Lindon didn't know what he had expected. This… This was what his family was like. This was the way they treated him, the way they would always treat him. It didn't matter that he had gotten stronger—worse, they didn't believe that he really even earned it.

They would always see him as the crippled unsouled, the shame of the Wei clan, the one who got around on the pity and charity of others. Nothing would change that, and he was a fool for thinking—hoping otherwise.

"I think I should go." Lindon spoke, his voice heavy with restrained emotion. But they hardly seemed to hear him, still lost in the happiness and relief of being safe, and alive, and together. With Kelsa. He crept towards the door, hoping to find something to punch on the other side.

[Now hold on a second!] Dross announced to the room, spinning out of Lindon as a swirling purple ball with tiny, wavy arms, and a giant purple eye. [I think there may have been a misunderstanding. Lindon isn't actually as hopeless as he appears.]

Kelsa immediately began to cycle madra. "Lindon! What is that thing?"

[Oh relax. I'm just the parasite living inside of your brother's head. You have nothing to fear.] Dross responded.

"Dross…" Lindon muttered. "It's fine, you don't have to do this." But instead of heeding his words, the mindspirit flooded the room with a purple mist.

"Lindon?" Wei Shi Seisha said, her grip on the armrest of her chair stiffening, "what is this?"

[Oh don't worry! I'm just going to show you a selection of Lindon's memories, curated by yours truly. I hope you don't mind the editing, there's a lot of downtime in there, believe me.] Dross drifted over to Lindon's father who wasn't able to see the mist. [And I have a special solution for you.] With those words, Dross melted into Wei Shi Jaran's head.

Lindon's father turned his head from side to side and reached up a hand to his scalp. "Did somebody just… tickle me?"

[Relax… just relax.] Dross whispered soothingly into Jaran's mind.

Lindon felt the change right before the others did as the mist melted into shifting shapes and colors that soon coalesced into a memory.

—

Jai Long stood before Lindon underneath a stone ceiling held up only by pillars, the surrounding walls were missing and replaced by a mountain range covered in snow. A cold gust blew through Lindon as he stared at Jai Long, the man who would more than likely be responsible for his death. His face was covered in familiar red cloth, and something monstrous strained the fabric where the mouth was.

This was it. The fight he had been dreading, the one he had spent all this time preparing for, was about to happen. He didn't know if he was ready.

Lindon blinked and felt himself detach from the memory. The scene still played out as it should, but now he was no longer a participant but a spectator. His family popped into existence around him in an empty corner of the room.

[You're not really there of course.] Dross explained for their benefit. [It's an illusion crafted by dream madra, although you can still walk around as you'd like. Please, go ahead and view Lindon's torment and suffering from each and every angle!]

Wei Shi Jaran huffed and crossed his arms, looking around the area with a displeased expression on his face. Lindon idly noted that his father's eyes were no longer a mangled mess of scars, but instead as sharp and clear as they had always been before he left. It wasn't just him, Wei Shi Seisha seemed more at ease, her expression no longer one of constant panic and fear.

He supposed it made sense—their forms were being taken from his mind. They appeared as he last remembered them, healthy and whole.

"This works like a Fox Dream?" Kelsa asked Lindon. "I've never seen one so detailed and expansive."

It was like comparing a cup of water to a lake, but he nodded to her. "The technique is different, but many of the principles are similar. Once I… Once you fix your path then eventually you'll be able to cast illusions like this one."

"Fix it?" Jaran interrupted. "There's nothing wrong with Kelsa's path."

Dross chuckled. [It would be faster to list the things you're doing right rather than your many, many mistakes. But that's for later. Behold!]

Lindon struck out at Jai Long as the duel began. He was clearly outmatched in speed and strength, but he made up for it with the element of surprise. He deployed construct after construct to distract and restrain Jai Long before bursting forward with the Burning Cloak to land an Empty Palm on his core.

The butt of Jai Long's spear burst against the side of Lindon's head in a strike that should have sent him hurtling across the room, dead or unconscious. Lindon withstood the blow and drove a black remnant dagger through Jai Long's skin. Blood sprayed out and the Truegold fell to one knee.

"That's Orthos' technique… And the Empty Palm!" Kelsa said to Lindon. "You're still using that?"

"And the constructs…" Lindon's mother murmured. "I would be curious to know how you managed those."

Lindon's face flushed and he avoided looking at his family. He wasn't sure whether to be proud or mortified. He had fought Jai Long like a coward and a trickster—someone horribly outmatched in a fight for his life. But he did survive.

The memory continued. Jai Long regained the upper hand, though Lindon put up more of a fight than he had any right to given the disparity in advancement. Finally, it happened.

Just moments after thinking he was safe, Lindon was left watching in horror as Jai Long's spear cleaved off his arm.

"Jai Long did that?" Kelsa asked, wincing and staring at Lindon's white arm. "And you aren't going to do anything to him?"

Lindon scratched at his artificial arm awkwardly. "Things ended up working out. I don't plan on getting revenge if that's what you're asking."

[Maybe if Jai Long was at least an Underlord then we might test how many limbs he can stand to lose. But only a Gold? That would just be cruel.] Dross added.

"Only… a Gold?" Wei Shi Seisha repeated softly. It was clear that she and the others needed more time to get used to the new order of things.

"Hmph!" Wei Shi Jaran shook his head, looking at the frozen fight. "I don't know what the point of this was. Lindon lost. Even with his tricks, even with how much his benefactors must have aided him, he couldn't win."

[Do you know many Lowgolds who can go toe to toe with a Highgold on the verge of Underlord?] Dross asked casually.

Jaran sputtered. "I don't know what that even means—but I'm sure Kelsa could have managed."

[Fine, fine.] Dross replied. [How about something else?]

"Dross—" Lindon began but he was cut off as the vision shifted once again.

—

He stood in a vast bubble of air surrounded by water so dark it might as well have been black. Blades of grass the size of trees rose from the sand beneath him, interspersed with smaller plants that emitted a dim, yellow light. Ghostwater.

Lindon's heart pounded in his chest and he bit back down on the last bit of uncertainty that followed him from the cave. He wouldn't fail here. He couldn't fail here. Not if he wanted to stand on his own as a sacred artist, not if he wanted to survive on his own strength and merit instead of hiding behind the protection of others.

In front of him, standing at the opening to an unnaturally colorful house that looked out of place in the pocket realm, Ekeri unveiled her spirit.

It crashed down on Lindon like a suffocating embrace. Truegold.

But this wasn't the same level of pressure Jai Long—another Truegold—had exerted on him during their duel. Ekerinatoth was the product of a Monarch faction, she had access to teachers and elixirs that a backwater like the Desolate Wilds or the Blackflame Empire could only dream of.

Her strength dwarfed him. The chasm between Lowgold and Truegold had never before felt so wide. A hated part of Lindon wanted to turn away, to run and hide.

He ignited the Burning Cloak and his punch tore a hole in the wall where Ekeri's head had been just a moment ago. A bar of black flame followed up his attack, tearing apart the foundations of the surrounding wall in an instant. When she moved to strike him, he knocked her blow aside with his fist and put her once more on the defensive.

Lindon fought Ekeri like a dragon.

He matched strength to strength. When Ekeri weaved searing golden flames he met it with a counterpart of burning black. When Ekeri struck at him with blows that would have shattered his bones only a short while before, he blocked, deflected, and even hit back with strikes of his own. When Ekeri launched a technique that bathed the world in overwhelming power, he consumed it and vented it back at her in an attack that destroyed what remained of the house.

Abruptly, Lindon felt himself pulled out of the fight just like before. After a moment of disorientation, he stood beside his family who stared around at the strange environment in wonder. Only a few feet away from them the fight between Ekeri and Lindon continued, though the heat from their flames and the force from their blows felt only like vague impressions.

[Ah Ghostwater!] Dross announced cheerily. [It's good to be home—even if it was a cold, miserable place that still haunts my nightmares!]

"Whatis this place?" Lindon's mother asked, taking a half-step closer towards Kelsa.

"Are we underwater?" Jaran reached out with his cane to poke at a fish that swam overhead.

[Yes and no.] Dross explained. [This world was artificially constructed to serve as a research facility.] He materialized two hands that were comically large for his small body and jabbed the thumbs towards himself. [It's where I was born!]

"Did you say it was constructed?" Seisha gasped. "How is that possible? Soulsmithing on a level like this…"

Lindon sighed and shot Dross an annoyed look—though the mindspirit could feel the emotions inside of his head effortlessly—he hadn't wanted to run his parents through every single place he had been. It was partly because it would be near-impossible to truly comprehend for an inhabitant of Sacred Valley, and partly because he didn't want them to think he was a braggart or a liar.

"Lindon." Kelsa tugged at his sleeve and pointed to Ekeri, who was in the midst of trying to carve him in two with an arc of golden flame. "Who is she? Someone else we're going to be meeting?" The look on Kelsa's face suggested that she wouldn't be as open to meeting Ekeri as she had been to Jai Long.

"No—I killed her." Lindon explained so casually that his family looked taken aback. [And her sister too] Dross spoke cheerfully inside of his head.

Seeing that they were going to need more of an explanation than that, Lindon continued. "This area is a pocket-world. I was trapped inside of here and had to fight my way out." That wasn't entirely accurate, but Lindon didn't want to run his family through every last detail—not least of all the insatiable greed that had led him to harvest as much of Ghostwater's treasures as possible. "It was artificially created by a man known as Northstrider. I don't possess the words to accurately convey his level of advancement to you, but he and others of his level are known as Monarchs, and collectively they're the ones who rule over our world."

[He's at least this strong.] Dross stretched out his two stubby arms as far apart as they could go—which wasn't very far at all. [There, now you understand.]

Jaran scoffed. "A likely story! Pocket-worlds, monarchs, lizard-women, do you think us fools Lindon?"

Kelsa gave their father a flat look. "Orthos is a giant fire breathing turtle."

Jaran's mouth opened and he raised his finger as if to respond, but nothing came out. After a moment his mouth closed. "I concede the point. Regardless, I fail to see how you losing another fight… could…"

His words trailed off as, all around them, the world was filled with roiling clouds of black flame. They swirled in the air like an ominous storm.

"This is…!" Kelsa must have recognized the technique as the one he had almost unleashed on Heaven's Glory.

The Void Dragon's Dance crashed down on the battlefield with all the destructive power of a true heir to the Path of Black Flame. Creatures, plants, and objects didn't catch fire so much as they were instantly incinerated. Schools of fish vanished, not even ash remained of Ekeri's home, and she herself was badly wounded by the technique despite the natural resistance of a dragon's body.

An empty palm and a bar of black flame later, Ekeri was dead.

"How can you move so fast?" Seisha murmured, her voice little more than a whisper. Her fingers twitched as if in search of a writing instrument or a notebook to grasp and record down her thoughts.

[I should mention that I am severely altering your perception of events to allow you to even see what's happening. If this were real, and you didn't pass out from the spiritual weight of their techniques, then Lindon and Ekeri would be no more than blurs.] Dross explained. [But thanks to me you get to see all of this in stunning high-definition!]

"That was the same technique." Kelsa said, her eyes wide. She abruptly turned towards Lindon and gave a quick bow. "I'm glad you didn't use it on Heaven's Glory… even despite what they did." She didn't want to see hundreds of Irons reduced to less than nothing because of her brother's technique.

"So am I." Lindon replied. "And you won't have to worry about Heaven's Glory ever again—none of you will." He spared a glance toward his father.

Jaran stared at Lindon in abject shock, his cane looking like it might slip from his fingers. But the minute he noticed Lindon's gaze, his posture became closed off and he let out a half-hearted scoff. "Impressive, perhaps—though for all we know this 'dragon-woman' is a mere novice by the standards of the outside world. I'm sure that Kelsa, given the same treasures and elixirs you must have received, would have done even better."

"That's strange." Lindon's mother cut in. "I don't recall a technique like that in the manuals for the Path of the White Fox."

"...Well, given enough time I'm sure Kelsa—"

"—No. I couldn't have." Kelsa interrupted. "At least, not for a long time." She pressed a hand to Lindon's back, prodding him forward. "See? I told you, Lindon is strong now. I know it's hard to comprehend, but it's the truth. He's not the same Lindon we knew, and he shouldn't be treated like he is."

He should have felt a swell of pride at her words, a burst of happiness and satisfaction to finally be recognized, but instead a cold, dark pit settled at the bottom of his stomach. Had he really changed that much?

"Well." Kelsa amended. "Judging by his fight against Jai Long, he isn't that different."

His mother nodded, her lips quirked up into a small smile. "So many constructs and tricks. It's certainly a step up from a nest of hornet remnants."

"It was effective, I'll give you that." Jaran grudgingly agreed. "With strength like that, along with your friends, Heaven's Glory—no the entire valley would be helpless."

Lindon wasn't sure if he should mention that the fights Dross had shown were from well over a year ago. Compared to his present advancement, well, Orthos might say that it was like comparing a hatchling to a dragon.

[Alright, I have one final memory left for you all.] Dross spoke up. [Pay attention, because this one is the most important of them all!]

Ghostwater dissolved into mist before coalescing into… Was that his room on Windfall? And was that Yerin—on his bed!?

Lindon's face flushed and he opened his mouth to bark out a command to the world. "Stop!" The dream madra around them emptied out into nothingness, vanishing from existence, and the vision faded.

—

"I'm curious, Dross, why didn't you show them my more recent fights?" Lindon asked a bit later when he was alone.

[Here's why.] Dross replied. [Running simulation: Melting The Minds of Lindon's Family.]

A dark void tore open the sky atop the tower like a gaping hole in the fabric of reality. Across from him stood a terrified Sophara, her Overlord spirit feeling like absolutely nothing to Lindon. Behind her, a giant totem of the Dragon Monarch exerted the strength—even if only a tiny fraction—of Sshethkunaz, but that too felt like nothing to Lindon.

The fight between Eithan and the Sage of Red Faith on the first level of the tower, the effects of which he had felt all throughout his gauntlet, had also faded away. Even the blows of the newly ascended Akura Fury, which scoured clouds and tore apart mountains, were erased by the sensation of the all-consuming void which surrounded him.

All he saw, all he knew, was reflected in Sophara's wide, golden eyes as her consumed thoughts blended with his.

She/I will die by my/his hand.

When Lindon finally came out of himself and saw the scene as a spectator rather than a participant, he noticed three projections of his family member staring blankly at the vision. Drool fell from their mouths and their eyes were dull and glassy. He waved a hand in front of Kelsa and gave her a poke, but the only thing he received in return was an incomprehensible mumble.

"Right." Lindon conceded as the simulation of his family faded. "Good thinking Dross."

AN: I originally started writing this as another chapter for Misunderstandings, but it kind of veered off and didn't seem to fit that story. If anybody cares then you can consider this as part of the headcanon, but it's pretty much just standalone. Hope you enjoyed! Now go and do some googling to find all the other great Cradle fanfics that people are coming up with and read them! Seriously, there's a lot of talented people starting off with some really creative ideas. Support the fandom to tide us over until the next book!