Chapter 18: Ch 18- Growth phase
Casey fell asleep in anxiety, he could vaguely perceive that he was about to enter the first growth phase. However, he knew little about what such a thing actually entailed and thus felt uneasy. Thanks to the fatigue from his constant travels Casey quickly fell asleep but because of his chaotic thoughts for the first time since training his space power, he unconsciously drifted away again.
Perhaps because Casey was so anxious he teleported his soul to a place that made him feel at ease; Sitka and Aki's home. Casey stared at the dazzling house blankly then raised his paws to smack his forehead.
"Ahhhhh. Stupid. stupid. stupid. I lost control again". Casey heaved a sigh and looked around, he recalled this place and vaguely recalled the two men he first met here.
Casey hesitated for a moment but decided to see if they were around. Casey crept through the house and as he pushed open the door to the study he saw a familiar figure with silver hair sitting at the desk. The man raised his head and also spotted Casey, he jumped up; the chair behind him fell harshly to the ground.
"Casey".
Casey tilted his head at the man's reaction and a smile slowly bloomed on his face.
"Hi Aki! I hope you don't mind my visit?".
Aki heard his cub's words and took a deep breath and pressed down everything unnecessary speaking directly.
"Casey, we don't have time so please listen to me. I'm your father. We've been looking for you for a long time, recently many dragons went to a remote planet based on an outbound message. Sitka is on his way there; but so are many other good and bad dragons. I need to know are you actually on that planet?".
Casey stared blankly at Aki after hearing his words; it took a while for him to process everything and reply.
"Ah". He blinked his eyes at Aki and looked at him skeptically.
"You're my dad? Why did you lose me then?".
"I can't explain right now, please just answer. I'll tell you what I can until you leave".
Casey stared and felt he could trust Aki so he nodded his head and spoke. "I am on Moren Star, I've already left the tribe though after receiving a message saying others were after me. I'm about to go through my growth phase, is there anything you can tell me about it? I don't have any information about it, I'm very nervous which is part of what led me here tonight".
"Fuck". Aki pressed a hand to his brows and looked back at Casey.
"How close? Can you hold out until Sitka can get to you?".
Casey shook his head; Aki felt like he may have a heart attack for worrying too much lately.
"Normally parents or close adults will help support and guide cubs throughout the first growth phase. Direct guidance helps shorten the time and increases the odds of making it through successfully. What happens is a cub will go into their spiritual realm and their bodies "hibernate" as they go through unique spiritual challenges. What every dragon will face is different, and is based on their own personal subconscious thoughts and experiences. It's easy for one to get lost within their spiritual realm and never wake up".
Aki stood up and walked to Casey and gently touched his hand against his forehead. Casey could feel the spot where his palm was getting hot; he closed his eyes and focused on staying still. After a minute Aki slowly withdrew his head and carefully picked up Casey as if he was holding a delicate crystal.
"I've left some of my spiritual power in you; should you encounter a crisis during your trial it will help you once. I hope you won't need it; Casey, you must remember that whatever you see is all inside your head and it isn't real, do you have anyone by your side now?".
Casey nodded his head.
"Do you absolutely trust them? Once you enter the growth phase you'll be very vulnerable and will need to have someone around to take care of you".
"The two people with me are very very good. How long does the growth phase take?".
"It depends on the dragon, the most talented dragons can finish in a month earliest. Those who struggle can take up to half a year or more, it will all depend on your strength and will".
Casey took a sharp breath in, he didn't expect it would take such a long time; he felt even more apprehensive.
"I need to go back and let them know, it's about to start shortly, I can feel it. I'm sorry Aki I need to leave!".
Casey jumped out of Aki's arms and turned to the door; he then paused and turned back to Aki and ran up to hug him again and whispered in his ear.
"Thank you for never giving up and looking for me. I had thought I was abandoned, so I'm really happy. I can't wait to meet you and Sitka in person". Casey flashed one last dazzling smile before disappearing from Aki's arms.
Aki looked at his hands and felt lost, after taking a few minutes to settle his emotions he slowly stood up and strode over to his desk and pulled out a special communication terminal and connected to Sitka. Aki informed his partner of their cub's matters and said he was going to take their private spaceship and meet him on Moren star. Although they can't be there for the start they can look for Casey and guard/ guide him as soon as they find him.
Meanwhile, Casey jolted awake and glanced around, it was obviously still late into the night and he didn't want to disturb Mac and Ryien. So Casey got up and wrote in the dirt with his claws relaying the most important information about the growth phase, just in case it starts before he can tell them. Casey looked back over his work and nodded before going back to sleep.
As the sun rose the following morning Mac and Ryien woke up first and split up to go get food, wood, and water for breakfast. About an hour later they returned and shortly after everything was set, so Mac walked over to Casey to wake him up.
Mac reached out and gently shook his shoulders, but received no response. He raised his eyebrows and shook a bit harder, but still received no response.
"Ryien! Come check Casey". Ryien walked over and tried to inject spiritual power into Casey.
"I was pushed out. He should already be in his growth phase". Ryien glanced at Mac and noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was the notes Casey left for them; Ryien grabbed Mac's arm and pulled him over to read what Casey left.
"At least a month unconscious, and he met his parent that may or may not come to help us?".
For the first time, both Ryien and Mac felt complete loss because of their small dragon. Mac looked at Casey and walked over to hold him. "Let's do our best to take care of him until he wakes up; truce?". Mac raised a hand to Ryien, who stared at the outstretched hand ardently. He slowly reached out and held his hand and agreed to get along with Mac peacefully for Casey's sake.
"We should probably set up a rotation and have someone in the cave with Casey at all times". Ryien agreed and the two soon started the long wait for Casey to wake up.
After Casey fell asleep it didn't take long for his mind to drift away and he started going through scene after scene.
The first thing Casey saw opening his eyes was his old house and his father and brother. Casey watched and listened as the two threw insult after insult at him. They kept telling him that he was just a useless waste to their family and never belonged to them. Casey listened quietly and eventually, he heard his father say he wished he had never been born and that if it weren't for him his wife would still be alive; Casey finally snapped and stood up.
"It's not my fault and what you say isn't the truth about me. You're right I never belonged to you, because I belong with Mac, Ryien, the Shera tribe, and several others. My home is with them and not you, so I don't need to hear these things from you anymore".
After Casey finished yelling those words he turned his head and strode out of the house; slamming the door behind him. Casey closed his eyes and took a deep breath, when he opened his eyes he saw the scene before him change.
Casey found himself sitting in a dark cave with wounds all over his body; he tried to use his healing magic to heal it. But he realized he couldn't use it, Casey panicked a bit and tried his other powers but soon realized he couldn't use any of them.
"Is it possible powers are sealed during the growth phase trials?" Casey pondered the feasibility of this and sighed. He got up and walked into the cave before arriving at the familiar nest where his new life started.
He saw a silver egg lying quietly and next to it he saw the kali race that pursued him that day; gnawing on his previous body next to the egg.
Casey felt like throwing up seeing the scene before him; he looked around not too sure how to complete this scene and leave. He stared at his egg and slowly walked over and put his head against it, he was absorbed into the egg, and then the scene changed again.
The first scenes he saw were his greatest fears and Casey subconsciously knew he had started his tests and tried to preserve them. Some later scenes were his greatest dreams or desires, trying to keep and hold him in the blissful worlds created. Casey couldn't tell how long he had been going through these dreamlike yet real instances. Eventually, he made it to the last test that every young dragon must face.
Casey looked ahead and saw a beautiful meadow and blue sky, he turned his head and saw a big silver dragon lying quietly, far away. The dragon was staring at him intently. Every young dragon's last test in the growth phase is to face the them that they will become after the growth phase and make it submit to them.
Casey's face paled as he stared at the much larger dragon in front of him, the two stared at each other for a while until Casey steeled his nerves and flew forward. Seeing his response the bigger him roared and blew fire; Casey used his space power to disappear and reappear behind and used ice to try to nail the dragon in place. So a back-and-forth fight raged on for several days. Both dragons had been injured throughout but the young Casey was no match for his future self. As Casey slowly lowered himself he stared at his huge dragon form.
"I'm really handsome after I grow huh? It's a shame to see it riddled with injuries though". Casey raised his claws and for the first time in the fight used his healing magic to heal all the wounds on the young adult dragon; he gave himself a bright smile.
The future him looked at himself and slowly lowered his snot to touch Casey's head; at that moment everything turned black and Casey lost consciousness.
Outside Ryien and Mac had been guarding Casey's side for four weeks now. Everything was the same as usual but all of a sudden a pure silver barrier erected around Casey's body, which they couldn't see through. Both Ryien and Mac were stunned they tried getting close but whenever they touched the barrier they'd be thrown back.
A week after the barrier appeared, Ryien felt extremely strong power fluctuations coming from Casey; so strong the shock spread for miles. The fluctuations increased every day for seven days before one morning it abruptly stopped and the barrier around Casey fell.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
PrpleCat
PrpleCat Hehe, sorry for taking a few days off. Went crazy at Disney world. Thanks for reading and supporting!
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