"It's not something you set out to do," the Dragon God says, "becoming immortal."

Sasha crosses her arms over her chest, disbelieving. The Dragon God is supposed to grant immortality to those who manage to wake him. He's supposed to be one of the two great guardian spirits of Shin Makoku. Shinou is to fire and glory and righteous wrath as the Dragon God is to water and justice and protection. Where Shinou oversees the cycles of creation and destruction, the Dragon God is Fate-Breaker - he who catches the falling and revives the dead.

She sees nothing of this in the creature before her. For god's sake, he's not even a dragon! The figure who rose from the magic lake in the depths of the forest is just a young-ish looking man who happens to have water serpents swirling around him and the illusion of scales appearing on parts of his skin when the sunlight hits it right. So he's also a double black - big friggin' deal!

"Isn't it, though? What's a god for if not to help his followers?" she asks.

"Uh, yeah, about that…" He scratches the back of his head in a manner completely unbefitting that of a god. "I'm pretty sure you're not actually one of my followers, so technically even if I could grant you immortality, I'm not obligated to do so."

"I'm a water mage."

"I know."

"I go to temple every week."

"I know."

"Every week since I was dedicated to you over a decade ago, you stupid overgrown lizard-boy! And now I'm the first to have found your resting place since you 'retreated from worldly affairs' to take your thousand year nap or whatever and you tell me you won't grant me anything!"

"Well hey now," he says, holding out his hands in a placating manner, "I didn't say I wouldn't grant you anything, just that you're not one of my followers. I mean, you go through the motions and you've got the water bit down, but you seem to have missed that part about protection, you know? And not for yourself, but for others. I don't know how they teach it in the temple these days, but I'm actually all about sacrifices for loved ones. Putting other people first is a big deal to me."

Sasha sighs. With her anger gone - and how can she stay mad at someone who didn't do anything wrong except not be what the dumb legends said he'd be? - she deflates. What dragon-boy says is true enough, since Sasha has always put herself first, and it helps that he doesn't say it in a way that expects her to change. She thinks about her party members that she left behind in order to be the first one to get here. (Because one of the legends said the Dragon God only granted one wish per group, and she wanted it to be hers.)

"Ah, well. It was worth a shot."

"If it makes you feel better, you're actually not the first person to find me. Poachers stumble in at least every fifty years or so looking to slay me because they think I'm a huge dragon or that all the dragons will come mourn me if I die, but I usually tell them off and they go home too embarrassed to say anything. Or they make things up about me out of spite. That's happened before, too."

"Wow, that's stupid."

"I know, right?"

Sasha changes her mind about the Dragon God; he's pretty cool. Her belief that water is the best element is reinforced. The minor gods of wind and earth are too flighty and too stodgy, respectively. Screw fire - Shinou's a narcissistic creep. (Why else would his minor god be the one descendent who looks exactly like him?) Water people have the best senses of humor, obviously. Their dragon-guardian-in-the-woods is proof of this.

Dragon-boy's eyes flash golden for a moment and he says, "You can call me Yuuri, by the way. I have no idea how that part got lost from the history books."

"Like King Yuuri?" Everyone knows about King Yuuri from his role in The King's Knight, one of Shin Makoku's greatest tragedies. Strange how no one thought to connect him to their guardian deity when they all knew Shinou was once a great king, too.

"Yup, that's me. I've always been accident-prone. I had a magical mishap that sort of rendered me and a couple of my friends immortal."

There are no words for how lucky this guy is. Yuuri continues on, oblivious to Sasha's jealous stare.

"That's what I mean when I said you don't set out to become immortal. I don't know of anyone becoming immortal who wanted it. It seems to be one of those things that the universe only gives you if you don't want it. Say, aren't your friends coming for you soon? You should make a different wish before you go."

"What? But how do you- But what do I-"

"Sasha!" It's Conrart, their team's swordsman. He rushes in, his body an economy of motion. In moments he has placed himself in a guard position between her and the possible threat, sword drawn and battle-ready.

Yuuri just smiles. "Hey, Conrad. Care for a wish?"

For the first time since they graduated from the Academy, Sasha sees Conrart's sword arm begin to shake. "Do I know you?"

"...No."

"Then how do you know my name?" And not only his name, but his childhood nickname, too.

Yuuri shrugs, his smile turning self-deprecating. "Perks of being a god, I guess."

"He's telling the truth," Sasha says, laying her hand on Conrart's shoulder. They share a glance after which Conrart grudgingly sheathes his sword.

He remains wary, however, as Conrart has always been the most cautious of them. He's great at reading people and sensing discrepancies in the environment, which makes him a valuable asset to the party. Sometimes, though, it just makes him a paranoid pain in the ass with all his mother-hen common sense. "Don't do this" and "don't do that" and "I won't say 'I told you so' but I'll grin smugly and think it", that's Conrart.

Currently, Conrart and the Dragon God, Yuuri, are engaging in a weird stare-down that makes Sasha feel as if she's been forgotten.

"You aren't telling the truth," Conrart says.

"Depends on how you conceptualize godhood, I guess."

"Not that. About how you know me. I'll ask you once more: do I know you?"

"And my answer's still the same: no, you don't. We've never met before. I haven't left this forest in over a thousand years."

Conrart grits his teeth in frustration. "Then why do I feel as if I know you? I have no magic! Nothing's linking me to you!"

That is strange indeed. Sasha can't look away from the scene unfolding before her. Conrart had never shown even an inkling of magic ability. How, then, could he be feeling a bond to the water deity? She turns to regard Yuuri's troubled expression.

For the first time since they met, the Dragon God is a regal figure as he steps out of the water to meet them. He leans in close to Conrart, and closer still until their cheeks brush past. And he says, so softly that it barely carries, "Your soul knows. In another life, you named me."

"Oh god." Sasha breathes out shakily. "It's just like in The King's Knight." It makes a strange amount of sense because there had always been something different about Conrart, and not only because his mother named him after a dead hero. It's not that much of a stretch to learn that he really is the reincarnation of said dead hero.

Yuuri pulls back and is all (fake) smiles again. "That story was bull. For one, it wasn't nearly as unrequited as the author made it out to be. And also, that magical explosion thingy in the end-"

"Your temper tantrum."

"Hey. They killed my lover in front of me. I was entitled. As I was saying, the explosion only killed the bad guys. That's the 'mishap' that turned the rest of us immortal."

Sasha surreptitiously tracks the spread of Conrart's blush out of the corner of her eye. "So your magic reacted to your desire to protect the rest of your friends… and also to see your knight again after he'd reincarnated?"

"That's the gist of it." Yuuri, too, is blushing.

"How many times has he reincarnated so far?"

"This would be the third. One was fully human, and the other had a really long life, even for a Mazoku."

"Were they your lovers too?"

"Of course not! We were just friends. They were all their own people despite sharing a soul. I wholeheartedly support people's rights to make their own life decisions! But yeah, you should really make your wishes and go now." His eyes flash golden once more. "Your friends are starting to get worried. I'll still be here if you want to talk later. Make sure the poachers don't follow you, though. It's dragon nesting season."

"Ah. Well." She looks back and forth between the two - Yuuri trying so hard to play the part of the jovial god, and Conrart trying so hard to remain unaffected by the knowledge that there was such a man who would wait a thousand years for him and expect nothing but his friendship.

Such a long time… Their love must have truly been something extraordinary. Selfish as Sasha might be, she isn't completely cold-hearted, so she says, as a gift to her childhood friend and the god (sassy dragon-boy) who would love him, "Then I wish the two of you happiness together."