Eclipse nodded and turned around, starting toward the tower, and his room. He would have picked Drake's, but the birds would make it hard to concentrate. How Eclipse hated those things... the prince might be concerned about them, too, and that would be distracting.

 

Drake followed, after first trying once again to get to the palace. He was angry, but saw no other option. His plan had been to get his parents, though he knew that was stupid. They would probably just be mad... everything he did made them mad. Drake followed Eclipse because he had no one else to turn to, and he was very confused about all these changes.

 

Eclipse let Drake in and closed the door. He still had the feeling that Ellipsis was watching them as they climbed the stairs, but that didn't concern him.

“So, how long have you known that you can change like this?” Eclipse asked a few seconds after closing the door.

 

Drake thought about that a moment... his fangs had grown for... wow, as long as he could remember. His eyes changed, he knew, but he wasn't sure how to do that or if that counted. The wings, talons, and scales were the biggest change he knew, so he went with that.
“A few days....”

 

Eclipse took in a seat in an old, but comfortable looking emerald green chair.

“Tell me how it happened,” he requested. Wanting to learn everything about this new change. How he could use it, and what problems it might cause.

 

Drake's first instincts were to lie… a lot.
He knew that wouldn't be the best thing, he could get caught in that lie and be in even more trouble... so he just lied a little when he explained the story. The information about it being a dragon, for instance, changed, as did the fact that they had to go through the cave.

 

Eclipse could sense the few small lies that the boy was telling. He had a hard time believing that Drake and Severo had so much trouble with just one T-Rex. In fact, he had a hard time believing that T-Rex commonly roamed the arctic at all. What was it doing? Trying out its new Snow Mu fur coat?
Why had no one seen any before? Did they usually hide behind small dead trees so no one could see them? Or were white-skinned so they would blend in?

No, the boy was lying… but what they found or where they found it didn’t really matter. What mattered was the change. Severo had seen it; perhaps he should make sure that the hunter had an ‘accident’?

“I see…” Eclipse said when Drake had finished the story, and then went on to ask, “How well can you control it?”

 

Drake shrugged. “I'm not sure... I have not really gotten much chance to test it.”

 

“Then try now.” Eclipse suggested with a small smile, though perhaps it was more like a disguised smirk… “Change back.”

 

Drake tried to remember what he'd done last time to change back... he'd been tired, that's all he remembered— he'd fallen asleep. “... I don't know how. What did I change into?”

 

“Your true self.” Eclipse answered, he was a little disappointed by the boy not knowing how to change back and seeming to have very little control over changing in the first place… it could cause very awkward problems. He would need to teach the boy somehow.

 

“... What do you mean? If it's my true self, why am I turning into it? Shouldn't I just... be it? Why don't my parents look like this?” Drake could see the disappointment, and thus he chose to stall... but he also really wanted the answers.

 

“Why do you think they are so afraid of you?” Eclipse asked, and stood up, walking to the other side of the room and examining the titles on the bookshelf, “It's because you are different from them.”

He turned back to look at Drake in the eye. “This is what you are, and always have been. Humans aren't meant to have so much power. So, if you want to use it, your body has to change so it can handle it, understand?”

 

“... I... guess…” Drake replied.

There were obvious questions... why wasn't he like his parents? If this is what he was... what was he? How had he become this way if his parents were human and he... wasn't?
Drake didn't want to ask, though. Part of him feared the answer, and the other part just had no interest in knowing what was going on, so long as he could control it.
Jumping had been stupid. Worse, it had accomplished little; mostly just informing him that the barrier was not just blocking the doors.

 

Eclipse was content with that. He sensed the boy didn't really believe him fully. Nevertheless, Drake didn't question him, and that’s all that mattered.

Actually, all that mattered was teaching the boy to control it before he shifted in front of anyone that couldn't have their mind affected by Eclipse's powers…

“Would you like to learn how to control it?” He asked, after a long moment of silence.

 

Drake imagined that as a good way to get Pricilla to leave him alone... as well as give her nightmares for life.
Which was worth it.
“Yes.”

 

“Alright,” Eclipse replied simply, and with that, started hours of hard work.

 

Eclipse taught Drake that the way to change back was fairly simple once you had properly learned how to do it. You had to be calm; strong emotions made it more difficult. Then he would have to control his power pretty much the same way that Eclipse had spent years teaching him to. However, he had to go further than just control it.

He had to bury the power deeper in himself, so that it could no longer affect his appearance, and he would change back to normal. It would be a lot harder than he was used to, Eclipse knew. He’d have to get used to it, though… for now.
A similar state was reached when he fell asleep, which is why he changed back when he slept the first time. The robed man also figured that it was possible, now, if the Prince had a bad dream for him to change to his ‘true form’ while he slept…

That would certainly be interesting if the prince ever married… it was a good thing Eclipse had already gotten his parents and the rest of the palace separated from them. It would cause great problems if he shifted in front of any of them… Marina was fully regal blood. A true descendant of those chosen from the water dragon god… there might still be something in her that would alert her to who the young prince really was…

 

 

Drake tried a few times, but just couldn't focus enough for the change to happen, which just caused more frustration.

He was determined, though. Eventually, he opened his eyes and was human again— if in appearance only.

 

After Drake had learned to change back, and had completed it successfully, Eclipse had started to teach him how to change into his true form. Eclipse explained how he had to find the most primal thought in his mind. In the given situation, what his most primal urge for that moment is. Whether it be survival, or the urge to kill, it didn’t matter.

Then, he told Drake how he had to focus his power into that urge. This is why he had changed at the moment where he was near death; the desperation had done the work for him. To do it at will, he had to learn how to focus the energy, and then to release it, past the point his human body could handle; forcing it to change.

 

Drake found turning back into his... TF, as he called it, was much, much easier.
His fire erupted and when it vanished, he was in his TF.
...
With the blasted wings which did not seem to get any smaller. He was still having a difficult time calling this form at will, though, and when he did get it, it still took a few seconds just to get used to it all.

 

“I’m still not getting it…”

 

“Like this.” Eclipse said, and let himself go through something he hadn’t in a long, long time.

It was sudden. There was nothing remotely gentle about the way Eclipse changed; his skin suddenly burst outward, ripped, tore and dropped to the ground in clumps, where they seemed to then melt away into nothingness, like bloody snowflakes. In the place of skin, there were now scales, much more prominent than Drake’s. They were silver like the moon, and shimmered like moonlight reflecting off rippling water.

Then his eyes flashed, as they turned silver from their previous dull gray state, the pupils elongating into predatory slits. Eclipse’s canine teeth broke past his lips like long fangs, much like Drake’s did, but far larger. At this, he seemed to hiss; all his teeth turned razor sharp and ideal for ripping flesh. His tongue and gums were black, like something decaying and rotting. His hair seemed to ooze within itself, as if it were bleeding, and turned silver… the black dripping down like spilled ink from a pen that had for some reason decided to alleviate itself from its ink. It was as if the life of the hair itself was draining away…

Then, suddenly, the room was shadowed as two dark wings blocked the light. They were so dark, and almost transparent, like shadows attached to the monster’s back. Lurking and waiting for the opportunity to attack. The ink-blood that was the blackness of his hair drained into them; absorbed into them.

 

His bones cracked as he increased in size, slightly, and straightened up. He shook off the last remaining bits of flesh before he looked back at the prince.

 

Drake ran out the door and down the stairs screaming before Eclipse had the opportunity to do anything.
He was suddenly given the gift of knowledge on how to run with giant wings as a loud voice in his head screamed orders. Run! Run!! Run!!!
It might have been a bit more helpful if the voice had told him where to run... but it said just... to run.
So... he did.
Now, he wasn't sure if there were guards in the tower, but he decided that if there were, they were doing a bad job.

 

Eclipse let out a laugh, though it sounded more like the throat spasms of a dying dragon. Completely inhuman, it traveled far outside the tower, and probably made a few guards think an angry monster was nearby. High, shrill, and terrifying. The vibrations of it seemed to make the tower shiver.

Eclipse slipped out of the room and off the balcony like a shadow. He used his newly grown black claws to help him as he crawled around the tower. The claws were sharp enough to grasp the rock, but instead they seemed to melt into it...

Once he was on the other side, he jumped off. His wings opening out to let him glide to the bottom. The wings didn't seem to catch air the same way normal wings did.
They just seemed to defy the air, still rippling and lurking. Regarding gravity as a mere annoyance, and holding up their master for the slow descent.

At the bottom, he stood in front of the main door, and changed back. The wings shot inside his body like demons, and the scales began to fall off as if the monster was melting. They barely hit the ground before fading away into nothing. The claws retreated into Eclipse’s hands, and his teeth did the same. Life came back to his gums and tongue, at least the appearance of it, anyway. Then, finally, his eyes went back to their normal, cold gray.

There he waited; he knew Drake would come out at some point…

 

 

Drake made his wings vanish; that was becoming easy enough and keeping them just slowed him down.

His first thought, not the order to run, the first actual thought was to get Ellipsis… but Drake stopped short of that. What if Ellipsis was the same way?

What was... that?!? That wasn't what he was... was it? Drake didn't look like that... at least he didn't think so. Eclipse looked dead in that form, and the transformation alone was far, far worse than anything Drake had ever done! Eclipse looked like... like he was exploding; escaping the human form, like he was killing it! Drake's was gradual— seeming much more natural. It didn't scare him; Eclipse's transformation did!

However, Drake also had to wonder… the fear he felt now, was that what others felt when seeing him?
His form had gotten more apparent as he got older... but he wasn't a monster like that...
None of this made sense anymore.

Eclipse and Ellipsis were from an island far away. Drake was from Daguerreo. His parents were human, his mother was a mage, his father was human, their parents had been human and theirs before them! The entire royal line of Daguerreo; all human! All that would one day be his was built or owned by humans and mages…

They worshipped dragons, but they didn't resemble them!
So… what was he? How was he... what he was? None of it made sense.
He looked like his parents— true, as he aged he looked less and less like them, but he still resembled them both. The shape of his features were similar; if you only ignored the color there would be no oddity at all… nothing as noticeable, anyway.

His clothes were torn up again. Their resistance to fire forced his wings to break through in an odd way. They seemed to tear as little fabric as possible, as if being connected from the back rather than sprouting out... he'd need to do something about that, but later. Now he just wanted to get away.

Going to the hawk keep sounded like a good idea, Eclipse hated it in there and Celestina hadn't seemed to fear Drake in his TF. Drake wanted to run there and grab Vanda and just pet her and hope this was all a nightmare... but that would solve nothing.

So he ran for the exit, figuring he'd figure out something to fight the barrier.
He'd go see Severo and tell him all this and Severo would know what to do… and he’d get there… somehow… He could just scream till someone came then make them figure out the barrier… or… outside! Yes, outside the barrier wasn’t as bad, he could get to the library that way!

Drake opened the main doors swiftly and closed them just as fast.
Then locked them and decided inside was his favorite place to be.

 

“How rude...” Eclipse muttered with a smile, and then jumped onto the wall, moving with inhuman speed, but still staying in his human form. Heading toward the top of the tower, and Drake's room.

For some 'mysterious' reason, all the nearby guards suddenly found themselves growing rather sleepy. Despite the strange sounds and screams...

 

Drake had the same destination. He ran up the stairs to his room as fast as possible.

 

Eclipse climbed over the balcony and into Drake's bedroom a short moment later. Then he proceeded into the main room where the birds went even more berserk than usual.

The room was fairly dark, and Eclipse knew that he didn't have to try to be scary. The birds making so much noise all around him in the shadows was enough to give the room a surreal and disturbing feel.

 

Drake walked in hearing the bird’s cries... that should have told him to stay away, but it just made him concerned as to why they were shrieking.

He walked in slowly…

And threw a supernova of a fireball.

 

Eclipse darted to a side, fast. The fireball missed him just barely… he hadn’t expected an attack… He’d given the boy plenty of reason to attack before and he never had… a foolish error he wouldn’t make again. The move had left Eclipse closer to the birds than he wanted to be. Luckily, they couldn't get out, but they still tried. The fireball had come so very close to hitting him…

“That wasn't very nice.” Eclipse said, mocking an insulted voice, before turning serious, “Control yourself.”

 

Drake did control himself; or rather, he controlled his power. This time, he made the fire appear directly in front of Eclipse before it moved.

 

Eclipse was glad that he had made sure his robes were as fireproof as Drake's clothes, although the fire hit him; his clothes protected him long enough to put up a barrier. However, his eyebrows were a bit singed, and his hands a little burned.

This is ridiculous. Eclipse thought, he wasn't going to fight the boy, so he closed his eyes for a brief second and inverted the headache barrier. Now everything outside the tower was safe, and inside meant blinding pain.
This little game had become too boring and troublesome; it was time for it to end.

 

Drake dropped to his knees, grabbing his head as agonizing pain washed over him.

“Alright! Alright!” He cried. “You win!”

 

Eclipse closed his eyes and switched the barrier back, in no hurry of course. The pain would still stop almost immediately.

“Are you ready to talk now?” Eclipse asked him, stepping a little closer in case the answer was ‘no’. The screeches of the birds almost drowned out his voice, but he knew Drake had heard him.

 

Drake got up the moment the pain ended. Staying down was not an option. “Fine,” he growled.

 

“What are you so afraid of?” Eclipse demanded, but not in a harsh tone.

 

“Quicksand.” Drake replied, “And zombies.”

 

“And yourself?” Eclipse asked, and then went on to rephrase the question. “Are you afraid of yourself?”

He was staring at the boy hard. Drake’s sarcasm and defiance was not going to stop Eclipse making his point. Not this time. It was important. A moment that the whole plan depended on, but Drake had no idea of its importance.

 

“No.” Drake shook his head, “Of course not.”

 

“Then why did you run from me?” Eclipse asked him, then paused a moment to let the meaning sink in. “We're the same, after all.”

Eclipse now waited to see the boy's reaction. It was a big new 'truth' for him to accept, but… he didn’t.

 

“Oh no, no-no, not a chance.” Drake shook his head, dismissively. “When I shift forms I still look alive. I just look a bit different, that's all.”

 

“It's just the start.” Eclipse informed him, his tone gentler than usual. He had to be careful how he said this. “As your power grows, so will your true form.”

It was simple, made sense, and was somewhat true… he had no idea if Drake would change any further than he already had… it was possible, but he somehow doubted it. When pure occultation children were born, they already had their full dragon appearance. While it did advance, as they got older, they never looked human. Drake had, which was fine with Eclipse… It was more acceptable for the rest of the world and his son should be above the rest. The boy would have to accept it.

 

“If that's true than fire-ai al dracului.” Drake grumbled quietly, under his breath. “I'm stronger than most; I killed the red— T-Rex. I haven’t changed that much.”

 

Eclipse decided to ignore the insult, and swearing. Who had taught those words to him anyway? He somehow suspected Ellipsis...

“You'll always be who you are,” Eclipse clarified. However, it wasn't exactly true, but was as far as Drake needed to know. “Just consider it another way to use your power, that's all it is.”

Again, it was a half-truth, but that’s all that he wanted Drake to know. Drake had changed a lot; he already wasn’t ‘who he was’.

 

Drake still had so many questions burning holes in his head, but he wasn't even close to the right mood to talk about it.
No... he'd ask Severo, later.

 

Eclipse stepped closer to Drake, his lack of response was probably a good sign, but he had to make sure.

“You understand?” He asked; his voice almost sympathetic.

 

Drake nodded, finding it easier than speaking an answer. To say yes was a bold lie; to say no could mean he was stuck there hearing more things he didn't want to hear. Nodding was not a real answer. It was a pretend answer.

I’ll agree for now… then you’ll leave and I can go see Severo…

 

“Okay.” Eclipse said, apparently content with taking the nod as an answer, even though the boy was obviously still confused. He stepped back a little.

“You better pack anything you need, your ship leaves tomorrow.” Eclipse suggested to the prince, and started toward the door.

 

“... What? What ship?” Drake asked, confused.
At first, he had the hopes that he was being given permission to go hunting.

 

“Shivel, in the Outer Continent…” Eclipse answered as if it should be completely obvious.

 

... Cãcat! I should've hung myself when I had the chance! “... That's... I do not want to see Pricilla!” Drake growled.

 

“Well, I wouldn't make you go if it was my decision...” Eclipse offered. “It is the King that wants you to go.”

 

“You expect me to believe that? This is your doing! You don't listen to Chaucer! He has never been able to punish me, not once, this is your fault!” Drake accused, knowingly.

 

“Your accusation wounds me,” Eclipse said. Though 'annoys' might have been a more accurate adjective, “Your father merely would like you to spend some time with people closer to your age.”

Again, a half-truth. That's what Chaucer thought he wanted, but that was close enough. It was grating to refer to that man as the boy’s Father.

 

A plan had already formed in his mind on how to get Drake to become used to his changes, and how to get him to practice them. It was important that he learn control over them. If he changed at the wrong moment… people might find out who and what he was. Some of Poseidon’s followers hunted Dragon— they wanted to be sure their god had not died without reason…

 

Drake was still too young; if they found him, he wouldn’t be able to fight back long enough for Eclipse to get there and deal with the situation. Eclipse would not have put it past the earth dragon god’s followers to kill Drake to stop the Occultation tribe from surviving. If Drake died, Eclipse would never be able to go back to the village… they might even try to send some people to hunt him down, and he’d have to kill them… and none of them would live long.

Eclipse was a little bothered that the boy blamed him for this; he had intended Drake to blame the king.

 

“It's not a punishment, well, not meant to be anyway.” Eclipse assured Drake. That was a full on lie, but Eclipse delivered it well.

 

“Liar.” Drake stated, simply. He was, however, willing to fake another offer. “If that were true, you'd just change his mind. And if, for some convenient reason, you cannot do that this time, drop the barrier and let me leave. Pricilla is three years older than me and thinks she's in a different world! I think she's mental. Something must have formed wrong in her brain, or she didn't get enough oxygen at birth.”

 

“Well, I'm afraid your father is quite adamant about sending you on this trip. I might have been able to talk him out of it, but he would have wanted to talk to you about it. Unfortunately you were out, and you lied to me where you were…” Eclipse said to Drake, ignoring the accusation of being a liar while also turning it back on him.”So you see… I can’t let you go hunting now.” He reasoned, and added, “Then when you get back, you’ll probably be grounded by me for lying about where you were going…”

 

Drake snarled and walked over to Vanda's cage, trying to calm her down and trying to ignore Eclipse. Drake preferred talking to her anyway. Irony… He lies this bluntly and nothing is done, I lie about heading up north and get to suffer through this.

 

“Maybe I won't ground you when you get back...” Eclipse said thoughtfully. He could hear what Drake was saying, it was written in his mind, but he pretended he couldn't.

 

Drake glanced back at him, waiting for the catch.

 

“This would be an excellent opportunity to practice...control.” Eclipse pointed out, taking a few steps closer. “If you can manage to not change for the entire trip, you won't be grounded when you get back. As a… reward.” The term sounded foreign when Eclipse said it, and it was to him. However, Ellipsis used rewards enough Eclipse knew they worked well enough with Drake… even if he didn’t like that fact.

 

Drake debated that, looking back at Vanda, choosing not to answer.
He'd wait till tomorrow to decide.

 

Eclipse took Drake's silence as a good enough sign for him to leave. It wasn't like the boy really had a choice about going. The option of a 'reward' was really up to him. If he were smart, for once, he would take it.