NorthBeastArt
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Quiet days never quite lasted long in the manor. Not with an heir who had somehow rediscovered magic. One was lucky to go an hour or two without something breaking, or a playing card cutting through a wall, or a small explosion. Fortunately, the worst injury anyone had sustained from these attempts to learn how to control and wield the magic was a cut that needed a couple of stitches, and maybe a first degree burn. The dragon keepers had sustained worse injuries in better circumstances. Which… may have said something about the competence of the dragon keepers, or the dragons’ general temperament more than it did the luck of those around Polaris while she tried to work on her newfound “skills.” Though some argued that she probably would have been better off as a historian or burying herself in her art, the heads of the house decided that they wanted to make this magic thing work for them somehow, or they would wash their hands of it altogether.
The summons Dante had received were pretty straightforward in instructions. Arrive at the manor, pick up Polaris and her dragon, and teach her how to use her magic to fight While keeping her as a live in student. It would have been something fairly easy for someone with Dante’s experience with demon hunting and his… ahem charms to teach her. He had knowledge in demonology, devil arms, and some pretty decent control over magic himself, though he preferred to keep the fighting to Rebellion, Ebony and Ivory where he could. Devil arms tended to be locked away for safe keeping or otherwise released back into hell. No need to keep folks imprisoned unnecessarily, after all.
But Dante was Dante, and teaching simply wasn’t his thing. Not only that, he wasn’t particularly interested in being responsible for another person’s well being. Never mind the dragon. Even if he wasn’t always refusing payments from the people who hired him so they could manage repairs or in debt to Lady, feeding a dragon was just a bit of a stretch for him. He’d heard of how big those bastards got, and the last thing he needed to worry about was keeping something as big as a building if not bigger fed and exercised.
So without explaining much of anything, he gave Nero the address and sent him on his way. His nephew needed to be socialized a bit better, lest he end up like Vergil as far as social skills went. Handsome and with a strange sort of charm, but still not great with people. Hell, the fact that Vergil had even managed to get laid was a bit of a shock to the half demon.
Sure, Nero had been stubborn about having a partner to fight along side of between his own stubborn cockiness—a family trait that had yet to skip a generation—and his abomination weapons. But Dante was sure the kid would do infinitely better teaching some high tradition, old money pup with a gift than he ever could. Dante would probably corrupt the girl, and while that sounded fun in its own right, it wouldn’t exactly help her. In fact, that would simply do the opposite.
The manor itself had an icy sort of energy to it despite the draconic symbolism and the dragons the family had as companions. That icy kind of energy that made people think of ghosts that couldn’t move on and thus haunted their old homes, of people who died in unfortunate ways. Of screams of the damned in the ear at night, waking you from a dead sleep And demons tormenting the living. The lawn was green, but plain. No flowers or plants to add splashes of life and color, no birds to hop about in the grass. Not even a statue. Just a cold, tall building with a nearby cave that rumbled and growled.
A butler was quick to greet Nero at the gate, shaken to some degree. Perhaps a new hire not quite used to the building and its oddities, or perhaps something had happened inside. Regardless, he was fully under the assumption that Nero knew what was going on.
“You’ll have to excuse Lady Polaris for her frailty, and take any physical training easy on her.” The man said quickly, leading towards the door with the same sort of scuttle one would expect from a startled spider. “And do be careful not to startle Seadancer should you be in his presence. That dragon’s protectiveness has cost us several dragon keepers at this point.”
Unbeknownst to the poor butler, this was the first time the name Polaris was being brought up to Nero. Or that he was expected to take an apprentice. Or anything that wasn’t the location and Dante wishing him luck. Not a situation one could easily leave, either.
A sound somewhere between a purr and whale song surrounded the area as a surprisingly small dragon landed in the grass with the grace and fluidity of water. Scales of a deep blue stood out almost violently in the grass, with wing membranes the same pale green as sea foam. The beast was maybe some forty five feet long, but even for its small size, it seemed to be well aware of its power and place in the world. There was an unmistakeable pride in that awareness. On its back was a girl, close to Nero in age, but tiny in comparison. Tiny, and visibly fragile. Had she not been in the dragon’s saddle, it would have been hard to believe her capable of so much as climbing onto its back, let alone being able to survive a flight.
“Ah, speaking of the young lady.” The butler seemed thrilled not to have to walk Nero inside. “This does make things easier.”
Polaris simply looked Nero over, a slightly wary look in her light eyes. However, after a moment of clear deliberation, she carefully climbed down and patted her dragon on the neck.
“So… this is the guy?” She said carefully, her voice uncertain. ”Ah, well. Not like I have much of a say in this…”
The summons Dante had received were pretty straightforward in instructions. Arrive at the manor, pick up Polaris and her dragon, and teach her how to use her magic to fight While keeping her as a live in student. It would have been something fairly easy for someone with Dante’s experience with demon hunting and his… ahem charms to teach her. He had knowledge in demonology, devil arms, and some pretty decent control over magic himself, though he preferred to keep the fighting to Rebellion, Ebony and Ivory where he could. Devil arms tended to be locked away for safe keeping or otherwise released back into hell. No need to keep folks imprisoned unnecessarily, after all.
But Dante was Dante, and teaching simply wasn’t his thing. Not only that, he wasn’t particularly interested in being responsible for another person’s well being. Never mind the dragon. Even if he wasn’t always refusing payments from the people who hired him so they could manage repairs or in debt to Lady, feeding a dragon was just a bit of a stretch for him. He’d heard of how big those bastards got, and the last thing he needed to worry about was keeping something as big as a building if not bigger fed and exercised.
So without explaining much of anything, he gave Nero the address and sent him on his way. His nephew needed to be socialized a bit better, lest he end up like Vergil as far as social skills went. Handsome and with a strange sort of charm, but still not great with people. Hell, the fact that Vergil had even managed to get laid was a bit of a shock to the half demon.
Sure, Nero had been stubborn about having a partner to fight along side of between his own stubborn cockiness—a family trait that had yet to skip a generation—and his abomination weapons. But Dante was sure the kid would do infinitely better teaching some high tradition, old money pup with a gift than he ever could. Dante would probably corrupt the girl, and while that sounded fun in its own right, it wouldn’t exactly help her. In fact, that would simply do the opposite.
The manor itself had an icy sort of energy to it despite the draconic symbolism and the dragons the family had as companions. That icy kind of energy that made people think of ghosts that couldn’t move on and thus haunted their old homes, of people who died in unfortunate ways. Of screams of the damned in the ear at night, waking you from a dead sleep And demons tormenting the living. The lawn was green, but plain. No flowers or plants to add splashes of life and color, no birds to hop about in the grass. Not even a statue. Just a cold, tall building with a nearby cave that rumbled and growled.
A butler was quick to greet Nero at the gate, shaken to some degree. Perhaps a new hire not quite used to the building and its oddities, or perhaps something had happened inside. Regardless, he was fully under the assumption that Nero knew what was going on.
“You’ll have to excuse Lady Polaris for her frailty, and take any physical training easy on her.” The man said quickly, leading towards the door with the same sort of scuttle one would expect from a startled spider. “And do be careful not to startle Seadancer should you be in his presence. That dragon’s protectiveness has cost us several dragon keepers at this point.”
Unbeknownst to the poor butler, this was the first time the name Polaris was being brought up to Nero. Or that he was expected to take an apprentice. Or anything that wasn’t the location and Dante wishing him luck. Not a situation one could easily leave, either.
A sound somewhere between a purr and whale song surrounded the area as a surprisingly small dragon landed in the grass with the grace and fluidity of water. Scales of a deep blue stood out almost violently in the grass, with wing membranes the same pale green as sea foam. The beast was maybe some forty five feet long, but even for its small size, it seemed to be well aware of its power and place in the world. There was an unmistakeable pride in that awareness. On its back was a girl, close to Nero in age, but tiny in comparison. Tiny, and visibly fragile. Had she not been in the dragon’s saddle, it would have been hard to believe her capable of so much as climbing onto its back, let alone being able to survive a flight.
“Ah, speaking of the young lady.” The butler seemed thrilled not to have to walk Nero inside. “This does make things easier.”
Polaris simply looked Nero over, a slightly wary look in her light eyes. However, after a moment of clear deliberation, she carefully climbed down and patted her dragon on the neck.
“So… this is the guy?” She said carefully, her voice uncertain. ”Ah, well. Not like I have much of a say in this…”
