Acta Est Fabula ~7~ [Dragon!Rome x Reader]

Romulus had never seen anymore more beautiful than the sight of (name) soaring through the sky ahead of him. Her scales glinted in the pale sunlight like stars, slender form gliding through the air with ease. In a way he had always suspected a dragon laying dormant within her soul, but Julchen and Daniel had masked her dragoi quite well.

He had known them, of course. Julchen and Daniel. (Name) was wrong about one thing—those had been their names from the start. They had been young dragons when Romulus had been given the task of keeping the last of the dragoi safe; younger than him, even. Their relationship had been a platonic one of camaraderie, nothing more...but it still broke his heart to know that yet another pair of his kind were gone.

They were deep in love, Romulus remembered fondly. If I remember correctly, Julchen was preparing for an egg when our kind decided to pull away from the human realm...and that egg must have been (name).

The bronze dragon’s eyes widened as he continued to fly, keeping his distance from (name) while he still maintained a steady speed. His instincts told him that she wouldn’t listen to him, not now—he would just have to wait until after she had her first flight. But that was so many years ago...does that mean Julchen and Daniel stalled the egg’s hatching, or does that mean they sustained (name)’s human body for that long?

Everything was starting to make sense now, however. The elders had foreseen what (name) would become. They had given up their dragoi because they knew she was a dragon, and that would be able to control it. They had known that all of this would happen and Romulus felt rage at the notion that they had not had the audacity to tell him just a little of all of this.

“Bastardos,” he muttered angrily as the wind whipped past his scaly cheeks, eyes still locked on (name)’s silvery form. A heavy sorrow settled in his chest soon after, however, and his wings sagged slightly. “...this means that (name)’s whole life truly has been wrought out by Fate. Her parents’ death...her true origin...her destiny...oh, bella...”

Her human body physically was eighteen years old. The dragon one she had shifted into, however, looked about two centuries old. It was sleek and feminine, yet rippled with untapped power and muscles, and it truly was so utterly gorgeous that Romulus did not know how to feel about it.

He had long since given up hope of finding a mate. After all, to his knowledge, for eight hundred years he had been the only dragon to wander Aegis in search of the savior. He had no idea that Julchen and Daniel had settled down in this world that hated dragons in human skin, nor that the had a daughter. As twisted as it was, Romulus felt sheer elation that (name) was of his kind, despite the trauma that she must have been feeling.

Romulus adored (name), of course. From the moment he met her there had been a fierce desire to protect her, as stubborn as she could be. But now...now he felt conflicted. No matter what he would always be quite a few centuries older than her, and (name)? (Name) probably would never view him as...as…

...as a mate.

Romulus shook his head, chest rumbling in irritation as the sun began to burn brighter. Glancing down at the ground beneath him, he saw that the scenery had changed from forests and rivers and lakes to mountains yet again. The Gates, he thought to himself with conviction. (Name)’s dragoi must be guiding her to them, whether she knows it or not.

She soared on ahead, a silver arrow in the blue sky, completely unaware of his thoughts.

...she must abhor me now for all of this happening so suddenly.

They had to have been flying for at least two hours, Romulus surmised. All that time she had not said a word or roared at him again. In fact, she seemed to be oblivious to his presence; then again, it was probably just the euphoria of flying. Still, Romulus’s chest tightened at the thought of (name) hating him—at the mere notion that she would never speak to him again, and perhaps even refuse to restore Aegis to its former glory and bring peace between dragons and humankind once again.

I’m getting ahead of myself. (Name) is not like that. She has honor. Just give her time, old fool…

Romulus stopped thinking and it was silent, save for the sound of his wings and heart beating. He continued to fly after (name), wondering how long it would take before the fatigue of flight kicked in. This was her first time, after all; the exhilaration would turn into exhaustion quite soon and she would have to land. Perhaps then Romulus would able to speak with her, if only to have her yell and scream at him.

He must have had some kind of premonition of his own because as soon as Romulus thought about it, (name) suddenly let out a soft growl from ahead of him and her head swiveled back to stare at him, (e/c) eyes looking distressed. She began to lose altitude, wings spread out weakly as her entire body went slack.

Romulus’s own body reacted on its own.

He shot out under her, claws outstretched and neck straining as he rushed towards her. The next few moments happened in a flash and, before Romulus could comprehend it, the silver dragon was suddenly a human girl dropping through the air at an alarming rate.

And then she was in his grasp, claws gentle as they wrapped around her protectively and he began the descent to the ground, his chest heaving as the panic of losing her subsided.

(Name)’s fingers gripped his scales tightly as she shivered in his clutches, refusing to look at Romulus as the bronze dragon dove down towards the earth; he flew towards a flat part of the mountain range, where there were less rocks and more grass. When he landed Romulus unclenched his claws, allowing (name) to scramble out onto the ground, hugging her arms to herself. He looked away, knowing that the transformation from dragon to girl had left her naked—he would not be so crude.

Not a word was said between the two for a minute, (name) shaking as her bare feet sunk into the grass and Romulus trying to find the right words.

(Name) spoke first.

“...I’m sorry,” she croaked out, voice hoarse. “I just...needed to clear my head. All of this is...it’s so...surreal, you know? I’m a...dragon. My parents...w-were dragons.”

She took a deep, shaky breath, fiddling with the dragoi vessel that was now around her neck.

“When I was flying, I wasn’t...myself. I was…the dragon. Or was it me? I-I don’t know. But there was this...voice, this feeling, telling me where to go. So I just followed it. I didn’t know what else to do. I-I wanted to yell at you, Romulus, just so I could have someone to blame this all on. But this isn’t...your fault. So I’m...I-I’m...sorry.”

“Bella,” Romulus murmured as one wing folded around her in hopes to stop her shivering. “Do not apologize to me, (name). This is not your fault. This is the universe’s way of getting a few laughs. Look at me, mi amore.” The tip of his wing brushed against her cheek, making (name) turn her head upwards. “You will be who you have always been. Finding out that you are a dragon does not change your personality, sì? You are still (name). I know this is frightening for you but please, amore, please...remember that I’m still here with you.”

He allowed his dragon form to melt away, his human form taking over as their supplies appeared with it. Romulus pulled out suitable clothing for both of them, careful to not look at (name)’s nudity as he handed it over to her. She mumbled a quiet thank you as she took it and the two dressed in silence.

When Romulus finished putting his clothes on he glanced around their surroundings, curious as to where exactly they could be. It was peaceful and quiet, and they were encircled by mountains on every side. In fact, Romulus realized, they appeared to be right in the middle of the mountain range. There were no trees in the flat area; just pleasant smelling grass and one tall, almost black rock off to their right.

And said rock seemed to emanate a strange...presence about it.

“(Name),” Romulus nodded towards the rock. “That feeling you had about where you were going? Where exactly did it say to go?”

She shrugged. “I...I don’t really know. It stopped when I couldn’t fly anymore and I…”

Her eyes widened when they landed on the rock and her hand shot up to the crystal dragoi container, grasping it tightly.

“It said...to go here…”

Romulus ran a hand through his curly, auburn hair as she took a couple steps forward. I’ve lost all sense of direction with everything going on...how south did we go? Are we...here? At The Gates?

(Name) halted in front of the rock and stared at it, as if contemplating what she was going to do. “This is it,” she suddenly said with a certainty in her voice. “We’re here, Romulus. Somehow when I...became a dragon, the dragoi in me and the dragoi in the vessel led me here.”

She spun around, lips stretched into a wide smile as relief softened her features. “This is it. This is the entrance to The Gates.”

Romulus rushed to her side, heart swelling up with hope. “Fantastico! But...how exactly is it the entrance? And...how do we get in?”

Abruptly, (name) grabbed his hand and placed it on the rough surface of the rock. He stiffened, not expecting the contact—and, as soon as her hand rested against his, the stone began to glow. Heat bloomed across the mineral’s surface as it turned from blackish-grey to a bright white; so hot that it felt like the fire that blazed through every dragon’s soul. Blood rushed in his ears and the world seemed to almost stop existing as vertigo snatched Romulus’s senses away. (Name)’s hand pushed against his as their combined dragoi flowed from their bodies onto the stone, her skin hotter than anything Romulus had ever felt; and he was a dragon. He knew what heat was. They burned together as the brightness escalated to a point where Romulus could no longer stand it, and he closed his eyes as tightly as he could.

As quickly as it began it was over. The intense heat faded away along with the light and Romulus opened his eyes, blinking rapidly.

What he saw took his breath away.

They were surrounded by snowcapped mountains exactly like the previous ones only every color and sound and scent was multiplied. The skies were bluer; the grass was greener; all around him Romulus could feel life pulsating with a strength like none that he had ever sensed before. The aroma of something sweet like wildflowers and fresh air wafted through his nostrils as his hearing picked up on birds chirping in the distance; it was almost as if they had been transported to a clearer version of Aegis.

“Where are we…?” He turned around to get a better glimpse of this strange world only to see two stone pillars that glowed white and dimmed off and on. Between them looked to be a sheet of fogged up glass, almost like a mirror, that shimmered in the sunlight.

“(Name), is this—”

Romulus broke off abruptly when he realized that the girl in question was nowhere to be seen and he could not smell her nor sense her dragoi. He went absolutely rigid as dread settled into his bones, instincts screaming that this wasn’t good.

(Name) was gone and he had to find her, fast. If this was truly the inside of The Gates then anything could happen to her, no matter how pleasant this place seemed.

She was going to save Aegis.

Or, as Romulus suddenly became aware of, she was the one he truly wanted to be his mate.