into view from the stairs to the dungeon basement. A clawed foot stomped on the back of the neck of one as clawed hands latched onto the torso of the other that had been slightly in front, fangs snapping forward to sink into the man’s neck. It served them right, but Almedha didn’t care a millisecond about them. Her attention had been captured by the familiar black and red scaled limbs on the one who had tackled them. Her black scales. Her horns. Her wings. Her draconic blood passed onto her son, spreading his brand into a more proper draconic emblem on his forehead even as their iconic crimson iris had spread to completely obscure his eyes.
The same eyes Rajaion had before Ike’s company had freed him.
“Soren!”
Almedha barely heard her voice break as she called to him, hoping futily that she would be heard despite knowing it had never worked for Rajaion. Her figure crashed against the stone railing on the second floor, the stairs being much too far for her.
“No! - AlmEDHA!”
She heard Kurthnaga’s broken cry next to her, listening to it shift from despair for his nephew into panic as she heaved herself over the railing. Forget the stairs. She could handle something as small as a drop between floors. She wasn’t some damsel in a skirt this fight.
Kurthnaga had other ideas though. The familiar light of laguz energy enveloping him as he lurched over the edge as well, reaching clawed hands out to catch her mid air before crashing to the ground on scaled feet. The remaining soldiers made further exclamations about Kurthnaga’s presence, but Almedha didn’t care. As soon as she could she slid from her brother’s grasp and sprinted towards her feral drugged son. This was not going to happen. Not again. Not to her family. She could help this time. She wasn’t some weak, broken minded widow locked away in a tower this time. She was the daughter of King Dheginsea.
But Soren’s drug hazed mind could only see her as a threat. The awkward wings that didn’t belong to his back flaring as he snarled in warning to her. A cracked voice somewhere between his own and the proper roars of a dragon. At first he retreated, eyes flicking from Almedha to Kurthnaga even as he politely knocked some of the more brave soldiers away with his knuckles. But when she kept coming towards him Soren returned to offense, letting out a scratched roar as he scrambled into a leap towards her, already bloodied teeth bared.
Almedha didn’t bother dodging. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to stop Soren’s full weight with the added limbs, but she didn’t care. Just flung her arms open and shifted enough so his teeth would sink into her shoulder rather than her neck as they crashed to the floor. It caused her to wince, but she didn’t rethink her actions. Just flung her arms around her son’s mutated form, pinning him close.
Soren did not like the idea of being restrained. Snapping his jaw open and shoving his hands against her shoulders with a snarl as soon as he realized she was trying to hold him down with her. He managed to wedge his feet on either side of her, kicking against the stone to stand again. But he inevitably only dragged her back up right with him, her lock hold refusing to let up.
“Soren!” Almedha called, nevermind the claws raking across her thigh as Soren tried to kick her away. In retaliation she just heaved herself forward, knocking Soren off balance with her weight and bodying him to the ground again. “Soren! Listen to me! It’s Almedha! We’re here to rescue you! We're going to bring you back to Ike! Please! Remember yourself!”
She wasn’t sure how much Soren heard. She thought there had been a difference when she had mentioned the two names, the rage filled snarling paused and changed to a strangled whimper for a moment. But it could have just been because of him struggling to be released. She wasn’t able to say much more before his foot collided with her side, weakening her grip at just the right moment for him to scramble from her hold.
But he didn’t get far before a distinctly larger draconic hand crashed into him and plucked him off the ground.
“Kurth-! Don’t hurt him!” Almedha gasped, an automatic reaction to her son being treated even remotely rough by someone.
“It’s alright sister, I won’t,” Kurthnaga assured, cupping both his hands around Soren to keep him contained without being too cramped. While Soren’s new claws were definitely more effective than blades, he still wasn’t making too much of a dent against Kurthnaga’s fully formed scales. And while the trashing was a challenge to deal with, Kurthnaga found he was more distracted by the amount of disgusting blood now being transferred to his hands. He could deal with that later. And he would force himself to do just that. “We need to get him to Reyson and Leanne. They’re able to cure the feral drug. That’s what it is, isn’t it? Let’s go to Phoenicis. I’m sure Tibarn will be willing to help.”
He had crouched so that Almedha could get closer, having to flinch back when Soren’s claws swatted her way. Kurthnaga seemed to effectively have him pancaked between his hands though, so Almedha focused on drawing a shuddering breath even as she rested her hands on Kurthnaga’s arm. That was right. Reyson and his siblings had helped many before who had been infected with the feral drug. Rajaion. Renning. Maurim. And so many others. They just had to bring Soren to them. And hope they could keep quiet about the secret this made so apparent.
“O’okay,” Almedha hushed, reaching up to climb onto Kurthnaga’s shoulder while he awkwardly tried to assist her without letting Soren go.
“Hang in there. It’ll be okay. It hasn’t been that long,” Kurthnaga assured, nudging his cheek against his sister once she was in place and stepping towards the exit. And just because he knew that there were others of Ike’s group there that they wouldn’t be able to rescue on their own, Kurthnaga made a point to destroy the wall surrounding the exit on his way out. That should make it easier for Ike’s group to storm the place.
______________
“Where’s Soren?” Even if it wasn’t the appropriate time to ask, the words still left Ike’s mouth now that all of his other mercenaries were accounted for. Mist was safely wrapped in his arms, trying to calm her own hiccups. Boyd and Titania were being checked on by Rhys. And the others had all had role call and been able to respond verbally.
All but one.
“You didn’t see him on your way in?” Titania asked, waving Rhys off to deal with Oscar and Boyd while holding a vulnerary soaked cloth against her head. When Ike shook his head Titania let out a small curse. “He might be in the surrounding area then. We’ll have to look for him, but be careful-”
“What are you talking about? Soren wouldn’t leave you guys behind,” Ike protested. He knew Soren could be prickly, but he also knew Soren would have been more than capable of freeing the others. They had broken out of worse circumstances with much less experience before.
Titania was shaking her head though, and Ike almost growled his insistence to her. But Mist was the one that spoke up first. “I think they drugged him like the others, Ike,” she whispered, clinging to his arm.
Ike stiffened at the suggestion, looking down at Mist. “... The feral drug?” he asked, not sure if he wanted an answer.
Mist nodded once, but then shuddered and seemed hesitant. “I dunno. They acted like it was, but it didn’t do the same thing as the others. He reacted more like… like a laguz. Not just insane, but actually feral, and… there was…”
Ike felt about ready to snap, keeping himself in check waiting for Mist to find the words. But Titania was the one that added clarity to the confusion Mist couldn’t solve. “Soren’s… half black dragon. Isn’t he,” she stated, keeping her voice decidedly lowered as she crouched in front of Ike.
“What?” Mist asked, looking back to Titania.
Ike pursed his lips for a moment, but it was only because he couldn’t say for sure. “He’s part laguz, yeah. But we don’t know which kind,” he confirmed. It wasn’t something he wanted to just shout from the rafters and let anyone know. But he knew for certain that at least Mist and Titania wouldn’t care about Soren’s mixed heritage. He’d just never mentioned it before because it honestly had never been anything worth mentioning.
Titania gave a half hearted huff and smile at the response, her shoulders sagging as Ike confirmed what shed only had suspicions of. “Well, I’m pretty sure a black dragon is the only one that would get those kinds of scales. He looked like Kurthnaga stuck mid transformation. Black scales, draconic wings, horns, the whole works. I think the feral drug made the laguz blood more prominent.”
Mist looked horribly confused, but Ike didn’t have time to explain it to her. He wasn’t sure how much he could say about it anyway, other than to cuss briefly and look around. “We’ll need the right people to look for him then,” he responded, taking into account who among the ones who weren’t injured would be willing to help without a fuss. “I’m guessing he was the one that made the mess then?”
“Probably. He didn’t seem quite as strong as Kurthnaga and the other dragons. But the cell bars were of no issue,” Titania nodded, watching as Ike was making observations of not only the people there, but the remains of the room.
While there was a stretch of silence, Mist looked between the two. “Soren is part l-,” she started to ask again.
But Titania raised a finger to her lips and made a soft shush to cut her off. “...That’s not something for us to tell anyone,” she enforced with a small wink.
Mist blinked in response, but at least understood the hint. Enough that when Ike suddenly looked back to them she didn’t get annoyed at the interruption. “Wait, if he wasn’t as strong as the other dragons, then who made the hole in the wall?”
“...That wasn’t you guys barging in?” Titania asked after a moment, glancing over at the gaping rubble.
“No,” Ike confirmed. “It was like that when we got here.
“There was a big boom hours before Ike and the others got here,” Mist supported.
They weren’t able to consider that factor much longer, for Rolf’s voice broke over the quiet hum of after battle care. “It’s Janaf! And others from Phoenicis!”
Craning his head to look behind him, Ike was pleasantly surprised, but also extremely confused to indeed see Janaf and a group of hawk laguz descending into the area, returning to their non laguz forms as they touched the ground. Janaf gave a cheery hello and wave to the others as he almost strolled over to Ike and the other two. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but…why are you here?” Ike asked bluntly when Janaf was in range.
“Wow, nice to see you too,” Janaf chuckled, resting his hands on his hips as he leaned over the top of them slightly. “Tibarn sent us to let you guys know Reyson and Leanne are in Phoenicis, and are ready to help with those who were drugged. And,” he explained, holding up a finger to halt Ike’s incoming question. “He also wanted to let you know Soren is with us as well, and Reyson and Leanne are addressing him first. We’re here to escort everyone to the castle. I hope there’s enough of us.”
Ike’s mouth snapped shut long enough for Janaf to finish, and a second more, before his expression scrunched up in bewildered relief. “What? How did…?” he stammered.
Janaf just chuckled, lowering his hand. “We had the same thoughts. But I’m sure you’ll get the answers you want, and then some, once we get back home. Tibarn has some questions of his own too.”
With the last of his group accounted for, Ike spent a few minutes considering the logistics of moving everyone, scanning over everyone who had accompanied Janaf, and eventually sighed with a nod. “Alright, check with Rhys to make sure everyone is fit to move, and then let’s get going.”
______________
Admittedly, ever since the war with the Goddess, Tibarn wasn’t as startled by the Goldoan royalty dropping by unannounced as he used to be. This time completely discredited all previous pleasantries however, for he hadn’t been expecting Kurthnaga to drop from the skies in his draconic form, with a bleeding Almedha in battle gear on his shoulder. And he certainly wasn’t expecting Kurthnaga to have an exhausted but still feisty, half mutated tactician sandwiched between his bloody palms. It had been a few hours flight to reach Phoenicis from Daein, but Soren was proving to be incredibly stubborn, and was still trying to struggle out of Kurthnaga’s grip. He’d even managed to scratch a few gashes into Kurthnaga’s hands despite his breaths having become heaved pants from exertion.
“...I’m sure you have an explanation I would love to hear, but let’s first address why you kidnapped Ike’s feral little tactician and brought him here of all places,” Tibarn commented once Kurthnaga had gingerly landed on the large cliffside patio.
“It’s the feral drug. Are Reyson and Leanne here? Please!” Almedha answered quickly, voice hoarse from having been shouting to Soren almost the entire flight, trying to get him to calm down. Even now he was weakly snarling at Tibarn when he got within view.
The mention of Almedha of all people bringing up the accursed feral drug again caused Tibarn’s grin to drop into a frown. “...I’ll fetch them,” he assured, turning to leave but then pausing when he glanced at Soren, and specifically Kurthnaga’s hands, again. “Actually, Ulki, can you get the siblings for me? Kurth looks like he could use a break.” Tibarn spoke to seemingly nothing, but they all knew Ulki was nearby, and could hear his King’s orders anyway.
“Careful, he’s gotten a lot stronger in this form,” Kurthnaga cautioned, sounding a bit tired from the trip and not quite willing to open his cage.
“Yeah, I can see that,” Tibarn agreed, snatching Soren’s wrist when he slashed a clawed hand at him with a warning snarl. The kid could definitely give Ike a run for his gold now too, but that wasn’t going to deter him. “The three of us should be able to manage though. And I won’t have to deal with all of my citizens wondering why there’s a dragon prince on my patio.”
The comment earned a surprised blink from Kurthnaga, before he gave a sheepish chuckle. “That’s fair,” he agreed, slowly opening his hands so Tibarn would be able to reach Soren’s other arm. He had to catch an incoming foot instead, for when Soren had enough of a gap he lashed forward with a kick towards Tibarn’s face. “I thought I would enjoy the day Soren was a little less uptight, but it turns out I’d rather have his excessive politeness at the moment,” Tibarn admitted, trying to wrangle the trashing lad. Almedha had already come forward to help, and once Kurthnaga was sure they could both handle Soren for long enough for him to shift forms he did so. All three of them were worn out, but that didn’t seem to diminish Soren’s newly manifested strength much.
—
By the time Ulki returned with Reyson and Leanne, Tibarn had Soren in a bear hug from behind, trapping his ill gotten wings between them, and keeping his arms pinned to his torso. Almedha and Kurthanaga were keeping a hold of any limb that lashed out, while Almedha continued to speak softly to him. Assuring him that everything would be alright.
Despite the quick errand, Tibarn was still glad to see familiar white feathers as the heron siblings touched down. “Tibarn! Ulki said Soren was afflicted with the-...,” Reyson started when he landed, approaching them but then quickly realizing the draconic limbs were not from the Goldoan siblings. “With the feral drug. What in the world? Was it modified?” he queried, approaching the group to get a closer look and only reaching out to hold Leanne back when Soren snapped his fangs at them.
“Nevermind that. Can you two heal him?” Tibarn deflected, noting the way Almedha pursed her lips. At this point Tibarn had a guess for the reason behind Soren’s strange reaction to the drug, but now wasn’t the time. He made sure Reyson didn’t get bit or slashed when he got close, but after a moment Reyson looked to Leanne before both of them nodded.
“We should be able to. But remember that those being restored from their feral state don’t always react peacefully,” Reyson cautioned as he directed Leanne to take a place behind Tibarn. She would be less likely to get hurt from there if Soren was able to break loose.
“Yeah, we got him,” Tibarn assured, giving a nod to Almedha, and then Kurthnaga.
“Then let us begin,” Reyson declared, taking a moment to draw a steadying breath, exhaling once, and then inhaling again to bring his voice to song.
It wasn’t the first time Almedha had heard the Galdr of Rebirth. From Reyson even. And it was still as sweet as she remembered. But she found she couldn’t listen as soon after the first line of notes, and the soft light of healing encircled them, Soren’s growls and snarls soon grew into shrieked screams. Almedha could see the draconic forms almost burning away from him in ashen flakes, and she pursed her lips to smother her ache. She dared not speak, in fear it would interrupt the Galdr’s power. But when Soren’s hands reached forward as though to grab hold of something instead of break it she didn’t hesitate to step into their grasp. The fading claws barely pricked her skin this time, and she carefully rested her forehead against his brow in what she hoped would be some modicum of comfort.
It was only minutes, but hearing Soren scream even that long was enough to pull a few tears from Almedha’s eyes as they held him in place. Eventually his cries died as the remains of his strength faded with the lingering notes at the end of the song. When the swell of healing light dispersed, Tibarn relaxed his grip as Soren’s strength faded with it, his form sagging limp in their hands. And after a moment Reyson and Leanne both gave in and carefully dropped to their knees as well. It was always an exhausting ordeal for them, but they were always more than willing to help.
This time it was fairly easy to see that the Galdr had worked, with Soren now fully back to his proper, scrawny beorc form, so Tibarn let out a relieved sigh and sat back, letting Almedha take Soren’s full weight. “Let’s get these guys to bed, they could use the rest,” he started to direct, looking to Ulki who had remained there so he could go prepare some rooms. Then he shifted his gaze to Janaf. “Find Ike and let him know Soren is with us. I don’t think these two told him anything considering he isn’t here with them already. And let him know if he has anyone else that’s drugged then he can bring them here too. It might take awhile, but I’m sure these two would love to help. If there’s a lot of them we can see about getting in contact with Rafiel too.”
With a quick nod Janaf also turned to hop off the side of the ledge, shifting forms and letting out a screech to call others to him. Which left Tibarn to deal with his guests and forever self appointed charges. Shifting forward, he almost addressed Almedha, but a soft, wheezy groan alerted them that Soren was still conscious.
Or at least somewhat responsive.
Soren’s eyes were only partially fluttering as he shifted voluntarily, reaching up to try and push away from the arms holding him as he coughed weakly. Almedha shifted readily to try and accommodate him, especially after Reyson leaned forward to do a quick exam before nodding to Tibarn. “It’s alright. He’s free of the feral drug. He just seems to be more stubborn than others.” Reyson assured. Almedha was too hesitant still to breathe any sigh of relief. But as Soren coughed more she and Tibarn reflexively reached out to gently rub his back. And then Soren grimaced and held a hand against his stomach before his back arched and he retched, splattering the stonework with what was definitely blood. At first Tibarn was alarmed, but then he remembered that Soren already had dried blood on his chin when he’d gotten there.
“Shit, did he eat someone?” he asked unconsciously, taking over rubbing Soren’s back as Almedha focused on keeping him steady while he coughed and heaved only once more. That would explain the vomiting considering he knew beorc bodies weren’t made for ingesting that much blood. Almedha gave him a slightly incredulous look as Kuthnaga gagged and quickly looked away. “Don’t worry, I’ll get a healer to look at him to make sure,” Tibarn assured quickly, giving her an apologetic look. “Let’s get everyone cleaned up and settled in though, I think he actually passed out this time.” After clearing his stomach Soren didn’t seem to have any other convincing reason to stay awake, so was now fully limp against Almedha.
Almedha in turn didn’t look like she wanted to let go of Soren, but it was easy to see Tibarn was the most stable of the group. Yet when Tibarn moved to take Soren so she could stand up, Almedha stubbornly pulled away and scooped one arm under Soren’s legs so she could pick him up on her own. “You should help Prince Reyson and Princess Leanne,” she directed before shifting to nudge Kurthnaga to his feet as well.
“Heh, fair enough,” Tibarn relented with a shrug, shoving to his own feet before walking over to scoop Leanne up with one arm after she looped her arms around his neck. Then he did the same with Reyson, chuckling at the muttered complaint about how it was so unfair he could carry both of them so easily. “This way,” Tibarn directed, leading the group inside and giving a short call to request for someone to come clean up the patio after they’d left.
________________
Ike’s arrival with his group of mercenaries was noisy despite the night time hour. Those who were also afflicted with the feral drug were taken to some of the most enclosed rooms so they could be restrained without treating them too roughly. And those who were injured were taken to the infirmary. It took Tibarn a moment to reach them, but once he did Ike wasn’t one for mincing small talk.
“Tibarn! What the hell is going on? We were at the tail end of a rescue mission only to find out someone had already half done it, and apparently Soren is with you? Where is he?” Ike blurted, gesturing in exasperated confusion and trying to relay his side of the story quickly.
Tibarn could only grin slightly, amused at how much Ike’s group started to scramble and behave like normal people when their brian wasn’t with them. “Relax, we’ll get to that. But first come with me and meet your benefactors,” he chided, clapping a hand on Ike’s back and shoving him towards the stairs. One thing Tibarn was glad for about Ike was that he didn’t ask questions when they weren’t needed. Which made the trip to the guest rooms brief, and soon they were stopped outside a door. “He’s in here, with some other friends that have been keeping a good eye on him,” Tibarn announced shortly before opening the door.
Ike was quick to react, glancing at Tibarn before rushing through the gateway. “Soren!”
“SHH!”
Ike’s call was immediately shushed by both Kurthnaga and Almedha, with Kurthnaga hopping up from the sofa he’d been on and rushing over with his hands raised. Hands that were carefully bandaged, Ike noted as he barely complied. “He’s still asleep,” Kurthnaga cautioned quietly, but directed for Ike to come further into the room.
“Kurth… Lady Almedha,” Ike noted, keeping his voice quieter this time and processing the new information in his head as he approached the bedside Almedha was sitting beside. She had a damp cloth in her hand, and was watching Ike with displeasure at first. But when he showed that he could be obedient and keep his voice down her expression relaxed back to soft concern as she returned to her self appointed task. And as Ike came close he could see she was very carefully dabbing the cloth on Soren’s cheeks and forehead before rinsing it in cool water and resting it across his brow. And after being able to see Soren’s slow, even breathing of sleep Ike let out his own breath of relief and sank to sit on the side of the bed. “They told me he’d been drugged with the feral serum. I was expecting a lot worse. Did you two rescue him and bring him here?”
“Yes,” Almedha answered simply, and Ike noted the subtle forms of bandages under her dress sleeves.
“Thank you,” Ike responded immediately, reaching out to carefully rest a hand against Soren’s cheek. He looked both too pale but also his cheeks looked too red, and Ike wasn’t sure if he would be cold to the touch, or warm. So he decided to just check for himself. Warm. A little too warm. That explained the damp cloth. “How is he?”
“A little feverish, and we anticipate he might be nauseous, but otherwise they assure me he’ll be alright,” Almedha responded, a fond smile gracing her features as she brushed a stray hair away from Soren’s face. “I expect you’ll look after him closely now?”
“What? Of course,” Ike confirmed, a little taken back as it seemed Almedha was resigning her role to him now.
“Good. Then I shall leave him in your care now,” Almedha directed, rising from her chair and moving away so that Ike could take it.
“Sister,” Kurthnaga huffed with an amused shake of his head. He didn’t think there was anything he could say to dissuade her new decision though.
Ike could only stare at Almedha with bafflement, not able to come up with reasons for her behavior on his own. And Tibarn could only fold his arms with an amused huff, watching her move towards him. “We’re really not going to talk about any of this then?” he asked, gesturing towards Soren specifically, and sweeping to Almedha and Kurthnaga.
“About what?” Almedha asked, feigning ignorance as she raised her brows slightly to him. “I was merely repaying a portion of the favor my benefactor graced me with in the past. And now that his mercenary company is whole again, I shan't intrude on their hospitality any longer.”
Tibarn couldn’t help snorting at the response, giving Almedha a hopeless shake of his head. “I thought you’d be more interested in spending time with him,” Tibarn commented, pulling the veil back just a little.
Almedha could only smile politely in return. “Ah, but I am not willing to intrude where I’m not welcome. He has chosen his current home, and I’m not willing to pull him from it if he is not looking to leave. Especially when this is a time where comfort is necessary in lieu of stress.” Her gaze to Tibarn was a practiced mask of nobility, but Ike found that when she turned to look back towards him, or perhaps it was actually Soren, her mask fell to reveal an incredibly warm smile full of love. It honestly felt out of place, but also… not? But Tibarn broke his thought process on it with a honked laugh that he quickly smothered.
“Very well, M’lady,” Tibarn chuckled, stepping out of her way of the door. “But you and your brother are welcome to stay anyway,” he extended as his own subtle push for her to reconsider.
“We are grateful for your hospitality, King Tibarn,” Almedha responded. And with an exasperated huff and slight eye roll, Kurthnaga started to follow her.
And then, after a sudden thought, Kurthanaga paused for a moment. And after another moment of consideration he wordlessly returned to the bedside and leaned over the otherside to affectionately tap his forehead against Soren’s brow. “Sleep well, and feel better soon,” Kurthnaga whispered before straightening and following his sister from the room without another word.
Tibarn was left to watch them go, then turn back to see Ike staring at where the two black dragon siblings had last been visible to him with the most confused scrunched expression ever. It was hard to keep from laughing, But he managed it. And when Ike shifted his gaze to him Tibarn could only shrug in a noncommittal answer. If Almedha didn’t want to explain, and Ike couldn’t comprehend what was so painfully obvious, then he wasn’t going to interfere. He couldn’t hold back the snort that came though when Ike just threw up in hands in a moment of frustration, blowing a short “Nobles” through his teeth.