Emil

We continue for a bit until we arrive at a grove. It's small, the trees form a circle and a semi-large rock is perched in the exact centre – it's quite satisfying to see how spot on the rock's placement is. Natalya strides up to the perfectly placed stone and removes a plastic bag from her backpack. This whole thing is strange to me. I have no idea what this séance entails and Natalya's not much of a talker (that last part is a fucking understatement)(not that I talk much myself but when she doesn't it just gives off a wave of terror and intimidation)(if I attempted that I think I'd come across as a small kitten or something like that). She roots around and produces a happy meal. Seriously? Why the fuck- "Ah, are we copying Percy Jackson in this sense?" Leon chimes in and we both look at him weirdly. "I don't know what that is," she says, matter-of-factly, "But the dead aren't picky with what food you summon them with. Besides, these are cheap, and as someone who summons the dead often and has a low-paying job, it helps." She glares at my now-boyfriend, eyes narrowed in annoyance (probably because he broke the silence), voice flat and monotonous. She rolls her eyes and continues removing items from her backpack: chalk, a box of matches and a small white candle. Natalya then starts drawing on the rock with the chalk, Leon and I edging closer to see what exactly she's doing. It's a pentagram, a typical séance symbol. It does make me nervous though, will one of us have to use out blood to summon this ghost?

She lights the candle and whilst she's doing that I make eye contact with my boyfriend. He smiles slightly, the kind that's just a slight lip twitch. It's easily missable, but I managed to catch it. I wonder how he's feeling, I mean, so far Natalya has proved she can be just as weird and terrifying as her older brother (whom I live in fear of) and, not only that, Leon will be her brother-in-law eventually (according to Kiku who tells me that Yao and Ivan are soulmates)(I desperately wanted to pray for Leon after hearing that). By this point, (and now I can save you all from my rambling, sorry about that) Natalya seems to have finished setting things up and is placing her hands on the rock, a quiet mummer escaping her lips that I can't quite catch. And like a stereotypical summoning, a bright light fills the grove. Once it's died down, I blink a lot, black spots still swimming around my vision. Glancing at Natalya, I notice she still appears impassive, the blinding light clearly not bothering her. My idiot boyfriend, however, has his hands placed over his eyes, wincing. Over dramatic bitch.

Remembering why we are here, I look back at the rock. The candle has blown out and is lying idlily on the ground. Sitting cross-legged on the stone, however, is a man who's roughly in his mid-thirties. Despite being a ghost, you can clearly see the colour of his features, though they are more subdued. Now, I'm not good with descriptions so bear with me. His blond hair catches in the wind and, unlike a certain someone, it is about the same length as mine. Black rimmed rectangular glasses sit firmly on his face, assisting his indigo eyes (as glasses do). He reminds me of someone, but I can't think who. Also on his face, are scales around the edges, mostly on his forehead but some do line the sides of his head. Horn-like structures also add to the abnormity, sprouting out of his hair like plants. And, joining Leon in the wings department are, you guessed it, wings (with an added tail). Though these are more what I assume dragon wings would look like. And, like the idiot I am, I realise Leon told me that this guy was part dragon. Well, guess I'm fucking stupid.

"So..." the guy starts, "The newbie's clearly not you Natalya," he glances over Leon, "And you're clearly one of the Wang children so it definitely isn't you, that leaves..." We make eye contact and I've never felt more awkward. Leon, obviously desperate to ram the fact that I'm the person home, says, "Yep, this is Emil Steilsson, sir." Well, what do you know, the kid does have manners after all! The man raises his eyebrows, "Steilsson?" Ah, we're discussing my surname now, huh? Yes, I know it differs from my brother, despite us being completely related. According to my relatives, my parents were in Iceland when I was born and there was a mess up in the hospital over my surname. So, I ended up with Steilsson instead of Bondevik. However, since I never knew my father (he's either dead or somewhere else, I don't know exactly why he disappeared)(no one tells me anything), and given that Iceland runs on patronymic surnames, we can assume that my father's name is Steil Bondevik. Yippee. "Ja. That's me."

"Are you Lucy's son?" Lucy Bondevik was my mother, so I guess that's a firm yes. I answer so. "What a coincidence!" He smiles, "I used to know your mother before, well, I died. How is she?" Also dead. Has been for the past twelve years now. "I wouldn't know. She died when I was four." His eyes widen again, and sadness seems to flash across his face. "How did she die?" Oh, you know, the regular pattern as it appears in my family. "She killed herself." Leon's head whips around and he looks at me like 'how has this never come up and how am I finding out about this just now?'. Perhaps I don't like to mention it. "Seriously? Oh shit, I'm sorry," he appears to be even sadder. Why can't I place who he reminds me of? "No wonder she stopped calling on this," he digs out a necklace, a simple chain with a plain white cross attached. Plain white cross... the Nordic cross... Lukas' clip! It's the exact same! And holy shit, that's who he reminds me of! He looks like my fucking brother! Oh God. What fresh hell is this?

"Those crosses are phones?" Leon asks, clearly having noticed my brother's it seems. "Ja. I programmed them myself. It's a good device to have on you if you were to be captured or something like that," his voice is hollow, the news about mum has destroyed his happiness. "Oh, right. You're really good with technology, just like you created Antonio," and now I'm really confused. Thanks Leon. "What do you mean?" I question, confused as heck. "You know how Antonio's a robot? Steil here is the one who programmed and created him." The answer helps clear some of my confusion. The rest is just about everything else going on. That's when it sinks in. The man's name is Steil. Oh my God, is this guy my father? "How did you know my mother?" Time to get some answers. "By the look on your face, it seems you already know the answer to that, Emil." So the answer is yes then. "Could you two go for a small walk? I need to discuss some things with Emil in private," he further responds, aiming this to Natalya and Leon. They nod and leave.

"You're my father, aren't you?" I say immediately. Finally, I'm getting somewhere in the quest to find out who my father is. "I am. You've gotten so much taller than when I last saw you. Granted you were two but still." A smile slowly works to regain itself on his face. Is this what Lukas could look like if he makes it to his thirties and suddenly needs glasses? The thought unnerves me. "What happened? Why did you disappear?" I need answers. This man has been absent my whole life. Sure, he's been dead, but Leon just said he created Antonio which happened when Yao was ten which means I was nine at that point. What happened in between? "I had to look after things over in this world. Your mother and I agreed that they needed more people fighting against the government and that I should go help, given my powerful ability/species. We lost the areas we were fighting in to them. However, the wars were long and draining. We weren't allowed to see our families and that's why I was never there. I'm sorry, Emil. I'm sorry I wasn't there when your mother died. I'm sorry." So he was a soldier and was never given leave? "I forgive you. I mean, you were fighting for the rest of us and our freedom, I can't be angry at you for that."

"I'm guessing your aunt raised you and Lukas then? We put her on our will as your godmother, but I never really liked your mum's sister. I felt she didn't care about your mother or you and Lukas for that sense. I was sceptical." Ah, yes. That bitch. Lukas and I's legal guardian. He's right though. She doesn't care. She didn't care when mum died, I mean, she sent me to stay with some random family in Copenhagen (sure that was Mathias' family and they're great but still), insisting that it would be a 'good learning experience' for me. My mother had just died, and I was with strangers. Not only that, but I was there until I was ten. I've always wondered how much she fucked up Lukas while I was gone. She didn't care when Lukas started spiralling and did nothing when he was clearly getting bullied and started to self-harm because of it. She didn't care in December when he tried to off himself. Where was she when I was trying to save his life? Watching TV downstairs (I shouted for her and in those shouts I told her what was going on)(nothing)(the TV wasn't even turned up that much). Did she help console me when I genuinely thought he was going to die, and I would have no one. No. She didn't. I hope that woman rots in hell. "What a face!" My father laughs slightly, "I'm guessing she was a right bitch!" I nod. His eyebrows twitch in concern but I really don't want to discuss Lukas' mental health right now. But to be fair, I never do.

"So, you ready to see what ability you have? This is interesting for me since your mum was human and an elementalist, whereas I am part dragon. I'm fascinated to see who you take after or if you take after neither of us." Huh, so it appears I've got a few options. "What do I do then?" I ask, wondering what this entails. My mind then flashes to other people, I wonder what they had to do to realise their ability? Mathias probably didn't need to discover his, it was possibly always there. What about Leon? Was he born with wings or what? "Concentrate. Just focus all your energy into urging it to show itself. If it's physical, it will naturally show. If not, you should then focus your energy into aiming at one of these trees. It can take a while to figure things out but hopefully yours will be quick." Great. I could be at this for months, no years. Decades even. Super. However, I start acting on what he said. Clear your mind, Emil. You can do this. Closing my eyes, I start focusing everything I have in me into this. My brows are furrowed, my fists clenched, everything focused. Come on. You can do this.

A heavy weight sprouts from my back and I fall on my ass from the heaviness. Something also feels weird, appearing from my lower back. Oh my God, what is going on? Opening my eyes, I notice Leon and Natalya have appeared. My father is grinning and Leon mutters something along the lines of "noice". I will never understand his way of thinking. Now's the time to check what they're geeking out about. My head swivels slightly and I spot the same sort of dragon like wings my father has. The colour scheme appears to be white and purple, mimicking my hair and eyes. There's sort of a frame and an inside part, the frame being white with a touch of purple on top and the insides are purple, with a slight gradient. That's why I fell, my body is clearly not used to the wings it is now supporting. If I look anything like my father right now, I imagine there's scales on my face, horn like structures coming out of my hair and a tail sort of shaped like a cartoon devil's tail. "Yes! You're like me! I mean, you could still have your mother's ability, but this is good because it means I know a lot about this." My father's grins widens. Why is he reminding me a lot of Mathias right now? Probably because they're both happy smiley people. It's like if Lukas and Mathias had a kid together. Weird as fuck.

"Ok, so, you're part dragon, part human. This comes with wings, scales, a tail, and those sort of horns in a way. You can transform into a full dragon, but I must warn you that you start off as a baby dragon. To grow, you must train. The more you train the more you grow. You following me so far?" I nod. "You obviously will need to learn how to fly both like this and in dragon form. Leon can teach you that as he's well used to dealing with wings." My boyfriend grins, obviously glad about the task assigned. "Unfortunately, dragon form comes at a price, if you really want to fight in that form then you must keep building up your stamina to fight for long lengths of time. If you are using it for anything other than fighting, you can last a lot longer in the form. That's all I think I need to tell you." Although this is certainly strange (and I'm going to have to get used to the wings and other things) I think this is really cool. I mean, holy shit I'm a dragon. How awesome is that? "I must say though," Leon adds, "Species does differentiate from ability. This is only Emil's species. What do you think his ability will be like, sir?" Natalya is quiet, though when is she never. "Probably like his mother, she was an elementalist so the type of beams you can shoot are likely based off of that." Beams? What does he mean by that? Leon catches my confused expression and fills in the blanks, "You know how legend has it that dragons breathe fire? Well, different dragons can shoot different beams for example, some can shoot ice beams, some can shoot beams of water. It depends really." Ah, I see now.

"Now, I want to work on your transformation. We're going to do what you did before with the concentrating but now I want you to also imagine yourself becoming a dragon. It's going to feel weird the first couple of times you transform (and don't worry if you don't do it first try) and it may hurt slightly. The pain shouldn't be too bad though." Ok. I stand up and focus once more. Come on. Become a dragon. Sure, you'll be a tiny baby dragon but still. Focus. Nothing happens and I open my eyes. "Like I said, it could take a few tries. Try again, Emil. You're doing great." And again.

This goes on about four more times until I finally feel myself shrinking, my clothes appearing massive and covering me. Well, dragons clearly don't need clothes, but I still feel embarrassed that I'm naked right now. I look down and notices my small clawed hands (do dragons have hands?) (I mean you wouldn't call them paws)(I don't know). Transformation attempt was successful it seems. "Emil?" I hear Leon say, "You alright?" Hands start rooting around in the clothes heap and I'm startled when I am picked up. Oh my God, everything is huge! Am I really that fucking tiny? My boyfriend's holding me, a smile stretching to his cheeks. He finds this hilarious doesn't he? Ugh. "You did it! Oh my God, you are, like, so cute right now! So adorable and tiny!" He coos. "I'm not adorable! You should fear me you know. I could burn your face off!" I start shouting (I've always had quite a short fuse) but it comes out as small growls. My father chuckles in the distance. Oh good, no one can understand me now. Fantastic. However, Leon's eyes do widen (probably at the growls he's now going to call cute) at this. "Come on now, you are cute, and I doubt you could burn my face off right now. You have no practice, Em."

Hold up, how did he understand that? I thought the growls were incomprehensible. I know my father could understand because he's part dragon too but Leon? No fucking way. "How on earth did you understand that? Those growls meant nothing to me," Natalya states, her tone still monotonous. Then what the fuck. "I don't know. My mind just told me that's what he was saying or shouting rather." Leon replies. Why is life so confusing?! We all turn to my father, (well Leon turns, I don't) expecting an answer to this madness. "I do know what's going on, but I don't think it would be a good idea to say anything about it. It will make things very awkward. Emil, you should try turning back now, we'll all turn around so you can put your clothes back on." The heck was that- Why can't we know? What's so bad that it will make things awkward? Unfortunately, we comply, Leon puts me down so I can transform, I transform while they're not looking and put on my clothes. "I'm done." I announce and they face me again. "You should keep practicing a couple of times a day with your transformation until you get the hang of it. It's always easier to become a human again than it is to become a dragon so turning back will rarely be an issue. And remember Leon, you need to teach Emil how to fly." My boyfriend nods and then frowns, "But sir, I don't understand why you can't tell us why I can understand Emil, what's the worst that could happen?" I have to say, I do agree with Leon. What would be so awkward? "It will be weird for you two if I tell you. I think it's best if I leave it for now." This doesn't satisfy us though and we keep hounding him. We would regret it but in the moment we were two idiots, not paying attention to what he was saying.

"Fine. I'll tell you but this is on you if it is awkward like I warned you it would be. Leon, you can understand Emil because the two of you are soulmates. Dragons can understand each other but other species don't understand dragons unless the two people are soulmates. Your souls are so connected that they automatically know what the other is saying. Sorry if this is weird but I warned you countless times." Oh shit. Oh no, this was a bad idea. Oh God. As the blood rushes to my cheeks, I glance at Leon. His mouth is open, his eyes are really wide, and he's blushing, his cheeks have turned really pink. We are now both flustered thanks to our persistence despite the warnings. Oh shit. Holy shit. We are idiots.

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This chapter was one of the easiest to write. I've had the bullet points for it written since November and I wrote the entire thing in one day. Noice.

For clarity, I will put pictures of Iceland both in dragon form and the more human-like form below.

Sorry about it being sideways (Wattpad's being stupid). Above is obviously the human-like form. Below is Ice as a baby dragon.

Hope you enjoyed and I'll see you in the next one!
Bye!
~Peanutsfan1