Fortnight

It was supposed to be a normal foraging trip – well, as normal as any venture to the Forest could be. But Matsumoto was accompanied by all the dragons best acquainted with the strange paths and time-lapses and whatnot, so what could go wrong?

Ichimaru was overjoyed to have all his favorites with him; she could see it by his mild, satisfied smirk. "We will be back before you know it," he said, aware that Matsumoto disliked the Forest still. And to traipse through it guided by Arrancar of all dragons...

Ichimaru always lingered in the Forest, but this time the fault – if anyone's – belonged to Ristaya. "What is that?" she said, quirking her head to get a better look downhill.

There, in a burrow, almost invisible from under the trees, slept a strange Imperial, half-covered by snow.

Matsumoto sighed. "Another ghost, huh?" she said, glancing at Arrancar pointedly.

"It doesn't feel like that," Ichimaru shook his head. He was wary, and stood at a distance, pondering quietly. "It could be a normal traveller. Or, well, have been."

"It has three heads," Ristaya said in that absent-minded way of hers. She sounded more curious than anything, but Matsumoto felt her blood run cold at the words. "I've never seen a dragon with three heads."

"That's impossible. Emperors are a myth," Ichimaru managed weakly, but he didn't deny it; and even as Matsumoto refused to believe such a folly she could see it – the outline of another head buried under the snow, the second neck...

Arrancar, undeterred, slid down to the foot of the hill to investigate. Matsumoto wondered what the Wildclaw saw – a threat or prey? "But that makes no sense," she said to Ichimaru. "Emperors are fabled to be enormous. This one is... normal."

"It has three heads, it cannot be normal," Ichimaru replied, then his eyes widened. "What the— Arrancar, why would you sniff the Emperor!" he whisper-shouted.

Arrancar shrieked at him in that soundless, horrifying way, outraged, as if whatever it had been doing was both obvious and crucial to the learning process. The Wildclaw was, indeed, standing far too close to the Imperial than necessary. Like, right next to it.

Ichimaru followed quickly, but Matsumoto stood back. She didn't know what to do faced with an impossibility, and so close to their home! Who would have thought...

Ristaya, unperturbed, stood next to her. "What is an Emperor?"

"A monster," Matsumoto said. "An Imperial of such might that to bring it down would require the intervention of the gods themselves."

Ristaya processed that for a while. "We should have brought Matsu," she decided. "He would have woken the monster already. We could see how powerful it truly was, then."

"That's... that's a crazy way to think about things," Matsumoto said, watching as Ichimaru tried to convince his pet whatever not to touch the Emperor. If it even really was one...

It would be fine by Matsumoto if she never found out.







They left Arrancar behind, eventually. "I GUARD," it seethed. "IT LIVES YET." It always spoke so shortly, so... precisely, but Matsumoto saw its eyes way too often to consider it stupid. Arrancar thought too much, and its intellect scared Matsumoto sometimes – monsters were easier to deal with when they were just powerful, not smart.

Matsumoto still wasn't convinced that one monstrous Wildclaw would stand a chance against an unholy terror, but there wasn't any choice but to leave the Imperial to its doubtful slumber – the Forest didn't respect any magic but its own, so they couldn't have cast any spells to better imprison it, and it's not like a fence would have worked instead. Besides, interacting with it in any way might wake it, gods forbid.

So they left it. With Arrancar.

Splendid.

"What are you grinning about?" Matsumoto chirped at Ichimaru as they walked back. The trees grew too thickly to allow for proper flight.

"Oh, nothing," Ichimaru clicked back. "But one might say it is humbling to be reminded of the scope of the unknown."

"There is an Emperor sleeping in our yard," Matsumoto chided him. "How can you not be worried? You cannot hope to tame it like you did with Arrancar. It's too powerful."

"Each monster had a beginning somewhere," Ichimaru mused. "Even that Emperor you're so scared of used to be a dragon long ago. And besides, it's trapped here - the Forest's magic should prevent it from leaving."

"Should," Matsumoto repeated, eyebrow raised. "You understand why I am sceptical. Even if the Emperor were wrecking our home, you would still be there, standing right in front of it, trying to reason with it."

"It's worked before," Ichimaru said calmly with a shrug. "Why ruin a good thing?"

Matsumoto scoffed with suppressed laughter despite herself. Ristaya was running ahead of them, playing in the snow and sniffing the air like a curious hatchling.

They walked in silence, snow crunching under their feet. "We should tell Matsu about the Emperor," Matsumoto said. "He's a mage of great power. He'll know what to do."

Ichimaru hummed, but it wasn't agreement. "Something bothers me about him," he mused. "He was the first to choose to live near the Forest. If he's such a great mage, then he should've known about the Emperor from the start. And about Arrancar. There's something he isn't telling us."

"He never comes to the Forest," Matsumoto said, but she was unconvinced. Matsu shared few secrets with the rest of them and liked to act like he knew everything, but he was a dragon just like them. He wasn't omniscient. "Maybe he really didn't know."

Ichimaru clicked his tongue. "He's never helped us before with the Forest, he won't start now," he said, "and besides, I don't want to share any credit with him."

"Credit for what?" Matsumoto asked incredulously. "Waking an undefeatable monster?"

"No." Ichimaru smiled wolfishly. "For discovering all there is to know about it. Think about it: the Emperor's most likely trapped here in this perfect prison. What better chance will there ever be to study it? It might not ever wake again, so it would even be safe."

Matsumoto rolled her eyes. "You're crazy," she said, "and the Emperor will eat you. Don't make me say I told you so later."







Something stirred in the Forest.

we live.
we have slumbered. for many a Fortnight.
but we live.

there was a battle. wounds... we were defeated.
but nothing ever dies here. in the ice. frozen.
but we live.
we seek. we seek?

Arrancar looked at the rising Emperor with distaste. "YOU REEK," it said. "OF WEAKNESS. NO WONDER YOU LOST."

what are you.

"DEFEAT ME," Arrancar rasped. "THEN YOU LEAVE. YOU DON'T DEFEAT, YOU STAY."

but you are tiny.

The Emperor was small as well for its species, but that was too long to say. Arrancar didn't think it had all of its throat any longer; speaking was difficult. "TINY YET STRONG. NOT LIKE YOU. YOU WEAK."

There was a silence for several eternities as the Emperor blinked all six of its eyes and stretched. we will not fight, it said, and it sounded amused. we wish to learn of this world that is... now. we wish to learn? and explore? we want.

"THE FOREST LETS NOTHING GO."

we did not die here. we slept. you are the one who died. this place sustains and binds you, but not us. it took us a long time to recover, but recover we did, and now we are free to do as we wish. and we do not wish to fight you.

Arrancar did not know what to do with a prisoner that sought no battle. It was puzzled. "GO," it said eventually. "LEAVE. I CANNOT."

that is a great shame. we would have welcomed your company, we think.

And the Emperor slithered away into the trees, but Arrancar lost sight of it even before that, as if the dragon had dissipated into thin air.