Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1278 - 1277 - Fractured Heart

Annabelle woke up in her bed. She felt so refreshed she almost wondered if she was dreaming. How long since she had truly slept? The fact she could not place the memory told her it was at least a few centuries.

She had rested either during cultivation or simply drowsing, but no more than that.

She looked around and felt a warmth in her heart to see her favorite tea was left steaming under a preservation array. Cyntilla was a ruthless warrior to her enemies but the sweetest woman to her loved ones.

"I miss her." The words escaped her before she really thought about them. Shock filled her but then happy tears came as she understood a bit better the state of her heart.

Lind had shattered it. He had broken her precious image of family. He had not run from it either. He accepted it head on and did not deny her feelings in the slightest. She had seen his pain clear as day but at that moment she had not cared.

It was that indifference that told her it was over. She should have felt something if he was in pain but instead there was nothing.

The warm memories were not lies, she knew that, but it was hard to even bring nostalgia up until that very moment.

She missed her sisters. She missed her children and grandchildren. Some were beyond her reach but very much alive. She could communicate with them if she returned to the Clan proper.

She was not ready for that but her meridians and dantian felt like they were letting her Qi flow much better than any time in recent memory.

For better or worse, the mental state of a cultivator had direct consequences on their progress. Even things like grief could forever derail them if not dealt with properly.

She dismissed the array and enjoyed the aroma filling her chambers. Aside from the bed and stand, very little of it was truly real.

Her illusions had substance so long as Qi was supplied but once gone, the room would be very bare. Currently, she had blue with crimson highlights draped over her bed. The room had several flowers in vases around the room on small tables or shelves.

It looked quite vibrant to most people but anyone able to see through her illusions would just see the bare stone room for what it was.

She frowned at that.

When did she substitute reality for her illusions? They were fine to hide traps or disorient enemies when needed but all of it? She had no real decorations in her entire fortress?

"It seems you are finally awake, dear Little Sister." A gentle voice made her look up at the doorway to see a voluptuous woman with eyes that shifted between slight green and blue depending on how the light hit them.

Her blonde hair was as bright as ever in contrast to her pure white robes.

Annabelle rushed up and ran into the embrace of Qing. The firm hug felt like the last worries were leaving her body.

"I told you I was free to talk anytime. You should listen to your older Sister in the future." Annabelle nodded as warmth flooded her chest. She was home in her heart at last.

Qing then sat her down and began a proper examination of her. Whatever she saw made her frown.

"You have some Qi deviation along with malnutrition. You will follow my instructions to the letter." Annabelle smiled at the stern tone as she felt the concern in Qing's voice.

Being 5 centuries in isolation was clearly not good for her.

Qing then used her aura to carefully point out the issues in Annabelle's body until she felt even better than before.

"You will cultivate today under my supervision but let things settle first." Once that was over, Qing softened and they caught up.

Qing was kind enough to restrict the conversation to herself and the children. Annabelle felt sad as some of the grandchildren had failed to survive their tribulations. She had not been there!

She had missed so much!

Shoti had been spending time training a force for the Endless Peaks they had never needed before. Her out of the box thinking allowed them to adapt their ships to work in ways no artifact could ever pull off.

The Frey Clan was the most experienced with using them but even then, Shoti was the one that found tactical advantages in Lind's designs.

The sky ships were easier to modify but the starships had much higher resource requirements. Since the prototypes though, that cost had been mitigated in various ways.

They both laughed at Ethry being pestered by the surviving dragon clans to become an elder for the younglings.

The dragons had suffered massive losses to the point that even their pride bowed to necessity.

Further, Ethry and Lind had proven to be far more powerful than their ancestral dragons combined!

There were also the pesky emerald dragon variants that followed her like lost puppies!

Lind had created them by accident and they had been happy to recognize her as their Mistress. Ethry had been amused a bit at first but it had started a torrential landslide that built up over time.

Now, the Endless Peaks had colonies of dragons that only listened to her!

Ethry was sick of it all as they were not her blood or kin save maybe the 2 emerald variants.

She had foisted the work to the pair who had formed their own clans since. Amares had started a clan with a bevy of females willingly offering themselves to him.

His cultivation had skyrocketed to being an Immortal in record time by any race's standard. Only Serat beat him but she had a smaller clan.

Hers focused on quality over quantity but both produced children that predominantly had emerald scales! While some tried to label them as the Emerald Dragon Clans, they refused.

Amares made his Elemental Dragon Clan as all elements were now possible to his bloodline. Serat simply called hers the Reborn Dragon Clan due to what happened to the pair at Blood Talon Peak.

To be fair, her bloodline was pushing the boundaries of what dragons could do. It was not just about power and flames anymore but engaging in refining and formations unlike anything people had seen before.

Both Clans, however, were subordinate to the Frey Clan. Or rather, to Ethry herself.

No one quite understood why but both Amares and Serat avoided coming to Lind even after he returned to the Frey Clan.

Annabelle found that odd enough to be worthy of breaking her normal avoidance.

"Are they rejecting him too?" She expected to feel troubled but instead her heart was serene. She was fine!

Qing seemed to narrow her eyes briefly but then shook her head.

"It is their desire to rise on their own. He already gave them the greatest gift. Their pride will not allow them to ask for more. Ethry is just stuck because in a way, she is their only connection to him they can approach. Dragons are silly creatures at times." The smirk from her made Annabelle smile too.

She had been sad to learn Lysanna and Tal had essentially cut off the Frey Clan for the last 5 centuries unlike her that kept up distant ties. She heard they were ok but was shocked when Qing revealed they had arrived with most of the others.

Chu was with them too!

Chu had not made her stance entirely clear but she had never fully integrated into the Frey Clan even before it was learned Lind had distanced himself.

The woman was a bit aloof but clearly respected all of them. Even now, she came to the call Cyntilla had sent out.

"I wish it was not something so dire that brought us all back together." Annabelle again let words slip out but Qing warmly smiled at her.

"I think we all needed time to heal our hearts as best we could. Some of us have returned to what he had for the most part but it is not the same. I think you are doing better but still have a lot of healing to do before deciding your next step." Annabelle expected Qing to try and bring her home but there was not a word of it.

Qing was like that. Her stern instructions were only meant to help, not control, her patients. She was letting Annabelle know she would support her decision, whatever it was.

"I–I don't think I can go back, but I don't want to lose any of you. I am selfish, aren't I?" Annabelle looked down at her tea that had gone cold. She used a bit of fire to warm it up when a pale hand grasped hers.

"None of us were prepared for things to fall apart. We are like this." She shattered her tea cup and the pieces scattered on the table. Qing then carefully reassembled the pieces but there were gaps.

Cracks were clear and barely any of it was whole. It was a tea cup but it was not as it was.

"We can mend but only what we wish to mend. I am proud to call you my Sister. If you move on, you are still my Sister if you allow me to be. It is not selfish at all, it is simply the truth that you have healed what you can. The new shape of your heart is just fine so long as it does you no harm." Annabelle felt fresh tears fall.

She hugged Qing once more and felt more at home than ever before! She had made her decision. She would go back to her Sisters. Not for Lind nor to be with him again, but to be with her family.

Now, they just had to deal with their current crisis!