The Dragon's Gem

["Danny" Damascus]

Damascus leaned back into the comfortable seat, his insides trying to break through his rib cage.
"I'm not sure what I'll be able to do to contact them. There aren't a lot of the wealthy who want to deal in opium nowadays."

Damascus gave serious thought before speaking again.
"But we're selling before the seeds are even in the ground; I don't know where any of the old bunch hang around. And, even if I could find them, they'd be wealthy." Damascus leaned forward a bit, lower his voice. "I don't know if you remember why I was in that prison but its 'cause I run opium for Leilah."

[Lilith "Mistress" Antekkereh]

Darkness seemed to swirl around Mistress, and it gave her comfort. She would know exactly where she was even if these demonic eyes did not make out the shapes in the darkness perfectly.

She sat in her library, her favorite room, the room that she felt most like who she once was in. She even cleaned the place herself, no one but her was allowed in this room. The leather couch rested on a location that a Manala line ran right through.

A piece of paper rested in her hand, her thumb unconsciously rubbing back and forth across the short width of it. She had known where a handful of dragons were located, but she had kept her silence for the year since acquiring this body. She had realized, of course, that they would also recognize her if she came within distance.

Perhaps that was how Dionysius had known, though there were a multitude amount of possible reasons. He could have caught a lesser calling her by Mistress, he could have noticed the physical similarities, knew demons would usually have no care for the things she did.

Put two and two together. Any fool could if they knew the facts.

She was late but it hardly mattered, of course that was if she decided to go. How could she not? It was not like much had changed. She felt pressure on her temple as the demonic blood in her veins recognized the lie. It was not a painful thing, but if she attempted to voice the thought the words would not be able to form.

Her hair was up in a rather simple style, twisted up and around and held in place by a jet black jaw clip. Her hair was so long that half of it went up over the clip, giving her hair the appearance that it was up in a high ponytail. As usual for any style she put her hair in, various strands of purple tainted ebony brushed her forehead, cheeks, jaw, and even neck.

This was her favorite hair by far for any body she had taken, the texture was naturally silky and the strands fell in soft waves. An appearance only shifted so much to match how her true body looked. Things like textures and skin colors did not shift naturally once she inhabited it.

Her clothes were also surprisingly simple, nothing too fancy or eye catching like she usually enjoyed frolicking in. A long sleeved ebony blouse with sleeves that were designed to be worn at the corner of the shoulders, matching jet black slacks, and heeled leather boots. A simple silver chain rested around her neck.

It's going to happen eventually. She was confident this was going to be the last body she would ever have to take, so it was going to have to happen sooner or later. So what if she had altered her outward personality so drastically? It was not as if she had ever grown close again to any of the dragons. Something tugged at her chest at the thought.

She also found that she felt... nervous. How disgusting. She grimaced once, deciding to get the urge out, before she suddenly was simply not sitting on the couch anymore. Traveling the Manala lines was so much better than teleportation booths, those things made her feel as if her body was coming apart.

Conveniently the line ran right past the store front of this place, The... The Dragon's Gem? She looked at the elegant writing in her hand, shifting the dark chocolate hue up to the glowing letters above the door. She felt like laughing, but instead slid the piece of paper into her pocket and wandered through the front door. The place looked classy enough for her.

["Danny" Damascus]

Damascus started to glance about the Dragon's Germ interior. The memories had stopped flooding in through his mind; they weren't so vivid but he still pondered. His thoughts were unobscured as he looked about at the people, though. They served food and drinks here and he started giving out winks and compliments to passing waitresses who, for the most part, smiled and gave him cute little looks. Even though this was a place for the rich and 'successful,' he put on the happy face and tried to make the best of what was a rather sorrowful situation. At least he and Dionysius were on a good footing again.

He could say more for the coversation, though. There was a silence between them as they thought their own thoughts. He was drawing comfort from having a friend there with him, even if they weren't doing anything. It wasn't rude of him to do a bit of sight seeing and, seeing as there were so many ladies to sight, he gave his eyes a little healthy exercise.

And then, one in particular caught his eye and as he looked passed the pretty face to the rest of her, a shock ran through him. Raven? His thoughts flew instantly to his love. He stood unconsciously, his face falling from its nautral charming smile to a stony neutrality. His eyes grew wider and his lips parted slightly.

But it wasn't her. Still, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her because there was quite a bit to see and he didn't want to miss any detail. It was like looking at a splendid work of art to him to look at a fine lady and he gave this due consideration. And had his Curse not locked his tremendous powers away from him, he would have instantly recognized Mistress. But it had been so long since he'd heard from or seen Mistress that she might have just been the last person on his mind.

[Lilith "Mistress" Antekkereh]

Mistress wasn't too pleased to see that some people she kept good contact with lingering around, but they never would have guessed that. They smiled and waved her over, calling her by the name she had given this body. "Lilith", she had thought it fitting of a demon.

She plastered her usual pleasant smile onto her face, giving light waves of her hand to every direction she heard the name. Wasn't this just great? Dionysius was sure to know she was here know.

"Lilith, Lilith my dear!" An older woman called her name, moving her hand in a fashion that was beckoning her over instead of just greeting. The woman was an especially vital contact of hers, the one who supplied her servants when one suffered an... accident. So Mistress weaved through the tables toward the woman.

"Oh Margret! What a surprise! I was unaware so many hung around here!" She spoke in a voice that certainly mirrored pleasant surprise, even if it honestly wasn't a pleasant surprise. She figured it would be good to know for the future however.

Margret nodded more than was necessary, patting Mistress's smoother hands. "But of course my dear, I had thought you would know of the place. You seem so interested in those dragons after all, with all those things at your house."

It was true, she really should've been aware of the place as soon as it opened. She was positive it would not effect any vital relations, only some lesser ones would suffer, thinking her naive to not keep up to date. Humans were so shallow.

"Please, join my family's dining. You appear not to be with anyone." Margret's voice pulled her from her wandering thoughts. Mistress shook her head softly, putting an apolgetic expression onto her face. She may not be able to lie with her words, but she could lie with her expressions.

She pulled her hands from between the older woman's, patting her hands back once. "I apologize Margret, I'm here to meet with some distant family. I'll see you around." The term may not fit correctly in her mind, but it was the truest term she could find. As she stepped back she waved, flashing her smile at the rest of Margret's family.

Dionysius's note had said to search for him in a booth upstairs. Ahh, remembering the fact gave her some comfort. A booth would offer privacy and conceal her from anyone else who may recognize her. She made her way upstairs with graceful steps, scanning the area.

That was when she finally spotted a man who must've been staring at her for quite a while. She had felt eyes on her, but she had assumed it was one of the multiple people greeting her downstairs. She was shocked they'd let someone so filthy appearing into a place like this.

Just as she was about to shoot him one of her dirtiest looks that quickly made humans advert their gaze, she spotted the golden haired man sitting across from him. Impossible. The dark shade of her eyes softened instantly, turning to a soft caramel hue. They shifted from between the two men a few times as if she didn't believe her eyes.

She had a good idea of who he was, though she had never seen him in such a condition. Realizing her hands were gripped into fists, she forced her tense muscles to relax. Obviously, she was not the only one who may have experienced some... drastic changes. Composing herself, she forced the smile back onto her face, walking up to the booth as if she owned the place.

"Dionysius, your little note failed to mention we would have company joining us." The first words out of her mouth held an acidic note to them. She trained her eyes onto Dionysius for a few moments before allowing them to wander back to the other. "Whose obviously seen better days." Could it really be Damascus?

["Danny" Damascus]

He had flown for a great deal of time, travelling higher than the mountain tops and on into the clouds. He had passed over fields of crops, cruised over great human castles and had let loss great bellows. But the people had cheered for they knew that their protector, their very own divine guardian, was on patrol. Few of the others gave much mind to Damascus' love of the human race, thinking themselves so much more significant in the eyes of the universe. They commented on how fragile humans were, how pathetic they could be. And then the 'great' dragons of the world, those second-generation, second-rate, lizards pillaged for food and gold and they lived like animals in the wild places, isolated from all other creatures. The evil of the goddess that had made them infected the purity in their draconic souls, making them avarcious and bestial. He had been only successful in educating a handful of his draconic brothers and sisters and those served as paragons of decency and kindness, ending the rule of wicked humans and they educated the budding humanoid beings of the world on the virtues of working as a community, toward a greater good. He had helped thm to see what was glorious in another living soul and they had since seen the beauty inside themselves.

He roared as he passed over the greatest and tallest of the mountain peaks in the world, greeting it as he would a neighbor in the morning. As he pssed over the land, he felt his spirit soar as the waking of the world paced along with his own heart beating. He felt the interconnections in all things and he could not contain the love he felt for every spirit in the world.

Muc later in the day he set his great form beside a large, cool lake on the sun brightened side of a monumental rock face, feeling the warmth of the sun and opening himself to the beuty of nature surrounding him, holding him in its loving embrace. When a powerful greeting roared down to him from the sky, he looked to the sky and let go a cry of delight. Raven, the most stunning example of draconic beauty he had ever beheld, her great black scales glistened with the reflecting light from the lake's surface.

Black's had always carried a vain streak at their core, a smug left on their spirits by the goddess and the first of their breed: the one called Mistress. Raven didn't break the mold; she was obsessed with looking stunning at all times and harried Damascus whenever a claw was chipped. When humanoid, she fussed over every detail of his appearance but he was always willing to humor her. He loved her dearly and she him but it was an uphill battle attempting to help her see past simple appearances. He couldn't help but dislike the original black dragon for what had followed, though she could not have known her actions would have such dire consquences has the whole mess of blacks being arrogant and evil.

He had known Mistress passingly during the days of servitued and had come close to a battle to the death between them when he had rebelled against the goddess. She had stayed loyal, repelled his every effort at peace and she had caused untold sufferings to humans for the most base reasons. He had hated her, wanted for nothing more than to end her very existance. But she had seen the light of reason and had joined the side of right, kindness and justice, however grudgingly. He had forgiven her in word but could not remove the rage held in his soul at what she had done. It was his secret disgrace, that implacale hatred for Mistress.

Damascus found it far easier to ignore how inhumanly gorgeous she was once he realized who she was. Once he had given thought to it, though, he should have known once he'd seen her walk in. Dionysius hadn't gotten around to mentioning yet that Mistress was one of the ones he kept in contact with. She probably wouldn't recognize him as he was. Before the Curse had crippled him, he had been the most well-known and warmly regarded member of his race, a living manfesto for peace and goodness. Now, while he was still an exceedingly handsome man, he was covered in grim and filth. And his power was locked away, possibly making any magical trace of his true nature unreadable.

He turned and sat back down, his neck bent, his dirty hair falling forward to almost completely obscure his expression of distaste. It was impossibly difficult for him to acknowledge her being here. She was another who had given to betrayal in favor of self-service and Manalist ideals. Why else would she not have come to his aid? Her hands were not bound as Dionysius' had been, she had more than likely been more tha able to aid his cause. But she had left him to rot with the principles of kindness and selflessness. She had left him for dead; they all had. They had condemned him to a half-life of pain and of dirt coated misery.

He couldn't find any words to say to her and a silence grew from where he was sitting that was almost tangible. If there was going to be any coversing between them, she'd have to get the ball rolling because he certainly wouldn't start talking first.

[Lilith "Mistress" Antekkereh]

Mistress's laughter was a sudden noise in the quiet of the upstairs booths. "So it is you Damascus! I have not felt such strong dislike from someone for ages!" She felt tears would begin forming in her eyes if she kept laughing.

"What is the matter? You were just checking me out a moment ago! Am I unattractive now that you know my heart is a black dragon's?"

She speaks teasingly, lifting a finger to twirl around a lock of his hair. As she reaches her hand toward his head though, she seems to think twice about touching the greasy hair. She simply places the hand on the table a few inches from his hand.

The tip of her fingers would probably be visible under the mob of his hair. Her finger nails were clean, well kept though unpainted. They were longer and more pointed than natural to a human.

Her mind was completely taken off of Dionysius, focused now on Damascus. His sense of dislike was strangely comforting. It was so blunt, so obviously there, so radiating. All the foolish humans she hung around hid their dislike for her when they did not enjoy her company. She could read them like cards, but she played along with their little games.

But why did Damascus have such a strong dislike for her that it seeped from his being? Her thoughts travel back, far back, back to the time she was a dragon and actively spoke with them all. It was not too difficult to summon the memories up.

Mistress of the black dragons, she was loved by all the younger blacks who saw her as a motherly figure. She was not just motherly toward her own kin though, she loved all dragons. And they all loved her! They may get mad at at her, but how could they not love her? She was, after all, Mistress.

Raven, a black dragon she was practically fond of, had fallen for the first of the red kind. She had sought Mistress's advice and conversation often about the red dragon. Mistress gladly told the younger dragon about days before she was born involving Damascus.

He was always so fond of those humans, but she never saw the attraction. Of course some humans were fine creatures, but most of them were greedy, worthless things. He had rebelled against the goddess before she was thrown down by the gods, sparking Mistress's wrath. Her love for their species stopped her from attempting to kill the other dragon.

He was always so silent around her. She didn't care, she still rambled and spoke to him. He spent so much time protecting those frail humans, but she allowed him to go about in his fickle activities without (for the most part) snide comments. She figured he'd grow out of it in a few centuries.

He was such a good listener, and he even offered good criticism where most other dragons didn't. He-

An expression of confusion crossed Mistress's face. No, it was not that he simply did not know what to say around her or that he was a good listener. It was not that he offered good criticism. He... He had always disliked her, always carried a flame of spite against her?

She continued to search her memories, of every conversation she had held with the red dragon so long ago. They were all, more or less, the same. The dislike so obvious on his features and words, her blunt disregard and nonacceptance. This dislike was not new, it had always been there, she had simply refused to see it in her world of beauty and perfection.

How shocked would he be that she had finally seemed to acknowledge it? To think she had hoped they would not notice her personality change too much. That she had hoped she really wasn't all that different from the times she actively conversed with dragons of all kinds!