Sola to Romansu Book 1: Important Side-stories

by The Storyteller and his Books

Ever wondered where some of the Characters in the Story came from, or how they got where they are now? Now you have a chance to see some of them real close-up, their pasts, their battles, their believes and the choices they made. These chapters will give you insight in what happened inbetween the chapters of the mainstory, I hope for your understanding and that you enjoy it.

19. A Tale of Sword and Shield 8, All of Me!

A tale of Sword and Shield

Ch8: I am all of Me!

Act 1: My Mind in all its facets

Cedargold, Harbor area, Present Day, Red´s Pov

It had been a few days, ever since we pierced the Storm Shield of Ragdoll, reunited ourselves with Merveille and the others as well as helping the White Whale and the Kaiserdragon-Platoon to safely escape a death sentence by a hair´s breadth.

The past last days were so action filled and restless to the brim, that I was in a serious need of a damn breather, just a day or two of doing nothing.

The worst however, was that I literally had no alone time with Elh lately, no matter the time in the day, there was always someone around us.

At night, where you would think we finally got some time for some kinky hours, we were always far too exhausted to even think about it.

I longed to feel Elhs hot, sweaty and naked body resting against me, but the way things were going here, I had little hope of getting such a chance any time soon.

Right now, I had one of these rare moments all for myself, Elh was currently with her Parents, helping her in her training with mastering new spells and training those she already knew on how to use, to get a better feel in it.

Ever since our talk a couple of days ago, she had her mind set on getting stronger, or, in her own words, more capable of helping me.

Of course, I highly appreciated that fact, but I wanted her to do it for herself, rather than out of a feeling of obligation towards me or anyone else.

While the events of the last week seemed to pass revue in the back of my mind, my consciousness was halfway focused on enjoying this small break I had now.

The Night´s air was warm, as if we were in summer despite it being almost October.

As I looked at the lights of Cedargold from up here above them, standing on the edge of the Hangar area, I felt a little at peace, at least for a while…., city lights had something comfortable to them, they shed a light for us, when we were otherwise surrounded by darkness…, they were everyday utensils, but they had something poetic to them, in my opinion, at least….

The Hours, during my faithful first encounter with my stepsiblings, were lying quite a while back,but seeing them a day later in the flesh and meeting the true Million family for the first time, was something beautiful but also quite bitter if I shall be honest.

Back then, I had at first no idea what to do, at one point I really even considered to just ignore Alpharia´s pleading voice, why was I obliged to help someone I never met in my life, sure we did shared the same blood, the blood of Merveille Million, we were sort of Siblings.

But why should I care, obviously no one ever bothered themselves of telling me about them, I doubted I would have got to know the truth until they would stand right before me.

Little I had the assumption, that everybody on Shangri-la, who was concerned with Merveille matters, had known about them…, it made me sad that no one had the guts of ever telling me about them.

Especially after Baion had perished, it was finally safe again to be together with my mother, so you would think…, but we never had that real reconciliation I hoped for, not until Beluga and the Kids arrived here on Ragdoll.

If it hadn´t been for Beluga´s slip of the tongue back in Basset, I would not know about them until the very last second…, this way I had much anticipation…, what would they be like, aimable, kind, compassionate…, or would they be vain, selfish, spiteful….

Was it right to be jealous of them, for having Merveille…, Mother, by their side all their life, while I was raised in an Orphanage, being mostly treated by outsiders as such, and until adulthood I never knew to whom I belong, what happened to my father or my mother.

Sure, partially I was to blame for that myself, for sealing my memories away…, but if Merveille would have stayed at my side in the first place, even despite the disastrous circumstances back then…, could we all, those stepsiblings included, have raised as a happy family…

I admit it, even with her own circumstances, was I jealous of Elh, she had a family she knew…, if I shall be honest, beside of a few snippets of memories and a book from Father, had I no recollection of either of both, Merveille and Maranell, at least not enough to truly call us a family.

Lately, despite me being whole again so far, I did not feel as if I belonged anywhere specific, I could go anywhere and still not feel much at home.

I think this was to be my lot, the lot of someone, who from birth on had been undesired in this world….., I often wondered…, if I hadn´t Maranell´s blood in my veins…, would he even had taken himself upon raising me, would he even have seen me as a person important to him?

I told myself over and over again that it aint so…, but ultimately, the places I belonged to was ultimately decided by my making.

I was part Shepherd Republic, part Shangri-La and Ragnarök and one part old Earth.

I was a mix of too many things as I could ever feel at home anywhere.

I used to think, that the Orphanage was my home, but since I didn´t knew anything else back then, it wasn´t hard to think about such.

But now, with most of my memories restored, the Orphanage felt more like a long-term hideout, rather than a real home, even if love to spare was found there.

If I hadn´t ever met Merveille again, would I have saved Alpharia and the others?

The answer was buried in the past long ago…, what was done was done…, what was to come was what was important here…., if I were to abandon them, ever, I might even lose the last bit of Motherly affection Merveille brought herself to feel for me.

Was I truly coldblooded and jealous enough, to break with my family forever?

Back then, rather than my mind, my body knew just what I had to do…, judging from Alpharia's desperate voice, they were in a situation which they could no longer handle…., they could even be about to die in that very minute.

If I was at least a bit responsible and willing to meet and get myself better acquainted with these step-siblings of mine, then I had to get my ass up and help them…

Those were the things I felt…, and making that decision was perhaps the best I did lately, other than to take in White and let Chocolat nurse him back to health, as well as to fight in the Battles others could no longer handle themselves.

It was in my nature to help those in distress, with all the force I could offer…., this time wasn´t any different….

Flashback: 2 Days earlier, In his mind, Red´s Pov:

I wasn´t truly sure what to expect, as I heeded Rose´s advice, after I asked her on how to properly master my own forces…, to be able to use them more effectively, than just on an emotional-outbreak base.

This was clear to me, especially after the events of Airedale.

As of present, they only ever manifested themselves when I was outraged, sad and somehow not myself, I rarely was able to just bring them out, like Elhize does with her Paladin forces.

Sure, there were some spells and other things with my forces which I could use like every day, but most of it was still too unstable to say, that I was even remotely close of mastering them, yet alone of using them properly.

Then again most of them were also relatively easy spells to use, the more complex magic was what I was aiming for, at least of those spells I have learned so far.

Father´s book held a few top-tier spells in it but the execution of them costed so much energy, that just using one of them might knock you out, if you are not fully prepared for it.

So next to bringing my forces forth in the first place, I also would have to deal with increasing my Energy-pool.

The trick which Rose told me, on how to get a good grasp of my forces and to manifest, let alone understand them, was to try out to meditate, apparently, she did so before every major battle for a few minutes, to focus on the fight ahead.

To say, that it was something entirely new to me was an understatement, I might have done it before as far as my memory was concerned, back then when I trained with father, before the tragedy of Shangri-La, but to be honest I hadn´t ever been someone to be able to just sit still.

Especially not, when it came down to close my eyes and listen to my own breathing, while all around me things were happening.

Maybe that was the reason as to why I was leaving the comforts and the warmth of the bonfire, which we held on a little uninhabited island, infront of the Devil´s Throat, for a while, and, as from Rose suggested, started meditating under the starlit sky.

Here, at the edge of this small island, in the coldness of the night and in the light of a full-moon, as well as hidden under a magic dome-shield created by Rose´s magic item, which made me invisible to the naked eye, I was able to truly concentrate.

While I was trying my best up here, Rose meanwhile had returned back to the Scarlet wolf, in order to work on the preparation for the coming raid…

To say that my attempts on meditating were less than progressive nor fruitful at all, was an unfortunate truth.

What brought with it the biggest difficulty in all of this, was definitely the thing with thinking nothing…, how was I supposed to think about nothing when I was thinking of thinking about nothing?

"This is so hard." I mumbled as I failed for the felt hundredth time not to think about anything.

It all went well…, until I asked myself if it might work now, spoiling it all over again.

"I guess its impossible for someone like me, I just worry too much, or I have too much to think about as to be able to just empty my mind." I muttered as I sighed, I laid down flat on my back looking up the sky, to take a quick break.

"I think you give up way too fast there." A voice stated, startling me greatly.

I turned around to look, only to come literally face to face with my Girlfriend.

"What the, Elh…, why are you here, or rather, how did you even find me?" I asked highly surprised, her face was so close all of a sudden that I almost instantly sprang backwards.

More due to not expecting anyone, not her of all people, to suddenly sit right next to me, as to have anything against the fact that she was here, but of course, sweet little Elhize just had to tease me.

"Why…., am I not allowed to be here…., it ain´t your island I recon, also, as a Paladin myself, I can feel when somewhere magic is being used." Elh explained in a fake-agitated tone with that fake but terribly cute pout, and I sighed, though inertly I smiled.

"I´m sorry, that´s not what I meant with this…, it´s just you were so silent, I didn´t even recognized that you arrived." I explained with a grin.

"So, trying to meditate make´s you vulnerable to anyone, especially those who would try to harm you…, ain´t you a little too carefree there, Mr. Prince sire?" Elh asked in mockery.

"I mean you do realize, that we are currently on enemy territory here, as hard as it is to call our own home that way, but yeah this is what this Republic has come to, everywhere Lycanians crawl all over the place, defiling everything.

If I just think about them being in Ragdoll, over there, from our sacred sanctuaries to the most common house, everything beside of mine and Beluga´s Life, lies currently into their hands." Elh explained with a sour and dark mine and I nodded.

"I know, I know…, but you know…, isn´t the whole point of meditating, not to think about anything, especially not about what currently happens around you?" I asked unsure.

"Being aware but not caring, as well as being aware but not reacting about it are two different sides of a coin, my dear Red Savarin.

On one side you can be aware of your surroundings during meditating, but you just don´t care about it, because it might not even concern you, this is what most masters of meditation are able to do, that though mostly goes hand in hand with some kind of body-shield or any other way to protect yourself before you start meditating and of course decades of intensive training.

Then there is being aware of your surrounding but you don´t react to it.

Even if someone would strike a sword at you, you would not react to it because you have absolute faith in your defense, instead of stopping your meditation, recognizing the danger and just tell yourself that it will be fine, in this scenario you completely ignore the existence of possible danger altogether.

You are so deep in your thoughts that you barely recognize reality anymore, but you always leave an anchor-point, a connection towards reality, open for you to return at any time.

If you master that technique, you will be able to completely free your mind from every unnecessary thought, wherever you are." Elh explained to me in a teacher like manner, while I just took everything in like a sponge making mental notes of it.

"However…, freeing your mind does not mean not to think about anything, for that is simply put impossible!" Elh stated.

"Wait what?" I asked shocked.

"But Rose said I should free my mind and all...?" I wondered.

"Freeing your mind means not to think about anything totally trivial, like the current weather you are mediating under, or the connected question, if you might catch a cold if it would suddenly start raining.

Every totally unnecessary thought, which you do consciously is to be banished out of your mind for that time, that's why, truly meditating is only possible if you have done all preparations for it, to gain an environment free from every outer distraction.

All of the unconscious thinking, which we simply sum up as instinct, is still to be done, if you would stop that, you would even stop breathing.

Your body might not always send obvious signals to your brain like, breath in, breath out, breath in…

It does that in the back of your mind.

So, when someone tells you to free your mind, he means that you should reduce your thinking to those unconscious thoughts.

For example, when I first began to use my forces, my Mother once told me to look up into the sky and observe the clouds, for as long as I can until I forget what time it is.

It helped, once I woke back from my trance, I thought that perhaps only an hour had past, actually 3 or 4 had already gone by.

I totally lost track of time, that is one way to free your mind, if you just stop being constantly aware of your surrounding or the passing of time.

You just let your spirit slip, if that is what you like to do?" Elh explained.

"And if you want to do something specific?" I asked her.

"If that is the case then you need to solely focus on that thought, leave every other thought aside and solely focus on that.

The longer you do so, the clearer the image comes into your mind." Elh replied.

"Oh.., I see, I think I understand now." I replied, I honestly think I got it now.

"So.., by the way, why are you here, you wanted something from me?" I asked as I felt how Elh snuggled up to me with a content smile.

"No not really…., but I thought, that since you are meditating, you might get hungry afterwards…, also…, we rarely have a moment for us alone lately…, so I wanted to take up the opportunity for such…, or am I bothering you?" Elh asked her ears hanging.

"No not at all, if anything you sure are a welcome distraction, I just thought that you and your parents were at training, maybe I did, somehow, lost track of time.

Anyways it´s really helpful to have you here, for sure, I´ve been here for hours and I just don´t seem to get the hang out of meditating, at least it did not show me what I tried to see, I admit, I was shortly before giving up, if you would not have appeared to encourage me again." I explained.

"Mind if I ask you what that is?" Elh asked, as she pulled out a picnic basket from behind her, before spreading a blanket on the ground, setting things up, while I pulled out the plates, glasses and knives and forks.

"I tried to get a glimpse of my inner self, to understand what I am, who I am, and who I might become…., currently I am a little torn there." I explained but she just looked confused.

"I talk about my other personalities." I stated but the confusion, if anything, was just ten-folded.

"You have a multiple-personality-disorder?

First time I hear about that." She asked unsure if she understood well.

"Well, I don´t think I am at that stage yet…, but in a way you might as well not be that far off.

I mean you saw it yourself…, almost 2 years ago…, back then as I changed…, as I tranced the first time…, all of a sudden I was not me…, and yet it was me…, somehow." I stated.

"I´m not sure I can follow you there." Elh asked, still confused.

"When I tranced back then, it felt strange, as if suddenly a bunch of new memories, things I never knew before, were raining down on me.

When I´m a hybrid, I suddenly know about things I shouldn´t know in the slightest.

The whole equipment, where does it come from, how is it formed, why do I know exactly what to do with it, how am I able to control Nanometal and other energies.

I have so much power and might, even though I cannot even explain how I did it, how I am able to use them…, I think it is because the hybrid part, that part of my soul, it knows more about it than I myself currently do, because it is his, it has grown with it, it was made with it.

The moment my forces awoke, it was as though I suddenly gained some kind of appendages, which I cannot get rid of anymore, something that simply attached itself onto me, something I yet still don´t understand.

And that is what makes it dangerous…, I think you know that yourself the best." I stated my ears hanging, of course we both remembered that moment I was talking about, there was no need to speak things out loud.

"You mean the time that Baion forced the Order upon you, right?" She asked and I nodded.

"Even though I had been me, more or less, moments before…, once I experience the headache and those words, that burned themselves in my mind, it was as if a switch was flipped, suddenly I had no longer any control over myself, as if myself was but a bystander all of a sudden.

The same happened when I activated my Werewolf-form the first time." I explained.

"Werewolf-form…, you mean your raging Lupycan form?" Elh asked and I nodded.

"The Werewolf-form, or Berserker Form, is like a sub-species of a Lupycan, it has basically all the traits of one but it also has some specialties unique to it.

For example, I feel, and to a certain degree also am, far more powerfull in a night of the Full-moon just like today, while in the night of a New-moon my forces seem to not increase at all, if I were to transform then, I wouldn´t be any stronger as in my usual Caninu form.

Also am I able to use some kind of fighting-style based upon moonlight and what it does to me in that form.

The book of my father says that Werewolves are quite rare, even among Lupycans, but even more so it says, that Werewolves are seldom able to control themselves once they enter that stage, it is as if something has possessed them, and they almost cannot recognize friend from foe.

That is another side of me which I wish to fully understand, for I think I have barely only scratched at the surface of things.

And then there is my other personality…, the hardest to describe…" I explained.

"Why so…?" Elh asked worried.

"Because I have no idea anymore where it begins and where it stops, where there is me and where there is it." I explained and sighed.

"It´s the hardest to differ because it has basically no physical traits which diverge it from my usual common self…, i´m speaking about the Prince of 10 moons." I explained.

"You mean the Red S. Wolvenra, the one to the time you grew up on Shangri-La, am I right?" Elh asked and I nodded.

"The memories of my previous life as prince of Shangri-La, memories which I just sealed away, it were my own memories and I just put them away in a cupboard so to say and now, a decade later I remembered them and pulled them back out.

But suddenly, they don´t feel like my own at all anymore.

I could say that It began by the time I arrived at Shangri-La for the first time in my Life and ended by the time I sealed away my memories as well as left Shangri-La, from then on, the life of Red the Hunter began…, so I would like to differ it…, but I am unsure in how much changed from me back then, sure I had no memories of myself anymore, but was my personality back then really that different as later on, how much had changed and what remained the same.

Especially now…, who am I now, Him or the me from 2 years ago?

Who and what am I and what will I become in the Future?

Unless I can understand any of that, I have no idea to whom this body actually belongs to…. and then there is the fifth one…, you saw it in Airedale and it was the first time I ever experienced myself, so I have no information whatsoever about it, Father does not respond to my mental calls to him.

This might be because he is currently unable to speak, due to being preoccupied, or because we are so far out of reach…, though I really would like to ask him about it…" I stated as I trailed off.

"You mean your Quadruped-wolf-form, if I remember correctly, then Carmine called it the Soul of the Moon…, or the Antiqua Sanctus Remulus…, but don´t ask me what it is, I have no idea, I think this was basically all Carmine knew himself about it." Elh explained and I nodded.

"It was old, terribly old, older than father even, maybe it lived in the Era before his birth…, or even before that…, there is sorrow, self-loathing, and an incredible grief which I had never felt before, after it rose from the depths of my consciousness.

It was as if it grieved over something that happened eons ago…., if I would have to guess, I would say that these are the feelings of a Human…, some particular human, who´s memories and feelings have been passed on from centuries to centuries, from Generation to Generation…, from vessel to vessel.

This grief and the self-loathing…, it is like a warning not to ever let things come to such a point again, whatever these things are." I replied.

"I see…, you think that it was some king or prince or so…?" Elh asked.

"No…, I think…, maybe it was one of those people Yulungur once told us about, you know…, those who had to decide whether the world would be reset or not, after that terrible war ripped the whole world apart and led to the downfall of humanity.

It would make sense to have such memories preserved, for future Generations, as a warning not to repeat the same mistakes, the failures of Humanity.

If that is the case…, then it kind of makes sense to give them to the most powerfull beings in the world, to show them that power and knowledge don´t always benefit those around you, let alone the rest of the world, if they are malnourished and twisted…, but that it could well lead to utter chaos and destruction." I explained and she nodded in understanding.

"I guess you really have a lot of self-finding to do there." Elh stated as she began to eat, which made me digging in as well, no need to spoil the freshness of these goods.

"…To be honest…, I was jealous…, at least until now." Elh muttered with a blush.

"Jealous…, you…, why so and of whom?" I asked confused, I really wonder where that came from.

"Of you of course…" Elh replied.

"Of me…, why would you be jealous of me…, surely it is not about me being a Prince all of a sudden…, that can´t be right, right?" I asked unsure.

"Of course not, that circumstance does not even worry me that much, sure it´s strange that all of a sudden you became a respectable person and…"

"Wow, that really hurts you know, I always was a respectable person." I stated deadpanned, while she just glared at me for interrupting her.

"Ahem…, what I mean is the sudden power boosts you have gotten…, all of a sudden you are so much more capable than ever before, ever since I know you at least.

I know you are strong, I saw that in your fight against Bruno and Baion…, while I was barely able to keep a shield up during a bombardment, had you the force to defeat enemy for enemy, one each stronger than the previous one.

One day I just began to feel that you slowly so slowly left me behind, drift away from me…, I had the terrible feeling that if I would not be able to walk beside you, you wouldn´t need me any longer…, I thought that if I just begin to train again and hard at that, I would surely catch up with you…, but now…, i´m not even sure that I could ever catch up with you in the first place.

I thought that, while I struggled to get stronger, all those new powers just flew to you, like, out of nowhere…., as if the luck of obtaining them just fell into your lap…

I was terribly jealous at you, even when I didn´t showed it to you or anyone directly…, and I can tell that I am not the only one there.

Everyone suddenly feels inferior to you…, but none of us, myself included, considered even once the costs and the hardships that came with these new powers.

I think if I knew how you felt all the time…, I wouldn´t even have developed such selfish feelings.

I guess I am richer of that experience now, things seldom seem as good as they look and surely it ain't all gold that shines." Elh explained nodding to herself.

I took her in my arms with a smile, surprising her.

"Elhize Melizee you little worrywart, as if I ever leave you behind, how could I…, you are the reason I can even manage to stand on solid ground, despite of all that is happening.

…, If I would not have your support, I don´t know to what dark things I might would have already succumbed or where I would end up.

You being by my side gives me a purpose to move forward, to not concern myself with trivial pointless questions, to which I long have no answer.

Your presence always reminds me that there is something I am fighting for, even if darkness and hopelessness surround me.

You, Elhize Melizee, are the shining star that guides me, whenever I feel lost." I explained and she blushed deep red before burying her face in my chest.

"I still loath the fact, that you suddenly have such a way with your words…" She muttered and I chuckled.

"It happens from time to time." I grinned and I felt how she did so too.

The kiss we shared felt oh so sweeter than most of the ones we had before…, maybe because we hadn´t that much time for being all too passionate lately, all we ever shared were quick kisses and some handholding and stuff, but never something really tender…, I missed that much to be honest, it wasn´t all about the sex, mind you.

While we chatted, the picnic in the moonlight was a full success, evidentially when I leaned back, full to the brim after nearly 2 hours of chatting and eating.

"Phew, this were some seriously needed calories, I had a feeling that I exercised straight through the last few days without a pause, I haven´t had that much of a break lately, there was always something new coming up." I stated and Elh nodded, cutely cleaning her mouth with a cloth, missing a rice corn, which I promptly scooped from her cheek and put into my mouth making her blushing deep crimson.

"I guess you are right…, and with all the chaos that is bound to happen in next time, it is a question of how many weeks will pass, when we can catch our next breather." Elh stated sighing in deepest annoyance.

"An amen to that." I replied.

"So…, do you want to try again to meditate, now that almost all of your earthly cravings should be fulfilled?" She asked me with a smile.

"Well almost all…, you know since we are all alone up here, we could…, you know?" I tried my best but it was bound to fail, not because she wasn´t in the mood though.

"As much as this thought is tempting, don´t I think this is the best place to do so, even with the dome, there could be persons just around the corner you know, I have no idea how soundproof this dome is supposed to be and it would be more than awkward to suddenly have a group of people running into us, while being in the middle of…, that." Elhize Melizee explained with a deep dark blush looking aside ashamed.

"So if there would be no person around us, we could…?" I asked.

"This is totally beside the point..., also I ain´t a fan of activities such as that." Elh replied.

"You mean outdoor-sex?" I asked bluntly.

"Sssshhhhh, sssshhhh, be quite you stupid mutt, how about you being a little less blunt about that, I would appreciate the fact greatly." Elh hissed at me in embarrassment, while I had the widest grin, which I was capable of, on my face right now.

"So is this a no, now?" I asked.

"Now is not the time for that, you wanted to meditate so meditating is what you shall do.

I gladly assist you in that, lay down here." Elh stated, still blushing, quickly changing the topic as she pulled me backward onto her knees, giving me a lap pillow.

"I gotta admit, this ain't that bad either." I replied and she simply stayed silent.

"Now, close you eyes and think about what you want to do." She mumbled.

"I want to kiss you and make love to you!" I stated with childlike mockery, my eyes closed.

As I wasn´t able to perceive it, but knowing it eventually would follow my statement, I felt her snipping my forehead pretty hard…, that go to hurt her fingers…

And true to that, her next statement was spoken in a tone of suppressed pain.

"I-i-idiot, stop making this harder than it ought to be, meditating means to stop thinking of trivial, unimportant and stupid things and focus your mind on something of value." She replied hastily.

"How can my love to you ever be trivial or minor, they are of outmost value you know." I replied, my eyes flashing right open in surprise and anger, only to be met with a glare, although a flushed one.

"Alright, alright, I get it, I just wanted to lighten the mood a little, I will focus now and I will do my best to meditate, I promise." I stated in my most honest voice, sighing for all what it was worth, she really needs to stop beating herself down.

"I hope so for you." She replied with a huff.

"Still…, one of these days, I will get that sweet round ass of yours in natura again." I grinned as I closed my eyes.

"I guess we need to find some time and place for that then, one of these days…" Elh stated with a deep sigh, still blushing cutely.

"So it´s a promise then?" I asked.

"Sure, otherwise I see darkness lying ahead on your path of enlightenment, as your horny-self most definitely isn´t fit to even attempt meditation." She replied with an annoyed tone, which made me grin wickedly.

"Admit it, thinking of my naked body in the moonlight, out here all alone…, it makes you moist, am I right?" I joked.

"I´ll hit you if you don´t keep quiet." She threatened and I knew I had horsed around enough for tonight, it wasn´t after all, as if I did not plan on achieving anything tonight, the faster I can understand all I need to understand, the happier I can be with coping with my current situation.

And the lesser I am a potential danger to myself…, but even more so to others.

Especially finding the answer to the question, of who my current self is and if it might vanish somewhere along the way, was of great importance to me.

"Elh?" I asked

"What now…, I swear if now another of your jokes comes, I will hit you unconscious, maybe that will help you to stop thinking of trivial things and…., what…, what are you doing." Elh asked, stopping in her rant as I put a hand to her cheek.

"I…, I just wanted to know…, regardless of whom I become in the end…, will you still love me…., will you still stay by my side, even if I would change?" I asked her and this was something serious for a change, I know she could tell, for her angry mine softened down in seconds, with a light blush resting upon her cheeks and tears in her eyes.

She gently grabbed my hand and nuzzled inside.

"As long as you want me at your side, this is where I shall stay…, unless you would change so much that you succumb to the darkness and commit the gravest atrocities…, then I will leave you but know that…, I would surely be among those to stop you…, so you better not let it come to such." Elh explained and her voice sounded deeply honest and serious.

I knew I could trust her on her words.

"Thanks…, for always loving me." I replied to that and I felt her cheek heating up again.

"Likewise…, thanks for choosing me among all the pretty girls around you." She replied and I had to chuckle a little about that.

I closed my eyes as recommended and focused, by her order, solely on Elh´s breathing, until my own breathing began to perfectly sync up with hers, from there on out I began to focus on letting my spirit slip and find a place in my sub-consciousness in which all of my soul-parts could come together for a meeting.

I cannot tell you how long I was in trance, but for me it felt like hours of aimlessly wandering around.

The plains I saw before me seemed endlessly and yet I knew that I was on the right way.

My current outer surrounding, gone, the noises of the crickets and other animals around us, gone…, the feeling of Elhize next to me, gone…, all that was left was to walk on to a goal unknown in an unknown place somewhere deep within my mind.

I didn´t even know if I ran into the right direction, although something told me that it was probably the right one, as there seemed to be nothing around me, but walls, and I ran in one direction for what seemed like ages.

On and on and on I ran, and although my feet should kill me by now, this spirit form didn´t know any fatigue.

"I hope I don´t run aimlessly until the end of days." I stated as I walked on…, suddenly it was as though fog began to rise and before I knew any better a huge wall of fog, similar to the storm-shield of Ragdoll, appeared before me.

"Now what?" I wondered, a little agitated.

"Is something the matter?" Elhize asked me, to hear her voice in my mind was somehow disturbing…, then again it also felt comforting for some reason.

Maybe because I seemed to be so alone in this world

According to her saying, she left the connection open in case of an emergency, to wake me back up.

And that knowing that she stayed at my side, even in here, I might not be so frightened if I encountered something harmful.

Meditating was nice and fine but it didn't mean much if an ambush from the outside would kill me.

I trusted Rose, but you never know, the Lycanians could have already developed themselves new toys, toys that pierce the shield of an Arch-Paladin with ease, as if cutting butter with a warm knife.

"Nothing sweetheart, I just gotta hurry." I replied as I stepped into the fog, after trying to put my hand inside, without the fog reacting negatively towards it.

"If this is in my head anyways, it must have a reason.

Maybe in there I can find the answers I am seeking for." I mumbled.

I walked on, ever so deeper into the fog that got ever so thicker, until all of a sudden it began to clear up.

The first thing I recognized was that I no longer walked over a blank space with walls around, the floor was littered with fallen leaves, as if I was walking through a forest in autumn.

The fog cleared up a little and I literally was standing in a forest, all wall was gone, the ground was no more paved but simple forest-soil.

I walked on, without so much of a clear idea, whether the direction I took would not just lead me back into the fog…, maybe it was time for a change of pace.

"Maybe I should walk to the west or the east instead of further on northward." I wondered as I stopped on some kind of crossroad, the ways I was able to follow seemed almost identical, with no indications to where I would end up following either one of them.

Suddenly it was as if the wind that began to blow was sending whispers all around me, encircling me, before, as the wind settled, the whispering seemed to vanish to the northern path.

"Well, that ain´t creepy at all." I mumbled sarcastic, but since I had no other sign nor any other idea myself, I just decided to follow through, there had to be some reason this just happened.

"Further north it is, I just hope I finally end up somewhere, all this walking is getting on my nerves." I told myself.

"You sure about that?" Elh asked and I almost got a heart failure, I totally forgot all about her, she had been so silent, I almost thought I had gone too deep.

"Heaven´s Elh…, stop startling me like that, you almost got me a heart-stroke!" I hissed as I was able to contain myself again.

"Sorry my bad, I just thought you might be creeped out if I was talking as a disembodied voice to you." Elh explained with a sheepish tone in her voice.

"It´s far creepier, if you keep silent all the time and then, when I least expect it, you suddenly say something, scaring the living daylights out of me." I replied sourly.

"Sorry, sorry, but this is the first time I ever have done something like this, it takes my all to concentrate on not losing you, your mind is so darn chaotic and winded, it´s like a maze, I had quite a hard time to keep up with you, it´s as though you know exactly which way to go." Elh explained and I was confused…, highly confused at that.

"Are you sure you are in my mind…, because all I did since the beginning was to walk in a straight line northward, and there was no labyrinth whatsoever, just walls and then this forest?" I wondered…, or could it perhaps be….

"Maybe it didn´t occurred to you, that you walk through a maze, because it is your mind, or maybe the maze must have twisted and turned in the right direction, for you to just walk straight on through, while every invader gets send to the proper maze, who knows?" Elh explained and it did sound plausible at the very least.

Further northward I walked until I suddenly arrived at a big clearing, on this clearing 5 lone trees stood in what seemed to be a circle, all in different shapes, sizes and colors of leaf.

Other than that, I could see a big Stone-Table in the middle of the clearing, with 5 huge wooden chairs surrounding it, while one side was left open.

"A potential sixth seat I guess." I mumbled upon looking at this most peculiar sight.

Something about the nearest tree began to catch my eyes…, other than the intense coloration of its leaves, sunset orange, did it showed the richest amount of leaves left on the ground.

If I recall right, then most of the leaves on the path here, have been of the same color as the ones on that tree, of course this means nothing, but still, it was strange, the closer I came to the tree, the more I felt a connection with it.

It was as if I could see my reflection in its leaves, but not my current one, although there were some in which I did well see myself the way I looked in the mirror this morning…, no, it was as if most of my youth to adolescence was reflecting in them, the face I had 10 years ago in the orphanage mirror was looking at me in one leaf, while the face I wore two years ago, as I saw myself in the reflection of a bucket of water, back in Director Fraisier´s Orphanage at Basset, was smiling at me from another one.

"Is this…., my life?" I wondered as my glance fell upon many more leaves, it sure were leaves, that was clear to me, and the reflections only ever flashed every now and then in them.

Does this mean, that the leaves that have fallen had been the years I have either forgotten, or which were long past, trivial things not truly worth to remember, but still a part of my life nevertheless.

"I guess…, since I lived my life mostly as Red Savarin the Hunter, the leaves of this tree seem to be most prominent on my path here." I muttered as I looked at the other trees, their colors were hardly to see on the ground and I cannot even tell if that much were lying on the path I arrived from.

"Maybe it is because I still don´t feel much of a connection to these parts of me…, or because they played their roles only recently for me, even if they had been a part of me all my life." I went on, explaining to myself why and what…, but in the end I was not so sure about the result myself.

I decided to investigate the other trees, to see if I can find anything familiar in their leaves.

The first tree I arrived, after my own, was a tree with rust brown leaves, he seemed to be slightly tinier than my own tree but still, the feeling I got from him was almost, just almost, identical to my own tree.

"I guess…, this is the tree of Prince Red." I mumbled as I observed the swaying leaves.

Although they were brown, and some almost dried up, didn´t it seemed as if this tree was losing any leaves anytime soon, they were fast, as if glued in place, then again, some leaves did lie on the ground but most of them were tiny, the memories contained in them was trivial, nothing worthwhile to remember.

The leaves on the tree showed basically the same, which I had seen the night before in the memory-dive I took at Director Cherrypie´s Orphanage at the Darven Islands.

"Is this…, because I sealed my memories, because I had decided to pursue the life of Prince Red no further until I was ready, and now, because I regained my memories, the tree came back to life…, more or less?" I wondered but I was quite sure I hit the nail on the head.

The Next tree was the tiniest one out of all of them, barely a youngling so to say.

It had lush green Leaves and one each of them showed the images so vivid, as if they would begin to speak to me in the voices of the past.

It was the tree of my Hybrid self, the memories contained in the leaves were barely 2 years old, ever since I first activated that part of my soul.

The leaves were reflecting the aggressiveness and the spunk I had in my Trance Form, the green was so out of place in contrast to everything else in here that it almost destroyed the entire picture…, but strangely enough this contrast was welcome, it fitted perfectly, in the overall picture.

Then again, especially because it seemed so alive was it also so mysterious to me, it was as though it tried to establish a connection to me, as if it cried out to me…, look at me, notice me, I am here, I am You.

It was strange, yes, but also likeable.

The Fourth tree was the largest and seemingly the oldest tree of them all…, but it was also the most detached as it seemed to me.

The Leaves were pitch-black and completely dried up, and I was sure if I would take one of them in my hand, it may fall to dust.

Not one leave was lying on the ground, the leaves themselves did not swayed in the wind nor did they seemed to reflect anything, as if they were frozen in time…., it had something unsettling and alarming…, but also comforting and, strange enough, familiar to me.

"This must be the tree of the Ancient, the Antiqua Sanctum Remulus." I mumbled as I walked around the tree.

There I saw it, strangely, compared to all the other trees, this tree bore carvings, words carved in the solid trunk.

It seemed to be ancient runes as I was barely able to recollect, from my memory of my school time at the Wolpalaca, what they meant.

"May this warning never cease to exist, may the World be reminded of the mistakes from the past and be warned of the coming disasters of the future.

May this Prophecy of Doom to come be everlasting, until the day that either the world may fall, or the Winged Devil be slain." I read, after a while of rumbling in my brain for the right words.

This Carving was old, the deepness of them was evident, the tree had stretched them with the years instead of closing them upon growing, this warning was sure not to be forgotten.

Under the text stood something different, it seemed to be of no connection to this warning…, until I understood that this was a name.

"Remulus Xenovia the First, Prince of Armenia, First of the Ancient, vessel of the soul of Remus Santiago, one of the Twelve Apostle of Ruin. "

"Remulus Xenovia…., never heard of him…, but Armenia…, isn´t this the Island where Father´s birthplace used to be…, does this mean that this man used to be a Prince there…, did he know about the Experiments and the torture on them…

Or did he perhaps lived before the Era of the belligerent States, for that would explain why Father had become an ancient himself during those times and I am the first new Ancient after Father, who houses this soul…., as far as I know at least." I muttered as I looked at the carvings again.

"Red…, We should probably keep this in mind, this might be important someday." Elh stated, softer than before so that her voice did not startled me again.

"Yes, I guess you are right…, I have a distinct feeling that this Remus Santiago might be connected to Yulungur…, maybe he was one of the Humans to make the decision, whether to let the world burn or to reset it, just as we suggested earlier." I noted, remembering the talk we had before.

"Most likely, and if his memory, his warning was repeated throughout our history, then it is thanks to him that our world is still afloat as far as it is nowadays." Elh stated.

"I guess so…., anyways, what up with this tree!" I wondered as I went on to the last tree, the tree of Werewolf Red…, if you can actually call it a tree.

To me it was basically just a stick in the surrounding, the trunk was thin, almost as big as a middle-sized branch, not to mention that it was almost transparent.

The leaves on the other hand, were completely transparent, only the outlines as well as the veins indicated that something was hanging on the few branches of this tree at all.

"Maybe, it´s because your Werewolf form isn´t really a separate personality, rather than a circumstance you find yourself in, whenever you loose control of your emotions and fall into blind rage, it is raw power and has barely an original intellect, barely sentient without a host.

It takes the Characteristic of said host, but it´s not him per se.

If I would guess, I would say this tree belongs to your inner force, your manifested Ranono." Elh explained and her words sounded plausible to me.

"The Leaves are transparent because there are neither memories existing nor will there any remain, as it has literally no brain, no vessel in it, to keep such." Elh explained further as I walked around the stick of a tree, if anything it had an eerie and unsettling feel to it.

Something which both, belonged here and at the same time it did not.

It existed within me, but it was perhaps the most detached from me.

Well so much to the trees, I looked around on the clearing to see anything interesting or new…, and indeed there was.

The Table, whose chairs had been empty earlier, was now occupied by 4 persons, one chair was still open.

None of them moved nor talked, as if they just came into existence moments ago and were still frozen in time, until something started them off.

"Maybe you should take a seat beside them, I think this table is used for you to hold a discussion among yourselves." Elh suggested and not having any better idea, I did as she told me.

By the time my chair was repositioned onto the table with me sitting on top of it, the Conference in my mind came to live.

Act 2: I am All of Me!

"Greetings, I welcome you here at the conference in our mind, we´ve been wondering when you might show up, Red the Hunter." I heard the voice of Prince Red, despite having spent such less time in that circumstance of mind, he seemed not a day younger than myself.

Maybe because he woke up after that night at the Orphanage and observed me inertly.

"We cannot start a Conference without the head of this Council." He explained further while I nodded…., it sure was strange to see someone talking with the same exact face as yourself.

"I guess so…, though can you be sure that I am the leader here…., I take it that the Conference´s objective Is the same as mine?" I asked them, as I looked in the eyes of them all.

"Indeed it is…, the question to whom this Body actually belongs and the question on how well we all can work together, to make sure we survive another day without causing any chaos for ourselves as well as for others." Prince Red explained.

"It´s good that you answered this way, if you would have said that you are indeed the head of us, I would most likely had to argue with you.

Indeed, our objective tonight, is to find out who we are, why we are and what to do with it, but moreover, who of us is to have lasting supremacy over this body." He continued and I nodded.

"If I may interrupt you…, your intentions are good and so…, but are we really need to discuss that with them , I mean one of them is pure power, without that much of sense, if we would give him the body, I am sure he would run havoc at any second, we see it in times of great emotional instability, how this beast rages, how it literally destroys all and everything around it, if there would be none of us holding it back in those times, as best as we can, it might even attack friend and foe alike.

And this guy…, he isn´t even one of us, he is an ancient being that resides in us, like an ancient memory that is being repeated over and over again, it needs a host to exist, like a parasite, it feeds of our life-force but it does not truly do much for us, only that we take over the characteristics of someone we don´t even know.

Using it is a double-edged sword, we almost always lose consciousness when it emerges, remember that time at the harbor, when our sister was kidnapped and almost raped, it completely wreaked havoc and this guy did even helped it, we completely lost ourselves.

It is only thanks to that woman, which let us fall asleep, that we were even prevented from harming our Sister in the first place." Hybrid-Red explained in quite an aggressive tone and I remembered, the night I lost myself and transformed myself for the first time after arriving at the orphanage.

It was Rose that spoke a sleep spell over me, which diminished the fire of mental agony and wrath.

"I think we might be too hasty with that." I stated.

"Why would you say that?" Hybrid-Red asked confused.

"If what you say is true…, aren´t you some kind of Parasite yourself?" I asked and he looked at me with enraged eyes.

"And what makes you think I am?" He asked, his tone aggressive and quite dangerous.

"Well for starters, I have no clue, whatsoever, of who exactly you are, by Prince-Red I understand who he is and what he lived through as he basically was me before and I am him after, but you on the other hand…, I have no idea if you are a part of Baion, within me, or a mix of him and something different or what else you could be…

So to be honest you are just as mysterious to me as those two, especially since you only ever appeared 2 years ago, despite apparently being part of me for all my life, if anything, you are the youngest to manifest here." I stated and he blinked but remained silent, his anger was as if blown away.

"I guess you are right about that, well then let me enlighten you, I think first of all, you need to know, just what Hybrids actually are." Hybrid-Red explained after a while of apparently thinking about my words.

"By all means tell me, I´ve been wondering about that all the time…, but I guess I was just too chicken to ask Merveille about it.

I felt like a monster back then, after I got to know that I was created, rather than born…, I guess that thought laid down after I, on the other hand, also got to known that I did got carried in Merveille's Belly for the whole Nine months of Pregnancy, rather than being created in a tube.

But the later years did not really helped to ease my fear before myself much I guess, especially not after remembering some of it yesterday." I explained and he nodded.

"Understandable, well then, let me begin at the start.

First off you need to understand, that the term Hybrid is here a little misleading…, for technically seen every single being in this world is a Hybrid." Hybrid-Red stated dropping the biggest bomb I ever saw.

"Wait what…, what do you mean…, do you honestly want to say that everybody can transform themselves into humans?" I asked unsure if I heard right.

"No, shut up and let me explain will you." I was scolded by someone who just began to rip the very foundation of my world apart.

"When I say that everybody is a Hybrid, do I mean their physiology…, once there have been humans, you are aware of that of course, but once there were also cat and dogs, sentient beings like you and I, but their voices weren´t understood by humans the same way as if you would talk to someone who just simply speaks another language, if you would sit down and study, you could master that foreign language in a jiffy.

No, the language of humans was so different from any other animal that it was hard to describe, of course there were people who claimed to exactly know what a dog or a cat wanted to say, but this was basically only interpretation.

Anyways, there were Humans and Animals…, though technically seen were humans just highly evolved Apes…., so technically animals themselves.

They were so evolved that every day, they craved for something new, something they hadn´t the previous day, this went on for centuries, millennia even.

The more often new things came upon them, the more Humanity began to evolve, from simple cave man, to business man with real houses and personal cars etc…

But the more they evolved and the more knowledge they gained, the greedier they became, there was never enough for them and so it came as it came, the moment they acquired the knowledge of the Juno´s, everything changed, the entire game had been shifted in humanities least favorable position.

Their greed was their downfall, the moment the very first Titano Machinae was being created.

From then on, the spiral of greed, thirst for more knowledge and the overall original violence within humanity, began to ten-..., hundredfold itself.

Everybody needed Titano Machinae, everybody sought the knowledge of the Junos, battles were fought over those informations until flat-out wars were initiated by the biggest powers of that time.

Wars fought with the Titano Machinae… you know what 2 of them can create for chaos…, now imagine a hundred…, a thousand of them." Hybrid-Red explained and I know my face was most likely as white as a sheet now.

Never ever will I forget the calamity which Lares and Lemures had caused, imagining a thousand of them…, the world must surely have burned.

"As you are aware, back then a decision was made, to reset the world, to reset all life and sending the remaining continents afloat, to start all over.

The Juno Yulungur did that by having Tartaros, another not so sentient Juno, or Tools, as they call them, being set in motion.

But logically, she did not just kill all the thousands of humans that remained alive and in hiding, no she took their DNA and preserved it before doing so, along with Flora and Fauna of the almost extinct nature.

DNA is what creates every living and organic being, it is the main-construction block for all sentient life-forms.

Now take this DNA and modify it, in a way that it adapts towards another body, a body created out of the Modified Cells of a Being, that usually would never cross with a human, a cat, a dog…, or any other species, et voila, you have the inhabitants of the new world you created out of the ruin.

Of course, it is hard to say how many attempts were required until the first sentient living Caninu, Felineko, Raptkin etc. lived and breathed.

Also you might ask yourself, after she saw firsthand what Humans could do for a damage to the planet, of why she even attempted to recreate them, even if in another form.

I think that maybe she was lonely, simple as that.

If you are the only self-aware and intelligent person in the world, that can talk about anything different than how the weather is going to be the next day, then you would surely long for company yourself.

So she must have, at some point, began to think to recreate the humans, just to have someone to talk with again, someone almost as intelligent as herself.

She then created Humans, but knowing the mistakes they made in the past, she knew she could not bring actual humans back.

So, she used the other two most loyal beings in the world, Cats and Dogs, to combine their feline and canine instinct and physical attributes, with the cognitive sense and intelligence of humanity.

This is what we all were, what we are and what we remain on being, the result of an Experiment from the far past….

Now, on what you and your Mother call Hybrids…" Hybrid Red explained and it was almost too much for me, but only almost, naturally I had heard from Yulungur about most of this, expect the fact that she created us by mixing Dog or Cat and Humans together.

"A Hybrid is so to say a step forward from that research, an evolution so to say.

The first Hybrid was Baion, and as you can see was he a Human-Juno Hybrid, the DNA of a Human was taken as well as the memories of a certain Human and planted into an artificial body created by Yulungur, so I think but I have no true recollection of that, Baion´s memories aren´t complete at that point, whatever the reason for that may be is beyond me.

Memories were something, which had been preserved, among other things which humans had created or possessed, as some memories were worth to be remembered, even after the world would change.

Most prominent were the Memories of the Downfall of Humanity and what failures lead to it, this is the predominant Memory which was given to Baion.

Baion was but a tool to Yulungur, to activate CODA, should the world beyond become habitable again, it was to return the world back to its original state by slowly and steadily lowering the Continents back to the planet.

But for this, it needed the power of Tartaros, which had been stored in another dimension, to keep it away from other Juno´s, who might have had other plans with the world." Hybrid-Red explained.

"Wait a second…, there are others?" I asked dumbfounded, to be honest I always believed that Yulungur was the only one out there.

"Remember Red, Yulungur said that the Humans found the Hyper Information Convergence Juno, which gave them knowledge far beyond their imagination…, she said Juno, as if it is their race, which might mean that she spoke about more of her race, rather than just herself back then." Elh softly said, having listened to everything.

"Your Girlfriend is right.

There were originally, from the first new contact to nearly the end of the days of Humanity, only 5 visible Juno´s remaining, Yulungur was the youngest out of all of them.

As such she had been the only one who hadn´t yet have the knowledge nor the powers to create Titano Machinae and she was also the only one to directly make contact with the Humans from face to face, to learn from them as well as to teach humanity.

The Juno´s Plan however was never to evolve Humanity, as far as I know, this was a failure in their calculation, as Yulungur developed own feelings, after interacting with Humans directly…, the Hive-mind the Juno´s possessed, usually should have blocked such things out.

After the world was about to be scorched by something, which ancient history mostly called the Winged Devil/Shadow, Marohumt, Yulungur created a network of interconnecting artefacts whose purpose was, to create a Giant Field of protecting shields over the remaining continents, rather than the original plan of the other, older Junos.

For little did Humanity know, that the Junos gave them those weapons only for one single reason, that they destroy the ancient slumbering evil, should the day come that it arised once more, as this thing apparently also destroyed their home-planet.

All in order, if this was done, the Junos could inhabit this Planet with a new population of their own, taking control over it as their new home, after the terra-forming was over.

For that they build in a remote-control function into each and every Titano Machinae they had build, in case Humanity dared to resist.

However, after Humanity demonstrated how little they cared for such an unspoken plan and rather wanted to flex their own greed and power-hunger, leaving the world in a disastrous and almost uninhabitable state, concluding that this destruction was the least profitable outcome and that their supposed servants were no longer needed, the four Junos gave their Creations the order to destroy the last remnants of Humanity, razing them from the face of their destroyed world.

Yulungur, who heard of this plan, via their Hive-mind Connection pleaded to let Humanity live, to give them another Chance, but the other older Juno´s would not budge from their plans.

Most likely because she was so young, like a child to them, the connection she had to them was oh so easy to cut off from her part, through this the Juno´s had no longer access to any information regarding Yulungur and her actions of saving Humanity at all cost.

So Yulungur cut herself off, rounded up what little of free and peace-minded humanity still remained and lead them to her tower, which she then had to weave in a protective shield, strong enough to withstand a massive assault.

This was necessary, especially after the other Junos, enraged about her betrayal, began to attack her tower, the Futzu Tower in Australia, via the Titano Machinae they had created.

However, as anticipated by the Juno´s, the winged Devil arose from its slumber, due to the raging Titano-Machinae and laid waste to the warmongering Humans and the remote-controlled Titano Machinae, scorching the world.

Only few Titano Machinae, who fought back survived this one sided slaughtering.

As the fire began to reach for the shores of Australia, Yulungur knew, that if she wanted so save humanity and the world, a decision had to be made, so she asked humanity, and ultimately the 13 persons who were responsible for their races downfall, for having uncovered her and her peers existence towards the entire world, on what to choose, watch the world burn, knowing that they doomed all and everything on it.

Or to reset their world, by initiating the 3 Phase Plan.

Operation Exodus: To kill all organic life on the planet's surface painlessly.

Operation COFA: Setting the continents afloat via reversed Magnetism and covering the planet beyond with a dense plasma-shield.

Operation 7 Days: To create new organic life after the decontamination of the new Landmasses, as the brutal force of Atomic warfare and Titano Machinae had not only scorched but also poisoned the entire world.

After the countdown to temporary extinction had been run out and the decision had been made, she initiated some kind of signal, which killed all Life without pain.

She then initiated Operation COFA for the first time with help of Tartaros, which she had to bring from the Dimension in which she had stored it, before using it to draw the continents together creating a Giga-Continent, Elysia, and setting the same afloat.

After decontamination and restoration of Fauna and Flora, Yulungur sat her sights on restoring society, closely observing the same for a couple of centuries to prevent wars from arise immediately again, before she chose to return herself back to her tower, there she went into Hibernation, so to say, she shut herself down to a minimum of her functions, which she kept running.

Mainly because after all this was done and Tartaros was stored back into its other dimension, Yulungur was left with little power herself, as the force she drew power from, the Earth´s inner core, was slowly so slowly coming to an end, as she was not the only one to use it.

Despite having no more real purpose, the other Junos are still alive.

For now they seem to hibernate as well, until Marohumt has died, to get back at conquering the world and to most likely get rid of the defect and emphatic Yulungur.

To get their Hive-system running again without any failure or alternation.

To this day Yulungur sleeps, until the time has come, that her full functionality is being required once more." Hybrid Red told us and I was in awe, some of it I heard from Yulungur herself but not in such detail.

"So Baion had such memories?" I asked him and he nodded.

"Since he was being created by Yulungur, with some of the Juno´s knowledge, he was able to determine whether the world was ready or not for operation CODA, unfortunately, did the untimely and mysterious premature awakening of him caused his brain to obtain a disastrous malfunction, which caused him to act out his order with little regard for the life he was about to destroy, in the process he would execute both step 1 and 3, lowering the Continent back to the planet and erasing the plasma shield afterwards, but he had no plans on executing step 2, the preservation of Life through a massive shield, that kept the Plasma away.

In my opinion some outer interference must have given him this order.

Maybe, after all these years, one of the other Junos managed to create a shaky connection back to the slumbering Yulungur, to foil with her plans and to try and overtake control of her functions.

If that were the case…, maybe they would even be able to control the Titano Machinae which are lying dormant all over the Landmasses, not only those in our republic but also those from far, far away.

Not to mention they might even go as far as to overtake the Kaiser Weapons which Yulungur had created herself…,

Though I am off the assumption that Yulungur had that thought pattern too and so she was wise enough not to build in a remote-control function into them, but a fail-safe program which shuts the Titano Machina's system down, should they be directed against either herself or innocent lifeforms." Hybrid Red kept rambling on, and as interesting this all was, did we stray far from the original question.

"That is all nice and well to know, but you still haven´t really explained to me what we are, if everyone else is a Hybrid themselves, haven´t you?" I asked him.

"Oh…, sorry you are right, I almost forgot.

Anyways, a Hybrid in our sense of understanding is actually the combination of an existing Hybrid while crossing it with another hybrid, important there is that both hybrids have to have the same genome, in this case, the human genotype, both Baion as well as Merveille, as a Caninu, have a human Genome in their DNA, through this it was able to combine Baion's DNA with Merveille´s DNA in the first place.

Prior to the previous attempt of creating life by having Baion´s DNA as dominant component being combined with partial DNA from Merveille, resulting in Nero and Blank, who were more Baion than Merveille, we were created by making a 50/50 mix of both.

We are so to say a Hybrid´s Hybrid, or a Super-Hybrid…, at least we were, before Merveille Million did the unthinkable…, she managed to evolve us even further by bringing the DNA of Maranell Wolvenra into the game, creating something entirely new, a so-called Hyper-Hybrid, also known as Shapeshifter." Hybrid-Red explained.

"A…, Shapeshifter?" I asked dumbfounded.

"Yes, a Shapeshifter, as you are aware, has Maranell, as well as you, the ability to change into the so-called Berserker-Form, which is basically an alternate and more sentient version of White´s Lion of the North.

This ability however has also gone over into me, as Human Hybrid.

Since all three Baion, Merveille as well as Maranell possesses the Human Genotype, the Human in us is not being overpowered by the double amount of Caninu/ Lupycan-Genome, that's why you can change from Caninu to Human and to Wolf via the Form-changing ability, known to you as Trance-form." Hybrid Red explained further.

"Well shit…, that's a lot to take in…., I might have suspected such but still, to hear it from one of my forms itself, is making things concrete to me." I replied and he nodded.

"I know it can be frightening, the ratio we currently are at, is as following,

1/7 Juno, 3/7 Human, 2/7 Caninu, 1/7 Lupycan-Hybrid.

If this remains unchanged, we will remain the same as we currently are." Hybrid Red explained.

Little did we know, that this hope was to be fruitless in near future.

"Luckily, Maranell Wolvenra´s own DNA consist mostly out of Lupycan-Genomes predominantly, but I have no idea what else has been thrown in the mix to create him back in his past, but whatever it is, it managed to adapt to your body…, if you were to fully master your forces you would literally be the strongest being on this planet, maybe you alone are able to defeat that Winged Shadow which the Juno so feared, and which your father and his family could only slay back at great costs." Hybrid Red explained and I nodded unsure.

"I never asked for those god-like powers though." I muttered.

"Red, none of us asked to be born and still we were, it is not as what we are born but what we make of it for the future, which defines us, that is what counts the most.

You don´t want to be seen like a god…, then don´t ever act like one, just because you have the potential for it, doesn´t mean you have to fulfil anyone's expectation but your own, sure many people will surely loathe you for the fact of possessing such incredible powers and not using them, but that is your very own decision, you must know when to use them and when not and what to make of all that power." Elh replied and I nodded.

"I know." I sighed.

"I know all that but it´s easier said than done, all those expectations, I see in the eyes of the people, small and tall, old and young, the faith they have in me, not only from the people of Shangri-La, but even more so from the people of the Shepherd Republic.

Back then as I fought Bruno and Baion, I did so because there was no other choice but to act, otherwise all what I loved and cared for would be destroyed, back then I didn´t even though that hard about all the other lives I would save through this, but in the end, people recognized me as their saviour, all the hopes and dreams their entire faith was suddenly loaded upon my shoulder, as if I was their prophet, a hero of olden times.

There is even merch being produced about me, cups, plates, action figurines, hell they even produced a number of Picture books about me, of missions I had been upon, told after reports from people, who just happened to be nearby during those times.

Popularity sure can be scary sometimes…, but it might just be profitable as well, luckily, I do get my share of it, after Chocolat got to know about it and made sure the one´s responsible for all the merch paid up, for making profit with our names, without our consent, unless they wanted to be dragged onto the court.

Of course, I knew I could not forbid them for doing such things, not anymore, as the population of the Republic began to see me as such a hero, everyone wanted a piece of me, even if it was just a figurine or a plate with my image on it.

Hell, I became as popular as Anastasia…., I mean Cocona.

Of course, it is quite flattering, however, beyond all that, it´s getting real tiring sometimes." I explained.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Elh sighed.

"I feel you, Red the Hunter, in my past I was regarded with such eyes as well, at one point, people all over Shangri-La had the highest expectation of me, everyone wanted to be my friend, of course most of the nobles and upper-society had their fair share of ulterior motives for that matter, and I got to know more nobles and their children, than I could count.

In the end it had been the least likely to use me, who became my closest friends and ultimately…., one of them even became my first love and girlfriend." Prince-Red explained.

"Helena…" I mumbled and he nodded.

"I still don´t know what to truly feel about it, on one hands it feels as if I would tarnish her legacy if I fall in love again…, on the other hand I feel myself as not being responsible at all…, I mean , now it is obvious that she was your first love, the love of your life…., but in my life, Elh is my girlfriend and the women I want to spent my life with.

Then again, we both are a part of the whole, so I don´t really know what to feel about it anymore." I explained and he nodded

"Of course, this can become quite confusing.

Especially when you later wake up and realize that the life you lived and the life you currently live might not correspond well with each other…, however, unfortunately, in our case Helena died…, even if her spirit and ghost have been saved within the Mind-Sphere, even if she is able to speak to us through Dahak, can´t I say that it truly feels as if she is still at our side.

Helena died on that day…, what we hear in Dahak is more like an echo of her, a sentient echo that adapts itself to the current situation, an AI that uses her thought-pattern as base.

Speaking with Dahak is, as if every eventual situation has been rehearsed by her.

I think this feeling of mine, results in me only being able to touch cold metal anymore, when talking to her.

To be honest, it is quite a cruel reminder of her…., even though I am sure it was not intended as such.

Still, I will never be able to feel her warmth again…, only in my memories." Prince Red explained and for the first time since arriving here, I felt his vulnerability, his brave façade crumbling.

"Back then as I let Rose seal my memories…, I did ran away from everything, even if Iike to tell myself that it wasn´t so.

I know most people who know Helena will see it as such.

The moment the one person most dear to me was taken away, I was ready to give up on life, but knowing that my death would sadden numerous people, I decided to let myself fall asleep instead, living in an endless dream, were my memories of Helena were enough to keep me sane, rather than feeling the emptiness which reality brought with it.

It was a most selfish request of me, to let Rose perform the Tabula Rasa (clean slate) spell on me, sealing the memories of myself deep within your consciousness, creating you, a body with only the primordial instincts in him, a body without memories or even the ability to understand anything about his current situation, as if you were just plunged into the world, like a Newborn, despite having the physical age of 8 years.

I can´t imagine the hardships and the scorn from other peoples you must have endured upon growing up, only because I wanted to forget my own pain.

Ever since I have woken up from my slumber and truly became aware of what I actually did to myself, I can´t forgive it, especially since I gave this body the opportunity for falling in love with someone entirely different, I enabled you to become a whole different self and I loathed the fact that I had to be reawakened, because we now have this discussion here in the first place.

If I would have kept on sleeping, you would only have to deal with Hybrid-Red, Berserker-Red and Antiqua Sanctus Remulus.

Those might have been the easiest to accept, I assure you…, but me…, I hardly can imagine that we ever manage to meet at a single point." Prince Red explained but I shook my head.

"Honestly I doubt that this is in anyway a different situation.

You have been the me I was before I woke up in the Orphanage, those lost memories I have always been seeking after, and now that you have awoken in me doesn´t mean that the me, who is in control of this body now, has to fade away, all we have to do is to sit down, to discuss things, and to accept each other.

I might not feel so much for Helena as you do, but it does not mean that her death completely fails to touch me, after all she was the one person who died to protect you and so ultimately myself as well.

Due to you giving the opportunity for me to live, I was able to make new friends, family and acquaintances, and if we shall be honest, so much hasn´t even changed, sure our environment has changed a great deal, but most of your acquaintances are also my acquaintances even from before you were re-awoken, like father as Quynne, Director Cherrypie, Rose, Carmine, etc.…

So eventually, our fates would have crossed and mixed either way, regardless of who has the ultimate control over this body." I explained and he slowly nodded.

"I get what you want to say..., it doesn't matter who is the original one, as we all are part of the same being, we all are part of the body called Red, whether a Hunter, a Prince, a Hybrid, or a Werewolf." Prince Red explained.

"Let´s agree to help each other out, with our knowledge and our abilities whenever such is required, shall we, for we all sit in the same boat anyways!" I explained festively as I held out my fist only for the others to connect theirs with mine as well.

"Am I allowed to do so?" I heard Werewolf-Red asking and it was the first time it actually spoke, since I arrived here, I was almost convinced that it had no cognitive abilities, like Hybrid-Red mused, but now I saw clearer.

It was the first time I looked at it truly.

It looked like me with thick black fur, muscles all over its body, ancient runes were carved into its being, appearing like lines of silver in his fur, telling the tales of olden times, it looked wild and unrestrained, but then again not entirely merciless, I do saw compassion within it, kindness and intellect.

If I would have to describe it, I would call it a wandering warrior, someone who fights for the right cause, no matter where nor when, someone who fights injustice wherever it arises, I bet this was the part of father, that wandered for centuries all over the world, after he left the throne to his brother.

So much for being just a sentient parasitic force.

Werewolf Red was the Power that resided within me and which had been born, the day that my body was finally finished from being shaped, Father´s essence.

His convictions, his powers and abilities and I was certain, if I were to truly take my time to speak with it and to connect with it, the same way I connected with Hybrid Red and Prince-Red, I might even see some of Father´s Memories.

Werewolf-Red was basically part of my Father´s Legacy, the Trinity of his soul.

The courage to stand before all and every evil trying to bring peace and freedom for those who have not the force or lack the will to strife for such.

The Powers he earned through centuries of rigorous training and extensive traveling, learning every day something new, all in an attempt to somehow fulfil his purpose one day, to slay what is to be the end of everything.

Lastly his Wisdom, which he has gained through interacting with countless of people, my father used to be a warrior for most of his life getting to know war, death and destruction from since he could walk.

The fear of death was constant in his earlier years and yet he gained courage and the conviction that this was not all of what life held for him, but that a whole world of wisdom laid just outside the walls of the laboratory, in which he had been born.

Later on, through his centuries of traveling, he was able to acquire an extensive portion of that wisdom, which granted him mighty powers and he passed it on to me.

It was given to me, in order to fulfil my role, but of course it was not given to me in a raw form, it was given to me as another aspect of my own, fully mastering and understanding it, would make me likely to become just like him, his true heir and from there, I was to walk my own path, make my own decisions and find my own courage to seek the wisdom, that would grant me my own power, and at the end of my time, I was to give that further to the next one, to my own heir for him to walk his path.

Accepting this would open a whole new view on the world for me, that I was certain.

So the answer I gave Berserker-Red…, or more, Wolve Enra, the Wolven Guardian of this world, was the only right one.

"I would be glad to have you!" I stated with firm voice and unshakable believe as well as a bright smile.

Wolve Enra put his fist to us, reluctantly, looking into our faces to find any traces of reluctance, but all he could find was acceptance, even from Hybrid-Red.

If I myself could accept my Human aspect, I easily could also accept my Wolven aspect.

The sole one who was yet missing in this circle was the fifth one, Antiqua Sanctus Remulus.

"Remus Santiago, I don´t know whether this great evil, that destroyed your world, will arise in my time, but I will surely heed your warnings and treasure your feelings and worries, I will do my most possible to make sure, that such a war shall never be unleashed again, however I am certain that alone I will not be able to do so, I will need allies and for that I need the power to persuade them.

If I know all of the past, I can warn everybody, so will you allow me to draw upon your forces born from the regret not to have had them when you should have, your grief is that you could not save the world from the evil you unknowingly unleashed yourself.

I will take that grief, and turn it into power, to save the world in my time, maybe it will ease your soul then, knowing that you helped to save the world after all." I stated towards the Silhouette of the giant quadrupedal wolf, that looked at us through curious and melancholic eyes.

"I wish to save the world, that has always been my wish…, and my greatest regret, for it was I that doomed the world of humans…" A voice stated before the Wolf transformed itself.

It got tinier and stood up to stand on two legs, its animalistic feature vanished until it assumed a similar form like Hybrid-Red.

It wore black clothes, a stylish suit…, but it had something melancholic and sorrowful to it, as if it were funeral clothes, his hair was a long mane of raven black hair, his eyes hazelnut brown, he was around the age of 50 as far as I could say.

But more than that was the circumstance, that despite seeing this man for the very first time, he somehow seemed familiar to me.

"If I hadn´t given my Professor those damn cards as a souvenir…, if only we hadn´t found the Juno, maybe Humanity could have survived…, no, I guess information such as this would have been found either way.

One day, when satellites would have been strong enough, they might would have picked up the signals from the Juno´s fiber-body, no, even more than having found Yulungur, I loath the fact that I found out about the other 4…, I think that was what ultimately triggered the Calamity-spiral, which pulled Humanity to hell…" Remus explained and I felt with him.

"If only I hadn´t born..." He stated.

"Bullshit!" We heard a loud hiss, which was so out of her character that I literally was startled.

"You wish you weren´t born so that you could not trigger the downfall of humanity…, then I ask you, Remus Santiago, what exactly have you done, other than seeking wisdom.

Was it you that created the conflicts or the Titano Machinae, was it you that waged war over petty reasons with said mass destruction weapons…, no, all you wanted was to know…, to know all there was to know and that is something no one can despise you for, not even yourself.

It is in the nature of Mankind and also in us Beastkind, to know about the unknown, some of us want that more, others less, but deep within us we all want it.

Wars and conflict exist since time itself, even before humans were born, the survival of the fittest is such a concept that borders on conflict and war.

Everybody seeks to find shelter, food and preserve its own race, that is the ultimate primordial instinct in all of sentient creations.

But since such is limited and not always welcome to others, this is what sparks conflict, it is primordial to fight for territory and food when the own supply is being exhausted…, or men who fight over a female in order to preserve their genes before their death, although stupid, is that some common occurrence as well.

Humans just managed to turn this primordial instinct up to the max, by inventing weapons and further evolve them to kill more and more, until they had weapons strong enough to destroy an entire city with a single strike.

If we look at the Era of Belligerent States, then we can see that Beastkind is in no way different to Humankind, all that has changed is our physiology, nothing more nothing less, since all of us have been born from humans, as Hybrid-Red explained earlier.

He is right, we aren´t so different from humans, even Baion once said so, and as much as I hate to admit it, was he right about that.

But just because we are doesn´t mean that we have to repeat their mistakes, Hybrid-Red was right about that too." Elh explained, herself appearing as a ghostly bluish silhouette, almost as if made of fluorescent smoke, as she nodded over to the same who grinned at her with delight of being acknowledged.

"You curse yourself for something you haven´t done, something you are not to blame for and that is nothing short but sad, especially by looking at how long your soul has done so.

For centuries, millennia even, you mutilate your own soul with grief and mental agony.

Stop feeling pity for yourself and find the courage to help those you seek out as a host, to help them preventing something similar to happen again.

After all, it is thanks to your decision back then, that the world was saved and so also Humanity, at least their essence, in new form.

It was you, among others, who decided to reset the world, to rid it from its darkness and to let a new dawn arise.

So stop blaming yourself for something that happened out of your power, stop calling yourself the Apostle of Ruin, all of you twelve…

For to me, you are the Prophets of a new Beginning." Elh explained and in that moment, I was prouder of her than ever before.

Then again, I was well aware, that the same speech was most likely rehearsed by her to someday use on Merveille, as she sits literally in the same boat as him.

You could literally see, how this ancient grief ridden soul began to light up, a new found hope arose within it.

"She´s right, you are not the one who brought Calamity, you are the one that brought a solution to an existing problem, the one to give this world another chance.

And even after your death, you remained here to warn future generations of the legacy of the past and the evil that still slumbers, biding its time to reawaken once more.

It was thanks to your warnings, that my Father and his Comrades even managed to beat Marohumt once.

It is thanks to you, that we even are able to hold this conversation right now, thanks to you this world managed to survive another 13.000 years, and if we are strong enough and well prepared, i´m sure it will continue for at least double as long." I stated and Wolve Enra nodded.

"You used to inhabit the most potential hosts on this planet in order for your warnings to remain for the longest time.

13.000 years this used to be my father and now it is my turn, so I can rightfully say that you too belong to us, you are one of us." I stated and he nodded having gained new confidence in itself, maybe for the first times since aeons.

"I guess you are right…, though then again, even after my death I caused this world so much chaos, in that sense, I also want to apologize for my Son´s actions against all of you.

Its is due to a cyber-attack, of unknown source, that his consciousness was corrupted, while he was lying in cryogenically-sleep, but if I would think about the conversation from before, it becomes more evident that the other Junos tried to take control over him.

I guess, judging from his actions of birthing you and your Siblings, my other children haven´t either not awakened yet, or something different happened to them, forcing him to create himself new Allies.

Nevertheless, He almost destroyed everything his Mother and I, in my final hours, have worked so hard for." Remus explained and I was confused.

"Son…, who…, who do you mean?" I asked unsure, but an uncomfortable though began to grow in me…, don´t tell me….

"Why, Baion of course, or how we used to call him, Omega Nova." Remus stated and I think at that moment, my Chin crashed through the soil on the ground.

"B-BAION IS YOUR SON?!" Elh´s voice rang out in high Volume, making my ears ring.

"Elh for the last time, stop screaming in my mind, or I push you out of it, do you understand?" I hissed.

"S-Sorry about that." Elh´s voice mumbled apologetic.

"I think I will take my time, one day, for you to explain what you meant with this, but for now we should focus on getting to know each other, as we have done so far, but believe me, Remus, there are a lot of open questions, concerning your relationship to Baion." I explained and he nodded.

"I guess so, grandson." He stated and for the first time ever, I saw him smiling.

The face I felt was familiar to me, and now I knew why, was completely changed when he smiled…, in my opinion he surely could do so more often, it keeps your mind away from being overtaken by grief, I guess he must know best what is the result if you let it consume yourself.

"I know it maybe isn´t so funny for all of you, given the entire circumstances behind everything…, but I am glad that I, even after my death, had the opportunity to speak with a Grandson, in my mortal life I never even had a wife, let alone a lasting relationship, not until the very end.

Well on the other hand, the longest conversation with a woman I ever had so far, were the conversations I had with Yulungur…, so in a way, I shouldn´t say such things as that I shouldn´t ever have met her…, the things I learned from her were wonderful, technic, ancient biology, ancient history, she taught me so much…, and I might even go as far as to say that I too taught her the one of the other thing.

Maybe us humans influencing her has made her a little bit human herself.

After all, it was she herself, who suggested to give birth to hybrid Children, who each were to had a certain role to play, once Project Re-Genesis was to be near finished." Remus explained, more to himself than to me, but what he said was interesting.

I felt so that time too, back when I met Yulungur, despite herself saying that she was some kind of high advanced machine-being, she made a personal request to us, something a machine would not do.

Now, knowing the real background behind Baion, gave that request of hers a whole new meaning.

It was similar to Merveille as she asked me to defeat Blank and Nero, to stop them from loading even more sin upon their shoulders.

"Well anyways, now that we all are here and all have shared our opinions, I think we should discuss, what to do from here on, after all one each of us has most likely an own opinion on who to keep in charge from now on, right?" I asked.

"Hell, now that you say it…., then again, if we are all in this body then what makes us that, I wonder, all of us…, what are we even?" hybrid-Red asked grinning in mild self-mockery.

"Easy, I am you, you are me, we are one…, we all are Red!" I exclaimed with a grin of my own as Remus put his fist against ours.

"I think we should keep you in charge, maybe it had been my body originally, but people mostly know you now as who you are, the Red that was raised in Airedale and the Darven islands and who grew up to become a famous Hunter, if your personality would now drastically change, people might become even more wary of us, as they currently might be.

I think we should just agree to help you out once in a while, whenever there is dire need.

As someone without much special power, I gladly will help you with all I still know about etiquette, royal society, politics etc..., once you arrive at Shangri-La…, how about that?" Prince-Red proposed and I had to see, that this was perhaps the best idea and action to take.

"I´m in." I exclaimed.

"No objection here." Remus replied, followed by Wolve Enra.

"I´m sure it will be fun either way, regardless of who´s in charge." Hybrid-Red mused and a little I had to admit, that he reminded me of Calua…, this total carefree attitude as long as nothing serious happens.

"Then it is decided, Red Savarin the Hunter will remain ultimately in charge upon our Body and we will help and speak to him through his sub-conscious, whenever need arises." Prince-Red exclaimed loudly and we all nodded.

"This is somehow so touching you know, like a Reunion of brothers who have seen each other after a long time." Elh stated with a fake sniff and I rolled my eyes, touching she says, what part of it is I wonder.

In reality this was nothing but a better compromise, I knew that, but it was perhaps the best we could currently do, who knows what the future holds, we need each other, in times of distress such as these, we need to pull on one string.

"Anyways…., I have another far more pressing question for you all, my dear brothers-in-arms." I stated with a snicker and a devilish grin.

A grin that was met by Hybrid-Red´s own one, though who knows what he was thinking about again.

"Fire away." Prince Red asked interested.

I motioned them to huddle close together, all of them.

"So…., the question I want answered is following…, now that we have decided to rightfully share this body equally, and to help each other out in times of need…, I want to know …, who´s going to give Elh the D tonight?" I whispered grinning and I heard Prince-Red´s audible groan as he rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, you even manage to make fun of yourself in your own mind?

Ain't the answer obvious, she is your girlfriend so it has to be you, you dimwit." He mocked and I grinned.

"Well, it is a question we have to clear up beforehand…, or maybe she might even like it to have one each of us once…, who knows, maybe she will develop a new fetish for split-personalities…" I snickered and that did edge a grin and a blush on his face, widening my own even more.

"Honestly, I wouldn´t mind, I might look human but even I can see the appeal of a Cute Cat girl." Hybrid Red explained and I nodded to him with an even wider grin.

"I would rather not, I might hurt her, and it´s not sure if I even can." Wolve Enra explained.

"Hey, as long as this body has one between his legs, you surely can, you just need to get a taste of the idea, best be by admiring Elh´s naked body." I replied and he nodded slowly but still doubtful.

"I think I will pass…., I don´t think it would be fair to Elh, and after all she doesn´t know me neither do I know her well enough for something like that." Remus explained and I knew he would pull out.

"So Hybrid Red and I…, this might become interesting." I grinned.

"By the way…, now that I recognize, isn´t the term Hybrid-Red and Prince-Red boring, can´t we…, like, call ourselves by some nick name?" Hybrid-Red asked.

"Sure, no objections but what would that be, I mean at the very least we three are basically Red from the beginning." I asked him.

"Well…, for me I think, Hybred for example, its simple enough I would say." Hybrid Red, now known as Hybred explained and indeed it was simple enough.

Take the Hyb from Hybrid and my name, Red, and you come out with a name, which sounded similar to Highbred, accurate I would say.

"And what about you?" I asked Prince-Red.

"Hmmm…, Hmmmm., no idea, what might suit me.

Maybe Prired…, no that sounds dumb…, how about…, Roy, from Royal..., that should sound about right." Prince Red, aka Roy, wondered and I had to say this did sounded nice.

"Then it is decided, we are Red, Roy, Hybred, Remus and Wolve Enra, a colorful cluster of personalities and spirits all mixed up in one body, going through life with a splitting headache." I stated lightly with a laugh, earning some laughter from the others as well.

"Help!"

"Huh"….., Suddenly it was as though there was someone whispering to me.

"Help me!" There was it again, although louder this time.

"Hmm…, you said something Elh?" I wondered, half fearing she might have heard us, even with us whispering.

"No…, no I didn´t, why are you asking…?" Elh asked unsure.

"Help me..." I heard that voice again, now a little cleared, it sure didn´t sounded like Elh.

"Do you hear that…, who is that…, whose voice are we hearing?" I wondered but none of us had a clue.

"Red, if only you could hear me…., please, please I beg you, if you can find it in your heart…, please help us." The voice stated her tone one of utter despair.

"Is this someone you know…, sounds like a girl?" Elh asked confused.

"Sounds like it…, but all I know should be in safety…., as far as I know at least…

Hey you, who are you!?" I asked aloud.

"Please…, I beg of you!" The voice kept on saying getting more and more desperate, it was as if I could hear her tears falling, and all of a sudden i saw her, the person behind this voice, it was the same as when i heard Blank and Nero´s voice in my mind the first time they spoke to me, after they died by my hand.

The young woman i saw was a teenage girl, tomboyish for sure, clad in some kind of uniform, her eyes looked frantically around, filled with terror, it ouched my very core to see her so frightened.

"I would gladly help you if you tell me who you are…, but moreover where you are and what´s going on." I replied but instead of getting an answer it was as if suddenly images began to flash here in my mind, more vivid than her silhouette.

I could see a battlefield, destroyed houses, broken street-lanterns, chaos and destruction as far as the eye could see..., some kind of creature was floating in the night sky…, and on the ground I saw a group of Children.

The beast unleashed a giant fireball upon the kids and I knew, despite them having erected a shield made of magic, that the same was most likely not going to hold out against that.

"This won´t hold…., YOU MORONS, YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF THERE!" I shouted in desperation, I was not even sure if what I saw was real or just a projection in my mind.

Was it happening right now or was it some kind of clairvoyance, of an event that happened in the near future.

Who were those kids…., well to be honest I knew exactly who they were…, well at least half of them I knew, even if just from Belugas photo, so what good would it do to deny that knowledge?

"Please…, if there is a god…, if there is someone who can hear me…, at least save my siblings and friends, all of them, I don´t care if you take me, but don´t take away Betakin and Cetala, and Yin and Yang….!" The voice of Alpharia Million tried to shout, hoarse from the intense heat of the fire ball.

Wait heat…, how was I supposed to feel heat when I was meditating on a island far away from that, if all of this was happening in my mind anyways.

Unless…, I looked around and indeed, my other soul-parts were gone, it was just me standing here and it didn´t needed anyone to tell me…, this here was reality, somehow myself had managed to make a leap , hundreds of miles to somewhere, where I was needed.

And these kids definitely needed my help.

Even if I told myself before, that I would not acknowledge Merveille's children unless I would meet them face to face and get to know them good, was I now certain.

The reason of why I was suddenly here, of why I heeded some call of a stranger to me, why my soul managed to travel so far in a single leap through unknown means, was because I had already accepted them, in my heart, as my step-siblings.

Any uncertainty was blown away by the moment that Alpharia's tear-stained and frightful eyes met mine, her mouth opened for a shout, sheer sad and sorrowful eyes, that lighted up with happiness upon seeing me, before the fire engulfed them all.

"RED…, HELP US!"

Before I could comprehend what just happened, my body had already moved by itself.

It moved to aid them, to come to the safety of children I had been wary of…, when all they wanted was to meet me, to be acknowledged as my siblings to them.

All of that was written in Alpharia´s eyes.

"Please, accept us…, please save us and accept us." They screamed.

What was I a fool for ever doubting them, they were Merveille and Beluga´s Children, of course they would not be raised to become arrogant and indifferent to the life of others.

They were surely intelligent, intelligent enough to make a real difference in the world, if you let them.

Strong, strong enough to overcome every obstacle on their path, no matter how dark things looked for them.

And Courageous, courageous enough to search for the unknown, to conquer it and make it something, from which we all can benefit somehow.

All of that, if only they would survive….

"As if I let you die, the moment we meet!" I shouted, my voice strangely distorted but clearly audible, as with a blast of wind magic, I blew away the inferno the fireball had unleashed.

"Red, you came!" Alpharia´s voice, filled with happiness and visible relief, stated aloud, the tears in her eyes spoke of purest joy.

"Of course…, after all, we are family." I replied as I looked up to the beast in the night sky.

It won´t become easy, that was for sure, but if we all stick together, we surely will make it.

We will defeat the evil and safe this place.

Flashback end, Cedargold, Harbor area, Red´s Pov:

Saving them…, in hindsight I had no idea how crucial this deed would be, sure I could have told myself, that I did it because both Alpharia and Betakin are wearers of Armatura Impervius, knights that were to belong into my service…

But if I shall be honest, I just wanted to have a family, to belong to a good functioning family, with a father and a Mother and with true siblings, who share the same blood, even if just to a half, but more than Nero and Blank.

It has been my biggest and most secret wish, to have such, for once in my life, even if it would only last briefly, just for a moment…, as I was sure that I had to separate myself from them in near future, given the fact that we survive the upcoming war.

A Family where I could live and breathe easy, where I could wake up on a peaceful morning and with my own selected freedom.

It would be different from Shangri-La, where so much expectation laid upon me, upon all of me.

So much that it slowly began to crush me a little, for that very reason I had to gain allies, as I told Remus so…, people, who take part of the load off my shoulders and unto theirs.

The future was sure to be rocky, and I don´t know what will await me and what I might encounter…, maybe I find another part of my soul along the way.

Five is such a dumb number after all, 6 is more like it, as long as I don´t completely loose myself though.

Things were bound to get strange and crazy, now surely more than ever…, but I knew, with friendship, trust and loyalty of those around me, I will pull on through no matter what comes our way.

Little did I know that meeting another new me would conclude in fully new problems for me to deal with…, little did I know, just what was awaiting me.

To be Continued….

A/N: Yes…, well I guess here we have another unexpected chapter and I have decided to write two more chapters after that, to get on a total number of 10 rather than 9.

The next Chapter will be definitely about the battle though, but the last Chapter will lead us to the present day, where the Million family for the first time in their life, meet up with Red and Elhize, truly from face to face, will it become a touching moment or will reservation and uncertainty ruin the moment.

Some details from the past might even turn that moment into utter chaos, keep reading to find out.

Sincerely, yours truly the Storyteller and his Books.