museboxofmuses | DRAGON AU

DRAGON AU

Prometheus hibernated a lot.

There wasn't much else to do, as a hermit-dragon. He couldn't venture out into the world in case some intrepid 'adventurer' wanted to slay him for bragging rights or his hide, he couldn't mingle with other dragons because he was one of Nidhogg's brood (a fact which was why he couldn't socialise with any Ishgardians because spears inevitably got involved in those conversations, he knew, he still had the scar on his hindquarters from his last naive attempt), and he knew absolutely no one else, knew nothing about the world or its new continents or civilisations, so hibernating it was.

But even then, sleeping got dull.

Prometheus sighed deeply, drawing his wings tighter about himself. Perhaps it was because he spent so much time sleeping, but his draconic body evolved to have furred wings - which was nice, it was very warm, even if they did shed some strange, fluffy black motes from time to time (he soon learned that these motes were highly toxic to mortals, probably from his subconscious desire to be left alone slipping into this body's maturing evolution). The downy undercoat of his wings was shed often and thickly enough that he even had a little nest, in a cave warmed by geothermic means, in the high mountains of Coethas. It was cosy, safe, and isolated.

It was also boring and devoid of anything. Prometheus came here... fuck, centuries? Or millennia? He couldn't remember. A long while, just after the war between Ishgard and the dragons kicked off in earnest. He flew here as a dragonnet, and slept and slept and slept, with miserable waking moments in between where he went to stretch his wings, eat a bear or something, and crawled back in his warm, soft cave to sleep some more.

He was avoiding reality, he knew. He didn't understand why he woke up in the form of a dragon - an alien species, not native to their star, how the hell did the reincarnation cycle mess up that badly!? - what happened to Amaurot, why the geography was completely different and... where Hades and Hythlodaeus were. He remembered, in the early days of his life, he would cry out through the Lifestream to hear nothing back, and was slowly accepting that, maybe, it was just him. Alone.

No Hades. No Hythlodaeus. Just him and his cave.

He exhaled heavily, flexing his claws as his body sluggishly roused from its latest bout of hibernation. His stomach was an empty pit of starvation, so he had to eat something calorie dense before dozing back off again. The only thing was, it took ages for his body to fully 'wake up'. Spending centuries practically in a coma made his limbs lock up, and it took a while for the aether flowing through his body to regain strength and feeling in them again. Not that he was in any rush...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Uh," Prometheus stepped up next to Hades, staring at the (naked) form of their very alive friend. His feelers were flicked up, letting him see- yup. Oh, yeah, that was Hythlodaeus, definitely. His soul and everything. Back from the dead.

Like me, Prometheus thought a tad hysterically.

"Hades. You... brought him back from the dead," he said dumbly, tentatively reaching out with his wing and nudging him like he was roadkill, "Hyth? Hythlodaeus? You, uh, you alive there, buddy?"

Hythlodaeus groaned as he rolled onto his side. Hades assumed his Auri glamour and rushed over.

“That’s, I didn’t mean to— I didn’t know I could,” he said pulling him into his arms. Hythlodaeus’ face scrunched up like someone was trying to wake him before his alarm. His eyes slowly opened, batting against the hazy light of the steppe.

“Hades,” he said, voice hoarse before looking Prometheus’ way. He squinted and blinked; he must have been swapping his sight on before he recognized— “Prometheus?”

He held his head in one hand, breathing out slowly. “What happened? There’s... such strange memories in my head.”

Prometheus sat on his haunches, giving Hades a look as he said, "Uh, I dunno. Hades brought you back to life somehow, and... I reincarnated with my memories as a dragon after dying too."

But this was good, right? Hythlodaeus was back! It didn't feel real, though, Prometheus too numb with shock to really react. It'll sink in later, no doubt.

Hades looked at his hands in bewilderment for a moment, then seeming to remember everything, snapped his fingers, dressing Hythlodaeus.

“Except I seem to be... a shard, hm?” Hythlodaeus pinched the bridge of his nose as he gazed at his own pallid soul. He looked to Hades and bit his lip. “You didn’t shatter,” Hythlodaeus said with confusion. “Why do you have horns?”

“...A lot has happened,” Hades said, still trying to believe it himself.

"Yeah," Prometheus said faintly, "Oh, we should probably tell him about the baby too," he told Hades, before realising Hythlodaeus was right there and guiltily looked at him for a moment before saying, "Uh, there's a potential baby, by the way. Um."

Hythlodaeus just blinked up at the two of them before turning to Hades. “Fucked a dragon, huh?”

“Yes. Where are we going to put him? We have to meet back with the natives...”

“Congratulations, by the way,” he said to Prometheus, half ignoring Hades because this was all too surreal. “You aren’t fighting, right? That’s not why I’m here... right?”

"Uh, no..." Prometheus said, "We're not fighting."

Not yet, anyways, he thought wryly, already anticipating for sparks to fly when Hades finally told him what the hell was happening in this world. But, that wouldn't be for a few decades, maybe centuries at most, so there's no need to talk about that elephant in the room just yet.

"Let's say he's our, uh, spokesperson?" Prometheus paused, "Oracle? Is that the word..."

"We're here ourselves. We don't need an Oracle or a Prophet unless we were leaving him behind or planning to gate everyone away from us. Which may be ideal..." Hades said, trailing off.

Hades looked down to Hythlodaeus in his arms.

"I haven't been back five minutes... " Hades helped him sit up, then stand. "And you already want to put me to work! Prometheus!" Hythlodaeus approached him to look closer at him. "Well aren't you pretty?"

"Heheh, thanks," Prometheus preened, flaring his wings to let Hythlodaeus see the beautiful pattern underneath. He purred when Hyth took the bait, gently touching the soft scales, and glanced over at Hades. Well, Hythlodaeus was with them for now, luckily when they decided to stay here.

"Maybe we should get our promised food and set up our nest," Prometheus said, "I'm feeling a bit tired now anyways."

Now that he was aware of it, he could feel the subtle drain on his aetherical stores to the new life inside of him. It'd probably be a few weeks until it was developed enough to push out the egg - an event he wasn't looking forward to, since it was going to be considerably heavier and bigger than the unfertilised eggs he was used to pushing out.

Hades looked at Hythlodaeus and considered. Well. Too late now. And surely this story would be repeated and warped completely within the week. He snapped his fingers, glamouring Hytlodaeus into an Au Ra as well.

" A nest, eh? ...Somewhere nice and high, away from predators," Hades mused, turning towards the Dawn Throne with a devious grin. "Go eat. Introduce Hythlodaeus as someone you rescued from the Baras. I have an idea," Hades said before turning into a dragon and flying away towards the Dawn Throne.

"I'm sorry, but what the fuck is going on, Prom?"

Prometheus watched Hades fly away with a sigh, before turning back to Hythlodaeus. While calmer of the trio, he could sense Hythlodaeus's frustration.

"I... have no idea," Prometheus sighed, bending his forelegs to lower himself to the ground slightly, "Hop on, I'll explain what I can as we walk."

After a fumbling moment where Hythlodaeus awkwardly, and hesitantly, climbed onto his back, Prometheus decided to move in a slow trot back to the Qestir. They weren't that far, honestly.

"So, basically, Amaurot's gone and all that's left is us, Elidibus and Lahabrea. Hades found me reincarnated as a dragon and, uh, well, y'know, it'd been a while, and I was horny, he was horny and we both forgot we weren't sterile anymore so..."

He coughed, "Yeah, anyway, we decided to, like, become the local gods of these people and ignore Elidibus and Lahabrea for a while."

"I sort of knew that part, that everything was gone... It's hard to explain," Hythlodaeus said, leaning forward to maintain balance. "It was the local god bit. So... Just playing with the mortals, huh?"

Hythlodaeus wasn't entirely himself yet either, of course. This was a lot to deal with, after all.

"Hades has always been powerful," Hythlodaeus started carefully. "But... This is different, right? He's more powerful now than he was, right?"

"Well, yeah, he just resurrected you," Prometheus said, "That's a big fucking indicator he's stronger than before."

He paused then, chewing over his next words. He couldn't hide things from Hyth, it just wasn't how their relationship worked sometimes.

"Look... Hades is lying to me, I know that," he said very quietly, "All of the others are. But, let's not... let's not rock the boat right now, okay?"

Hythlodaeus considered his words before he spoke, simply smoothing his hands over Prometheus’ broad back. “I said t before but I don’t know if it sunk in, Prometheus. You and I are shards. Our souls have been shattered. Hades... Hades is whole. Do you understand the implications of that?”

Every time Hythlodaeus went searching in his memory it felt like he was drowning. He saw pieces of Hades’ memories, some ten thousand years of irrelevant nonsense playing house to weakly hold together his friends’ crumbling sanity.

Prometheus was silent.

He understood perfectly well, he felt. He wasn't blind or stupid. He saw the way Hades acted around Hythlodaeus - the simulacrum, he meant - and how he acted with him. The way he'd stare at him with an admittedly unnerving intensity like Prometheus was the most precious thing to exist. The amount of times Hades left him alone could be counted on one hand, and that was including now, and Prometheus had an uneasy feeling that if he indicated he wanted the Steppe burnt to the ground, Hades would probably do it without hesitation.

Hades was unstable. He was also hiding shit. Probably something to do with that other presence tangled with his aether like a parasite. Prometheus did not want to rock that boat. Not until he figured things out on his end and had a viable exit plan, if he needed it.

"...let's not talk about that right now," Prometheus said, his tone final, "We've got a few decades or centuries until we have to worry about it." He hoped.

By then his slow trot brought them close to where they left the Qestir. He could see them in the distance... with some food, from the looks of it. Good.

"...Alright," he said, not promising that he wouldn't find out what was going on on his own. Or if he could at least remember properly...

Hythlodaeus dismounted and stayed back. Hades must have figured that any interactions at this moment would have no negative consequences for him. Hades had changed over all of this time, hadn't he? When did he become such an ambitious sweet-talker? Hades from Amaurot would have rather just napped, but took responsibilities begrudgingly... Hythlodaeus being the only one who wanted to do less of what others wanted from him.

"Is that an offering for you?" he asked, watching them finally settle the carcass on the ground and back away. "Also, uh... sorry for being so rude about it earlier. Having a baby is a big deal, even if you're a dragon now."

Prometheus let out a pleased, trilling noise when the Qestir set down a very large mammoth-type creature (it required over thirteen of them to haul it over here!) and unfurled his wing arms to get a better grip of his meal.

"Thank you!" he called out to the reverantly bowing Xaela, "I got rid of the vicious beasts for you too."

Very apparently by all the blood slicking his dark scales, but Prometheus didn't really know that.

He dug into his meal, savouring it. Hm, this tasted a lot better than the animals Hades summoned for him. Maybe because it was hard-earned? Well, 'hard-earned', but it wasn't like hunting fish in a barrel, like his other meals had been on the island.

"Mm? Oh, don't worry about it," Prometheus said easily, pausing to lick his snout clean, "I'm still... kinda trying to wrap my head round it myself. I didn't think, uh, you know, me and Hades would be compatible because... different species. I don't think it's quite sunk in yet."

Hythlodaeus crossed his arms and closed his eyes to think about it. Everything right now was weird, but at least... Hades seemed to know what he was doing. Hythlodaeus, coming down from the intense chemical highs from all the aether and being brought back and... He finally started to feel inside of his own body. His stomach growled, and he felt a little cold in spite of the robe that Hades dressed him in.

One of the Questir noticed his expression and brought him a bit of dried meat to eat. Hythlodaeus simply watched this dragon with Prometheus' soul and memories devour a mammoth.

Hythlodaeus tried to create a cup of tea, but all it did was cause the air to fizzle a bit. "I suppose we're just have to wait for Hades to... Oh?" He pointed off behind them in the direction of the Dawn Throne. Hades was returning, the light that filtered through the membranes on his huge wings shimmered dazzling light to the landscape below.

Hades definitely knew how to make an entrance. He circled just to slow down a bit before landing down before them.

"Come, they're piling hay into the aviary for us to make our nest," Hades said, licking some blood off of Prometheus' mouth. Ah, gross. "The people of the steppe welcome their Gods as guests," he said. Hades looked over what they brought back for him. "...Have you eaten too much to fly? I can carry you."

Prometheus watched Hades make his dramatic entrance, letting out a quiet snort of amusement when his lover trotted over to him, feeling absolutely pleased with himself, and licked his snout clean. Oh! That felt rather nice... Prometheus crooned happily.

"I can fly, I'm not that heavy," he said, though he had eaten a lot. He'll probably get indigestion, but their destination wasn't far so he could deal. The more important thing was...

"You can carry the rest of my meal," he decided, bumping his snout against Hades's and nuzzling before moving away with a cheeky flick of his tail, "Make sure not to drop any of it, though! Remember, I'm eating for two!"

With that delivered, Prometheus stopped by Hythlodaeus and bent his forelegs, much like before so he could get on, "You ready to fly on the back of a dragon, Hyth?"

“Must I? I can get you another... You can just leave this for the scavengers,” he said looking the thing over. “The offal will spill out besides,” he said, scrunching his snout. But if that’s what Prometheus wanted.... Hades conjured a broad piece of cloth that he dragged the mammoth onto.

“That sounds wonderful,” Hythlodaeus said, his smile slowly spreading. He scrambled onto his back, finding a way to get seated right. He held on firmly, unsure of what to expect from his.

Hades took off with the load, needing to flap his wings much harder to stay aloft.

Okay, Prometheus had to admit it: he found a bit of a thrill watching Hades eager to fulfill his desires with minimal fussing. All these... centuries? Millennia? However much time had passed, and Prometheus still had him wrapped around his little finger. He purred low in his throat, not bothering to hide his pleased smugness thrumming through his soul, and took wing once Hythlodaeus was comfortably seated.

Ignoring his uncomfortably fully belly and how flying was going to give him cramps very soon, Prometheus drew level with Hades.

"So, where's this aviary?" he asked him, "It must house large birds if we're able to nest there!"

“The Dawn Throne, that’s where they keep the yol, and they are big,” he said gesturing with his head. Hades led him to the open area with all the yol. Yellow clad Auri people were rushing to and fro, gathering things their gods may appreciate.

“Oh yes, for your human glamour I may... tweak you a bit. As a warning.”

Hades landed, transforming himself into his best approximation of Azim. His horns, though black, shone with intricate gilding. His clothing, finely woven and intricate, showed off his handsome body— it was entirely open on the sides like the ceremonial, antiquated clothes seen on some of the older statues. He snapped his fingers once Hythlodaeus dismounted, squishing Prometheus into the form of an Auri woman carrying a child. He was still certainly recognizable as Prometheus in the face, but Hades was committed to this but of flash and pomp.

He conjured a beautiful dress, both iridescent and translucent to hang on his form.

“My Nhaama requires a place to bear our child.”

Prometheus was sort of expecting the glamour this time, so he suppressed his shudder at the latex bodysuit sensation of being squished into an unfamiliar form. He plucked a little at his dress, exchanging a look with Hythlodaeus as Hades ran his theatrics to the hilt.

Hades was really getting into this God thing, huh?

Maybe he knows he can just laze about even more with worshippers serving him hand and foot, he thought wryly, stepping up beside Hades with a short swish of his tail.

"A bit of tweaking, mm?" He murmured softly as a few yellow robed Xaela looked at him in awe, keeping their conversation private (it was in Amaurotine anyway), "What about Hyth? Can he be our official, I don't know, babysitter? But with a fancy title."

“I would introduce you to our midwife,” Hades said gesturing to Hythlodaeus while he was definitely not expecting to get any attention that moment. Hunched over some feathers and crouching with his robe hitched up. Hythlodaeus fought the urge to point at himself with a stupid look to make Hades look like an asshole.

Hythlodaeus stood and bowed awkwardly, realizing he knew absolutely no local customs. He sure hoped they bowed here, he was just guessing.

Hades smiled warmly at all who were in attendance. “Thank you for your generosity. You all may be dismissed.” The people filed out, leaving just them and the birds.

The yol all looked down from their perches curiously at their new roommates. One of them bravely hopped down to investigate Prom.

"Oh, look at you, beautiful!" Prometheus crooned, instantly gravitating towards the towering yol. In his female Xaela form, the bird practically dwarfed him, but Prometheus didn't let that deter him as he held up his hand expectantly, knowing without a doubt that the bird would come to him. Birds loved him - they always loved him! Even as a dragon, they loved him.

And this time was no exception.

With a warble, the yol ducked down and let Prometheus pet its beak.

"Hades, Hyth, look!" he gasped, turning to his two friends with a happy smile that just made his entire face light up, his soul a warm ball of sunshine, "Look, it likes me!"

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