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Stelle didn't know what to expect when she received the request from the professor. She certainly hadn't anticipated that he'd throw himself into the retelling of an ancient legend about the Legendary Dromas eating 7 mountains before asking her to look after a Dromas' egg that (allegedly) contained the spirit of that legendary beast.
She'd never expected the harsh Anaxagoras to tell such an unbelievable story with child-like glee. It was actually kind of cute. Not that she's ever say it to his face.
And the way he asked her to help? "Castorice mentioned you had a great time with the dromases. Anyone the dromases like is a good person in my book."? Maybe she'd just lowered her standards when it came to expecting any praise from him, but such words felt almost indecently forward. A girl could get the wrong idea!
...nonetheless, she acquiesced to his request. A good looking professor who seemed to have sharp words for everyone, but somehow not her? She knew when to just accept what fate handed her.
That said, she hadn't expected the egg to hatch mere hours into her vigil, or to be able to understand every word the little one inside the shell was saying. Regardless, when you call for help, the Galactic Baseballer will answer!
"Don't worry, I'm here to save you!"
With a blinding light (what is this, pocket monsters the videogame saga?) the egg hatched revealing a small, bluish baby dromas. It's eyes were so big and golden, it's jaws round, it's ears? Horns? Struck the perfect balance between cute and deadly. Stelle could not help herself. She squealed, "it's so cuteeeeeeeee!!!!!!!"
And then the little one called her mama! Oh god, unexpectedly precious or not, Anaxagoras could pray this baby from her cold dead corpse. And he would have to try, what could bullets do to her when she'd survived impalement?
It was a while before she saw Anaxa again. He was just standing by a fountain at the entrance of Okhema when she and Dromy happened to pass by.
She could spot the moment he saw her baby, his calm countenance disappearing as he stuttered- Anaxa, stuttered! He was absolutely in love with the critter.
"This is Dromy," she tried not to look too smug when presenting it, but she was like a proud soccer mom at this moment- er, baseball mom? And could not contain herself.
The ensuing scene was borderline unreal. Anaxa's childlike enthusiasm scared Dromy, but her little one stood their ground like Stelle would having a being twice her size confront her (in fact, she had. Even bigger than just twice. And she'd beaten them into. The. Dirt- Take that Doomsday Beast!)
That was followed by Anaxa's translator being a borderline diss-track maker. Stelle had not believed Dan Heng when he told her of the Synesthesia Beacon causing wars, but now she saw exactly how it happened, history written in the pout that adorned Anaxa's face at the thought the cute little Dromas might have been making fun of him. Honestly, grown ass man, too adorable.
And yet, throughout the whole exchange she saw a... Gentler side to the professor. Her reproach for being too forceful seemed to actually hit home, and his tone had never been softer. That must be what Hyacine meant by "some people venerate the Dromases." He even appeared somewhat protective when assessing that Dromy wasn't "born extraordinary", as if he feared Stelle might mistreat them because of it. Hah! She'd show him.
Dromy didn't need to grow to the size of a mountain for her to be proud of them, they just need to learn how to care for themselves, and care for others in turn. Stelle's size has never stopped her from throwing down with gods anyway.
"Worse come to worst, we can build you a granade launcher. I know Anaxa would be down with it."
Her sudden musing caught the little one's attention. Dromy let out a confused grumph.
"...eh, it's fine, no use worrying about it now."
~Training In Progress~
-
"Why is that lady standing so far away?"
"She's afraid to hurt you baby"
"Mph! She won't!"
"Ah... No wait, please... Please help me!"
"Sorry Cassie!"
-
"We can't allow children in the bath..."
"Grumph! It's okay, my mama is totally a grown up!"
-
Stelle had not expected her little one to shrink. Upon seeing its disdress, she felt a little bad- she'd just been thinking she kind of missed it being small enough to carry around comfortably. But surely this wasn't her fault, right? She didn't mean for them to shrink!!!
Even Hyacine was freaking out- and this was the woman facing patients on the brink of death with a smile. Just what the hell sort of magnetic power did Dromy have?
Fortunately, Anaxagoras the dromas-stalker had been waiting for his moment to act cool, only to- wait what, teach Dromy the prayer of Oronyx? Stelle??? Who isn't even an official priest?
"You have to be kidding me."
"You're the only one we can rely on, oh brave and capable warrior!"
Stelle raised an eyebrow at the man. She was getting him back for this for sure.
~Training In Progress~
-
"I see, so that's how a chokehold works!"
"That's right. Now I'll demonstrate with you as my target, are you ready Dromy?"
"Yes Master Mydei! ......um, master? You haven't moved an inch... Are you afraid of hurting me?"
"No, I've just realized.... With such a long neck, I have no idea where your throat is."
-
"Please, help me to skip work!"
"No worries! Here, mama, grab the bat. And you, stay still!"
-
"Mwahahah, now I'll steal- what, it's free? That's no fun!"
"Let's go go go! Fast fast!"
"Eheh... Go Little One, I'm cheering for you!"
-
"I knew it! Dromases have limitless potential! Those venerationists will have to eat their words now!"
Stelle had absolutely no idea how dromases, venerationists, the the Prayer of Oronyx correlated to each other. However, she also didn't give a shit. Dromy had just executed the prayer. Dromy! A dromas! It was incredible! Less so because it was a Dromas, moreso because Stelle did not know what the fuck she was on while teaching!
"My success is Mama's success!" She had to hug them at that, what a cutie! Ahhh!!! Stelle probably imagined the sound of a shutter going off as she did.
She turned back to see the self-satisfied smile on the Scholar's face. It was a good look on him.
"As expected of the Dromas draped in Finery."
Anaxa only crossed his arms haughtily, "I take that as a compliment."
[Dan Heng intermission]
He did not know what the hell happened, why it was happening, and what he did to deserve this, but he needed it to stop.
Stelle disappearing wasn't that groundbreaking- she always did that. At least now he won't have to drag her drunk self back to their room as she sung off-key. But the sudden bouts of emotional tears? The squeals and screeches? The "look at my child!" Picture dives? He was losing his sanity.
And so was everyone else! Why was a Dromas making food? And what had gotten into the green scholar? The image of Anaxagoras laughing carefree as Dromy carried him around like luggage was pure nightmare fuel.
Of course, this meant that for his companion, it was too good to pass up. He saw Stelle take a video. She'd surely treasure it just as dearly as she did his viciously unhinged laughter.
Honestly, why was Dan Heng best friends with this freak? It's like he went looking for trouble.
-
"I beat a titankin, and got these! Take them mama!"
Indeed, those were titankin drops. Dan Heng stared at Stelle with barred eyes. One part of Stelle, the motherly part, was scared shitless at the thought Dromy had been out there fighting the black tide- when did that even happen she Did Not Leave Them Alone For That Long. The other part, the gremlin part, was absolutely thrilled.
"What a strong little Dromas you are! Good baby!"
She could feel Dan Heng groan into his hands
[Dan Heng intermission over. Back to regularly scheduled bullshit]
~Training in Progress~
-
"The mirror showed the visage of Snow White! The queen, upon discovering that she was the most beautiful in the kingdom, spoke to the mirror. Do you know what she said?"
" ....I wanna see more, got any more pics?"
"Is this toxic Yuri?"
"What?"
"What."
-
"Aww!"
"What is it Grayie?"
"Dromy just invited Ica out for dinner! That's so cute!"
"Uh... Oh gosh, I don't know if the restaurant will have enough food for both of them."
-
"I'm so lonely I've resorted to talking to plants. Is something wrong with me?"
"Talking to plants and animals is totally normal! I do it too! ....But if the plants ever start talking back, come look for my mama. She's got a bat."
"Who am I supposed to hit in this scenario?"
-
Perhaps Stelle should have seen this coming. The way Dromy grew in size but its proportions remained the same should have clued her in. After all, the other adult dromases were more.... Defined. But she waved it off. It's not like she was an expert, and neither Hyacine nor Anaxa nor anyone else mentioned anything.
But still, seeing Dromy grow to the size of an adult with their cartoonish proportions, before racing away with the speed of the Astral Express itself, was quite something.
"Do you... Need help?"
Anaxa turned to her, genuinely looking flabbergasted and concerned for the first time in his entire life. Any other time, she would smile at the way all his walls were down completely.
Right now however, was not the time. She crashed a nearby flying amphora with her pen and dashed off, yelling "this is a parent's duty!!!" she only vaguely heard Anaxa's answering encouragement.
What greeted her was a pitiful sight indeed- had Dromy ever been this small? Even when it first hatched? Surely not. Their mouth barely made it out of the water, and there were tears coming out of their eyes. Stelle saw herself in them, more than she was comfortable with.
So she kneeled down into the water, heedless of the way it drenched her clothes, "are you alright?"
"Grumph.... Not great earlier. Better now."
A brief silence ensued, then, "I might not be ready yet."
Stelle could only watch as her baby spiraled down into fear and insecurity. About how everyone expected so much from them, and they didn't want to disappoint those hopes, but they were afraid and of course- that burden is so heavy for someone newly born. She would know better than anyone. She was in the same position years ago, being prodded at by Herta and talked about behind her back.
A human vessel with a Stellaron. A nameless from the sky. The deliverer of Amphoreus. It was not so different from the Super Dromas, or whatever nonsense Anaxa spouted, was it? How did she not see?
"Mama, will you leave me too?"
Stelle had heard people be afraid of becoming their parents, and only in that moment did she realize thaf she'd never been afraid of becoming like Kafka. Until now.
Because Kafka was great and Kafka cared, Kafka loved Stelle- but even with all that love, she was left behind. Now she knew it must have been due to the script, but she'd spent months wondering how much of a failure she had to be, for someone who dropped her off the side of the road to still look at her with so much longing.
The words left her mouth before she could think about it, "listen," oh, that one hurt. That one really fucking stung, "I'll never be disappointed in you, and I'll never abandon you. To become someone strong, you'll have to fail hundreds, or even thousands of times. Even Georios didn't make the Earth in one day, you know? So, keep your chin up. Okay? And the next time you fail, get back up. As long as you continue going forward, the road will stretch before you."
For a moment, Stelle couldn't help but picture the day this child stopped trying to go forward. Laying on the ground while the sky burned, perhaps injured or maybe simply exhausted. She closed her eyes for a moment, cursing her brain for feeding her such thoughts.
"Be brave, okay?"
The little one looked at her like she hung the stars in the sky. Then, like the little brat she's raising it to be, it claimed that seeing her talk about something serious instead of acting cool was weird. Honestly, what a little gremlin.
"Dromy, you rascal, get here!"
"Waah! I'm sorry, please don't eat me ahahah!"
Stelle had no idea how a grumph could translate to such melodious laughter. She only thanked the stars that she could hear it. Or should she be thanking the Earth instead...? No matter, all that matters is now. Not the past, it the future, or the way a green-haired scholar observed them in wonder when he thought they didn't notice him.
~Training in Progress~
-
"Aww! Dromy told me I'd definitely grow bigger again, just like them!"
"Well, glad to see liars get along~"
"Ciphy, you meanie!"
-
"Professor, please don't force yourself to eat so much just to keep ordering from Dromy- you'll make yourself sick."
-
"I'll become the fastest Dromas in Amphoreus!"
"Have some confidence, you can be the fastest in the universe!"
-
Watching your child go to work was absolutely nerve-wracking. Why had no one warned Stelle of this!? Despite knowing fuck-all about troupe life (because hell if she's about to get into bed with those Masked Fools) she found herself giving it all sort of advice.
"Don't worry Mama, you know me! In the one that does the bullying."
Had anyone else been able to understand its speech, Stelle might have been in trouble for answering that with "atta Dromas, you're your Mama's child."
She found herself seeing it off with tears in her eyes. She ignored Dan Heng by her side, accompanying her to what she's claimed was a "monumental event in her life," only to be greeted by... Whatever the hell this was.
("I have nothing against the dromases, but why are you like this?"
"Keep that up and I'm revoking your title as honorary uncle and giving it to March.")
And, catch this, Dromy came back with a friend! It called Dromy boss! Her baby was earning himself a following!
"Did you hear that Dan Heng!?"
"I literally cannot understand them."
"Big guy over here said I and Dromy look exactly alike!"
Dan Heng observed her big, round, golden eyes. And then Dromy's even bigger, rounder, goldener eyes.
"I see it."
"And it called me mama!"
"Please, I don't think I can handle this... Whatever it is, becoming even more intense. Do NOT adopt more."
"Kid, you can't read One Punch God Aquila!" Stelle esclaimed, like the hypocrite she is, "if the other dromases find out you'll never live it down!"
"Then what should I read mama?"
Now, Stelle had a choice. She could- ok no, somewhat evilly she handed over "My professor cannot possibly be this shy!" Dromy loved it so much that they used their advance payment from their work as Anaxa's TA to subscribe to "The tree and the butterfly" - which was hilarious. It also vowed to become a writer just as amazing.
See? Stelle was raising the future generation of workers who also knew how to be artists. She was doing serious public service!
And as long as Anaxa didn't fix that damn translator, this one act of blasphemy would never come to bite her in the ass.
(Alright, after hearing her child promise to take her out to play if she allowed it study 5 more minutes, AND promising to apologize on her behalf for a perceived wrongdoing, perhaps she had to admit she's a bit too good at parenting. So much so her kid was becoming a more functional member of society than her! As a young mother, the sight of it filled her with a complicated mix of emotions...)
-
"Mama... One day I'll spend more time with the troupe than with you.... Will we still be as close as we are now when that day comes?"
"Don't worry baby. I'll always come to bother you."
-
Sweet clay, all for her... Stelle had swallowed the bitter red soil multiple times before - be it to piss off Dan Heng, make Castorice laugh, or being unable to refuse a gift from her kid, but Dromy had noticed she didn't enjoy it and made a sweet version of it for her!? It took all of Stelle's resolve not to burst into tears in front of all the other dromases!
-
-
-
The Chrysos Heirs stared is befuddlement as the professor let himself slump into the bath with a sigh. They all held their breath as he seemed to come to a conclusion on something grander than life itself.
"I think I'm in love."
Everyone on the lower baths heard the absolutely pandemonium those words caused. Phainon was screaming in excitement, Hyacine in fear, Mydei was just screaming (at Phainon) for the hell of it. Castorice seemed to be praying to some god, Cipher stopped her upside-down swinging to stare in concern at Aglea, who looked one step away from aneurysm.
Only after some minutes did Tribbie manage to let her voice be heard over the chaos, "Naxi, that's great! Who is it?"
"Who else? That traveler from beyond the sky of course."
Everyone went stock still at that.
"The way she raised that little dromas- I had only intended for her to look after the egg, but she went ahead and became an exemplary parent. The gentle care in her eyes and her firm yet decisive guidance are something every parent should strive to possess. Despite not sharing my degree of love for those beautiful creatures, the warmth of love still clearly radiates from her! Ahem, let's leave it at that. I've never met a woman I felt so... safe around."
The heartfelt yet completely batshit insane confession felt like a slap to the face to everyone present. Mydei, the one least acquainted with the professor, was the one to speak, "so wait... You fell in love with her because... Dromases? What about her fighting skill? What about her other qualities? Her penchant for breaking the law and all norms? What about literally anything else that makes up Stelle?"
"Of course, all those traits shine through in her care for Dromy. It's part of what makes her such a wonderful mama."
Aglaea had now begun sharpening her blade for she, as the Demigod of Romance, could not bear to listen to this bastardization of what falling in love is supposed to be like.
Thus did another peaceful day pass in Okhema.
The end.