Chapter 66: Apomero
"Wh-what?" Euclid's eyes wide opened as if they were about to pop out.
It was the first time Kyriaki saw him genuinely flustered. Kyriaki enjoyed his unexpected reaction with a sadistic tendency before opening her mouth once again.
"
"Regardless, your authority is questionable. Tell me, Eucee. Who are you aligning yourself with? And what purpose do they have?"
Euclid blinked. His big ocean blue eyes slowly returned to its original almond shaped size. He lifted his hand and pressed down the corners of his eyes lightly. Then, he raised his face up to the ceiling and began to chuckle.
Kyriaki's persistent golden gaze never once wavered as she watched him engrossed in his own world. She could hear all of his jumbled thoughts.
Some expressed surprise.
Some expressed acknowledgement.
While some expressed deeper and complex emotions Kyriaki failed to understand.
After a while, Euclid removed his hand and looked directly at her. His eyes had also turned unreadable, matching Kyriaki.
"Then what about you?"
"Come again?" His question puzzled her.
"Your system is different too. Isn't that suspicious? And what about the God backing you?"
"You—"
"Your powers, your beliefs, your goals…aren't they all quite alien?"
"..."
Kyriaki, who was about to say something in response, simply stayed silent. It was because she couldn't find the words to deny it.
Euclid's eyes gleamed sharply. Not even his inner thoughts revealed what Kyriaki was looking for. It was as if something was subtly blocking her from digging deeper.
"Ria…everyone has one or two secrets they want to be hidden. So let's not pry into each other's secrets, shall we?"
After saying everything, he glanced at the empty air, seemingly looking at his system. And then calmly sipped the already cold tea. His long eyelashes casted shadows over his face, hiding his expression.
Kyriaki frowned.
'Why can't I hear his thoughts anymore?'
[Ding!]
[Due to the interference of external forces, Target Euclid Zale Agyris will be excluded from the Sub-authority
'WHAT?!'
[??? Giggles, telling you to not to worry too much]
[??? Says you can handle this much]
"Hah!" Kyriaki couldn't hold herself back from snorting in disbelief, even forgetting it has been a while since this entity had spoken to her directly.
Euclid on the other hand, sipped his tea calmly, only rolling his eyes to glance at her. He acted as if he knew what's happening on Kyriaki's side. Kyriaki studied her notification panel closely, there was not even a twitching muscle on her side. She appeared as if time had frozen her in place. After a full minute, she glanced back at Euclid.
"Ahahahaha!" In the end, Kyriaki burst out laughing.
She pushed back her curtain bangs that irritated her for a while and just laughed. There were so many emotions in her laughter that pointing out and naming them individually seemed impossible.
"Huff…haha…haaaah…" When her loud laughter ended, she was left breathless.
Kyriaki pressed her cheek against the table. Her arms limply dangling from the sides after an energy consumed laughter. Acceptance was also a way to clear mind, after all.
At some point, Euclid had put down his tea and was gazing at her while he rested his chin on one of his palms. A small smile was lingering around his delicate lips.
"Yeah…" Kyriaki lifted her head, also popping her chin on the palm as she leaned towards Euclid. "Everyone has secrets. You are absolutely right, Eucee. I apologize for poking my nose where it shouldn't belong."
"It's no big deal." He beamed in response.
"Is that so?"
"Yep. So Ria, how about we share those secrets once we get closer? Closer than how we are now."
"What does that mean?" Kyriaki tilted her head, the weight of her head slightly shifted the balance of her hand holding her chin.
Now, her cheek tightly pressing her palm, Kyriaki looked undeniably adorable to outsiders. Unaware of her own appearance, she just pressed Euclid with a demanding gaze.
"Kyriaki Elpis Eleftherios," Euclid's ocean blue eyes shimmered like the surface of the summer ocean. "Let's get married."
"..."
'Get what now?' Kyriaki blinked, utterly baffled by the sudden proposal.
"I beg your finest pardon?"
"Marry me." The boy didn't get discouraged by her question, instead he insisted with a clear voice. With just that, Kyriaki's expression changed in a matter of seconds, looking like her ears had been assaulted.
"You are crazy."
It's not "Are you crazy?" It was "You are crazy" as if she was offering the absolute truth. Kyriaki leaned back, correcting her posture like a noble obsessed with etiquette. There was no emotion in her eyes as she glanced at Euclid. Her voice was steady and calm.
No anger.
No complaints.
Just absolute serenity. The kind only a monk would produce.
"Can't you react with a little more soul?" Euclid almost fell over as he pouted at her reply without any blood or tears.
"Then study before proposing to a woman. Not that I'd accept even then."
"Let's share an eternity together." Euclid immediately changed his tactics, switching to a more poetic kind of a proposal.
"Are you implying you want the position of Prince Consort?" Kyriaki twisted his words in an instant.
"I want to be someone one-and-only to you."
"To say that with this childish appearance of yours. It's only laughable."
"I'm glad to make you smile."
"Hah…what a sweet tongued bastard." This time Kyriaki glared.
"What am I lacking?" Euclid merely smiled in response as he insisted.
"A lot."
"Then I'll fix them all."
"First of all, you can't fix your age, can you?"
"What's wrong with my age?"
"I prefer older men."
"Ria, I am older. 70 years at that."
"Judging by your appearance, it doesn't seem like it."
"Please, Ria. You must rethink your decision." Facing her glare, Euclid made a pitiful expression, begging like a dejected cat stripped of its favorite toy.
"Why should I?"
"Because it's a matter of life and death to me."
Kyriaki's fine golden brows frowned. Her cold rationality and calculations warned her of something troublesome. She watched with a skeptical look as Euclid took a deep breath as if he was preparing himself to reveal something ground-breaking.
His pale fingers moved up. Kyriaki's yellow diamond eyes followed his movements. His fingers grasped the fancy bolo tie. The clear and polished blue moonstone in a teardrop shape gleamed faintly as he removed it.
Then his fingers moved to his tidy shirt buttons.
Plop-Plop
One button.
Two buttons.
By the third button, Kyriaki's frown deepened.
"What are you—" she was about to rebuke him for stripping in public, but the next moment, the sight that came to her view made her choke on her own words.
Euclid smiled wryly.
"This is what happened."
"...this explains that strange pull."
"Oh! You felt it too?!"
"Shut up and let me think."
"Yes Ma'am."
'Sigh…what am I doing here, talking about marriage when I'm merely 100 years old.'
But then again, her real age was unclear.
The age of her past life was 30 years,
The age of her current body was 100,
The age of her living time was total of 130,
But…the age of her soul was over five eons.
Now, it's not like she considered herself billions of years old. New souls are rare. And almost all souls are thousands and millions of years old, it was just that they do not remember it once they gain a new body. That was all.
Kyriaki was just an anomaly. And since she thought and acted like a true dragon after the reincarnation, she considered her age to be the age of her new life. In that sense, Euclid was older, yes. Even so, she couldn't possibly see him as a prospective marriage partner with her mature mind.
'But things are complicated right now.'
Kyriaki intently stared at Euclid's chest, now exposed to her.
Her attention wasn't on a baby's chest. It was focused on the symbol printed permanently on his skin.
The symbol of Apomero.
According to years of observations and research analyses from dragon society, apart from the Stigma of Chaos and Twin Link, the symbol of Apomero was the only way to break a dragon's rational and calculating ego.
Some say that this was a restriction put upon them to surpass those powerful and noble beings. Anyhow, 99.9% of dragons are destined to experience the manifestation of the symbol one way or another.
So now, here is the question.
What or more especially, who is an Apomero?
The simplest answer is; An Apomero is the mate, companion, missing piece and the better half of a dragon.
In Drakonic, Apomero literally means "Missing Piece", so what else is there to talk about?
Then the second question follows.
How is an Apomero supposed to be chosen?
The answer to that question is quite complicated.
It depends on the dragon's feelings.
No matter what kind of personality a dragon showcases. In the core, they are all lazy, rational and calculating.
For that kind of dragon to prioritize feelings was almost rare. This was also the reason why most manifestations happen before their 3rd growth pace.
When a dragon strongly feels a desire to protect, respect, intimately love and possess another dragon from the opposite sex, the first stage of the symbol manifests on them. This wasn't visible to anyone since it was still not fully connected.
The second stage begins when the soul of that said opposite sex was compatible with the soul of the dragon in question. This sent an instinctive signal to the dragon. To make them realize what was happening.
And this was also the most unstable state of the process.
Sometimes, feelings change and the flow breaks. That was just how emotions are. If that happens, further creation of the symbol wouldn't happen.
However, If somehow by some miracle, a dragon doesn't break the flow and instead pay attention to the signal they were receiving, the third stage begins.
The third stage only ends when the dragon sincerely admits their own feelings.
Thus manifest the Symbol of Apomero, albeit by half.
This was the most dangerous stage of the process.
The dragon feels a strong thirst towards their target in this period of time. They began to yarn for the other party's mana.
By then, the target of their affection and many more strong feelings also feels the presence of the symbol.
The target began to feel a strong pull towards the said dragon.
From then on, everything depends on uncertain possibilities. For Time—Valuable and merciless Time—intertwined with the most sacred emotion; love, and the most unpredictable creation; soul. It plays with life and death, giving the dragon who manifested the symbol 1000 years of time limit.
Yes, 1000 years.
If the dragon fails to seduce or make their target realize and accept their feelings, the said dragon will die after the given time ends. By being unable to relive their thirst, by not having the mana of their target as the oasis, they just…die.
It was cruel. No matter how powerful a dragon may be, they cannot force their beloved into their own emotions. Hence the term "uncertain possibilities" used when talking about an Apomero.
Yet another reason why dragons are so very few in the universe.
As for what happens if the dragon succeeds before the time limit ends?
Then the fourth and last stage begins; This only happens if the target accepts and realizes their feelings. Once it happens, the Symbol of Apemero fully manifests on both of their chests, carving it deeper into their souls and linking their souls together for eternity.
When said "Eternity", it literally means an eternity.
Even after their death, even after they became an immortal celestial spirit, the Symbol of Apemero doesn't fade away.
Firmly, strongly and pleasantly it links the two souls together, until the end of Time.
Through this link, they naturally exchange their mana to relieve their thirst. Preventing any potential death. And such union also brings more benefits to the two dragons. Some go as far as sharing their skills at will.
That is what an Apomero is, and how they were chosen.
Tap-tap-tap.
Kyriaki tapped the tea table with her index finger, examining Euclid's face.
"No wonder suddenly your feelings changed."
"My feelings?" Euclid blinked his eyes. His long white lashes fluttered like butterfly wings.
"You used to dislike me."
"No I didn't." Euclid immediately denied it. His tone was firm and honest. Kyriaki lifted one eye brow, still tapping the table.
"I was under the impression that you were always cautious towards me and got annoyed by me, Eucee."
"That's not true." Euclid shook his head calmly. "I was just curious about you. First of all, this..." He lifted his wrist, displaying the golden thread bounding them. It had appeared at some point in time to add fuel to fire.
"Ah right, there's this thing too." Kyriaki's tired eyes landed on it, her expression soured in a brief second. "I want to ask what the fxxx is this thing, but you won't answer me, will you?"
"Second, You were so different from other hatchlings. I wanted to learn from you." Ignoring her side jab and suspicion filled question, Euclid lowered his wrist on the table and studied her face as he said it word by word.
"Oh," Kyriaki nodded. "But still, your feelings used to border between curiosity and pure interest."
"Ah."
"Isn't it because this happened that your feelings changed?"
"No, it's because my feelings changed that this happened." Euclid looked into her golden eyes. His eyes were unwavering. Enough to captivate anyone with just a glance. Those sincere words he said while fully understanding what it truly meant was sort of a courage for him.
Truthfully, Kyriaki knew it too. That was how the symbol of Apemero always manifested after all. But she was in distress, unable to properly accept this situation.
'What to do. What to do.'
"If you accept me as your Apomero, I'll tell you all of my secrets without hiding anything. How about it?"
"That's not something you'd say like you are offering a 50% discount."
"Hahaha!" Euclid burst out laughing. His eyes curved into crescent moons. His laughter was pleasant like the sound of dozens of windbreakers.
Bam!
"How could you laugh in this kind of situation?!" Kyriaki had no idea her voice was subtly rising. Instead of tapping the table, she slammed it with her fist. Despite her clear control of strength, the table visibly cracked.
'If the target doesn't accept them as their Apomero, they could only live 1000 years. And they'll die from not being able to share mana, like a love sick fool.'
"Why is there even a universal law like this?" She muttered to herself as she held back her fist from breaking the table. "The universe seemed to be dead set on reducing dragon population."
She seems to have forgotten she had no interest in reproduction either.
As she grumbled to herself with pouty lips, Euclid just watched her as if it was someone else's business. A faint smile playing on his lips.
"What do you hate so much that you are refusing my proposal?" Although he asked something serious, he was visibly more relaxed than before.
"Marriage isn't something so simple and I have no confidence in falling in love. To be precise, I am very dry when it comes to romance." Kyriaki replied in a no nonsense voice. Then paused, and lifted her head.
The golden sun gazed at the blue ocean.
Kyriaki felt like she could stare for days. It was that beautiful, that mesmerizing.
As she stared into the Euclid's blue eyes, it felt like a mysterious deep ocean was rising up. Those eyes, framing the vast and cool winter ocean in two large irises…it reminded her of the last moments of her past life.
She didn't hate nor fear the ocean, which swallowed her whole and took her life. No, the ocean didn't take it, she willingly gave it herself. The dark and cold ocean she didn't feel any particular emotion towards, it was different from the ocean she saw in his eyes. His eyes, unbelievably charming, kept a pleasantly unusual cool feeling deep inside.
So she wondered;
'Would I be able to give myself to this ocean too?'
It was a sudden curiosity, stark contrast to her usual cautious mentality.
'It doesn't matter.'
At first, Kyriaki was debating whether to kill him or not. But later, her thoughts changed. Euclid was a card she mustn't lose, no matter what. If he was gone, over 99% of her new plans would collapse before she achieved her goals. So Euclid's death is unacceptable.
Her feelings didn't matter.
Euclid's survival is what matters the most at the present timeline.
"I'll let you be my fiancé for now." Kyriaki began to tap the table again with a thoughtful look.
Tap.Tap.Tap.
Hearing her words, Euclid's eyes widened so much that if something dared to touch them, they'd have popped out right away like marbles.
"And I'll try my best to accept your…feelings. But don't get your hopes up, I'm aromatic asexual as far as I know." The way she spoke left no room for refusal.
"Leave it to me! I won't die so easily!" But Euclid had a spirit that matched her perfectly. Both in mind and personality. He quickly regained his composure and grinned as if the whole world was his.
"Good. We have 1000 years. Do your best."
It was ridiculous to ask a 5 year old looking boy to seduce her so openly. But if they don't do that, he'll die.
The prime example was Atlas' fiancée. She died 50 years ago after failing to form the full symbol with him.
'That kind of tragic ending doesn't suit Euclid anyway.'
He was far more useful to be killed by a mere universal law that had been formed to strip dragons of their lives.
'Sigh…there's no helping it. I have to take a risk. Even if I end up with this guy for eternity, it's better than dying a dog's death in my second life. And if I complete the mission I was given, there may be a chance of getting another reward from that mysterious entity. Then I can ask them for a solution for this mess."
Thinking along those lines, Kyriaki opened the group chat Elysium had created and gave a single glance to the holographic screen.
[Home sweet home
Idiot no.1: Have you seen Ria?
Idiot no.2: Rio said she's with the young Agyris boy.
Idiot no.1: Young Agyris boy?
Idiot no.1: You mean student Euclid?
Idiot no.2: Yeah.
Idiot no.2: Father, are you sensing the same thing?
Idiot no.1: (emoji of a cartoon dragon humming in thoughts)
Idiot no.2: That boy is becoming increasingly suspicious! I told you this before!!
Idiot no.1: Shut it, Ellie.
Idiot no.2: (emoji of a wailing cartoon lion)
Idiot no.1: Rio, are you there?
Idiot no.3: (emoji of a cartoon puppy saying yeah~)
Idiot no.1: Report to me immediately. Be sure to bring any information about student Euclid. ]
'Sigh…nonsense, as always.'
Kyriaki calmly typed what she wanted with a poker face.
[I'm getting engaged: You]
[Ding!][Ding!][Ding!]
Countless messages poured in, and Kyriaki sipped her new cup of tea, savoring the warmth calmly.
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