With how tired they all were it took almost an hour just to reach the library. Xofamai was the worst of them he looked like he was ready to drop at any seconds. Two of his three tails had vanished leaving only one tail in it's place. Clara really wanted to ask what he was but she knew the man was probably way too tired to launch into an explanation right now.

Oliver knocked at the door three time. Timothy opened up the door almost immediatly his worried expression made his wrinkles even more pronounced, making him look even older than he really was. ''Thank God you're all alright. I heard something roar over and over again. I was worried you got all killed by that monster.''

Xofamai was the first to respond. ''Sorry I know it's unprofessional of me but that fight took a lot out of me so if you don't mind I'm going to sleep I'll let the kids explain what happened.'' The old man nodded in understanding and Xofamai let himself inside before he crashed on the couch almost immediatly falling asleep right there.

''Come inside you two. I have some drinks down in the basement I'll go fetch some. you look thirsty young lady... You are Clara right? Sorry but you look very different.'' The girl eyes widened, in her tired state she had completely forgot to turn back into her human form. She nodded at the old man with a sheepish expression.

Then Timothy noticed the blood on her right side and immediatly grew concerned. ''Oh dear you're injured! Stay there I must have some bandage somewhere!'' Clara immediatly shook her head.

''Don't worry about it. The wound is arleady healed I guess being a freak of nature has some advantage sometime.''

Oliver looked at her angrily. ''You're not a freak! Don't say that about yourself!'' He yelled, then he winced when he realised he was being too loud but Xofamai didn't even wake up.

''But that's what I am, my father took my humanity away from me. I can only pretend to be who I used to be now, but I will probably never really be myself ever again. When I was a young like many girls I dreamed of being swept off by an handsome Prince and have many children and live happily ever after. But look at me now, no sane humans would ever want to marry something like me.''

Oliver wanted to protest but he didn't know how. The girl shook her head and walked into another room. Oliver watched her go with a sad expression. He felt a hand pressing on his shoulder and look at Timothy who was looking at him with a soft sad smile on his face.

''I froze.'' Oliver said ashamed of himself. ''I wish I could tell her she's wrong but I don't know if that would really be true or not. I care a lot about Clara, but the fact she's part Elestia kind of make me nervous.''

Timothy shook his head. ''It's a strange world we live in. But I'm sure the girl will be okay as long as you stay with her. I can tell that she mean a lot to you and you to her.''

Oliver blushed but managed to nod in confirmation. ''I used to be a coward I ran away from everything. Everytime a place started to become too dangerous I would just bolt away and find a new place to find food. I hated myself I even abandoned people I used to care about because of this cowardice. But Clara changed that, I don't know why but ever since I met her. I finally got the courage to stand up and try to make a difference instead of just avoiding trouble.''

''You love her.'' Timothy said with a bright smile on his face.

Oliver sputtered and immediatly started to protest. ''What?! No! She's just a friend! The only friend I have left. Beside even if I did love her, which I don't. I don't think it would ever work. She's half Elestia, I like the human part of her but I'm not sure I could ever bring myself to love an Elestia not romantically, anyway that would be just weird.'' Timothy shook his head but said nothing in response.

''You should go sleep, Oliver.'' Timothy said before he started to walk away but Oliver stopped him before he could reach the door.

''Wait I was supposed to tell you what happened on our mission!'' Oliver said but the old man turned back and shook his head with a smile.

''I can tell you're all tired from whatever happened. I can wait until tomorrow to learn the details. For now you should just rest, oh and if you get thirsty my offer for soft drink still stand. You can go take some in the basement I won't mind. Tell that to the young lady too if you get the chance.'' The the old man left leaving Oliver alone with his toughts.

- - - - -

Oliver woke up to the smell of eggs being cooked. Which was something he hadn't smelled in a long time. Animal products were a rare commodity nowaday and animal meat even more so. In fact more than half of the towns in Orchestralia consider animal meat consumption highly illegal and penalized by death.

The animals population are so close to extinction that it is considered an act of genocide to eat any sort of animal meat. But animal products like eggs and milk are considered okay to eat. In fact the richest town in Orchestralia have a huge farm that specialized in selling both of these things.

Oliver woke up and followed the smell. He came in a small section of the library the section that clearly used to be a place where people could read in peace. But it had been transformed into a small kitchen. Four small table had been placed together to make a larger table. It had been place in the middle of the room far away from any books in the vicinity. Timothy had put a frying pan on top of a portable stove. Oliver could smell the heavenly smell coming from it.

Timothy noticed that Oliver was standing there and smiled at him. ''Sorry I didn't ask you how you like your eggs. I hope that scrambled eggs are okay?'' Oliver nodded and went to sit on the table his stomach arelady growling in anticipation.

The old man continued to cook in silence and went to put the eggs in a small bowl before placing it in front of the boy who looked at the bowl like it was a gift from heaven. He proceeded to dug in like a ravenous wolf. Once he was done Oliver looked at the bowl sadly, disappointed that the meal was arleady over.

Timothy chuckled at him in good spirit. ''Someone was hungry this morning! Now that you had a meal I would very much like to hear what happened yesterday.'' Oliver nodded and started to explain everything that had happened.

''...And then while trying to protect Clara I jumped on it and it threw me off in a hole. Unfortunately I missed the rest of the fight so if you want to know the rest you should ask Clara or Xofamai.'' Said Oliver.

Timothy nodded with a thoughtful frown on his face. ''I'm sorry but there's something I want you to clarify for me. You see I really don't know much about Elestia apart from the basic. So can you explain to me what exactly is a Dragonling?''

Oliver looked sheepish. ''Sorry i just assumed you arleady knew. Well Dragonlings are-'' Just before he could start to properly explain it to the old man another voice interupted him.

''They're the children of the Dragons.'' Clara was standing in the door in her human form. If she was still mad about what had happened yesterday she didn't show it.

''The children of the Dragons? I thought all the Elestia were the children of the Dragons?'' Timothy said with a confused look in his eyes.

Clara shook her head. ''I could see why you would think that. Elestia are the children of the Dragons from a certain point of view. The wild Elestia see the Dragons that share their Nature as their master and look to them for guidance. But the Dragonlings are the real biological descendants of the Dragons and that make them a lot stronger than a normal Elestia.''

''If they look like Dragons and are descendant of them why don't we just call them Dragons?'' Timothy asked still confused.

Clara had to think a moment to find a right explanation. ''The real eight Dragons have power beyond anything we have ever seen. People have rightfully compared them to Gods. Whether that's true or not that's debatable, but whatever the case may be they are in a league of their own. Dragonlings are powerful but not nearly as powerful as a proper Dragon. If the Dragons are Gods then the Dragonlings would be demigods.''

Oliver nodded in confirmation. ''She's right the Dragons are really something you don't want to be faced with. They bought down every majors government and military forces in the world in a single month. Honestly they could have probably wiped out humanity in half a year maybe even less. Nobody really know why they leave smaller settlements alone. But it's really fortunate for us that they do.''

Timothy looked disturbed at the implications but he nodded. ''I see... Say Oliver forgive me for not talking to you about it last time you were here. But I didn't think it would be a good idea to suggest it at the time, what with all the undead roaming about. But for the last twelve years I have been taking care of your mother's house that is until that Dragonling came and make it too dangerous to go outside unless necessary. Everything is as she left it I only made sure to clean up the dust and make sure the house stay in good shape. A lot of people told me before the Invasion that I should sell it but I never had the heart to. If you want to go see it I could give you the keys.'' He said before putting a hand in his pocket and presenting Oliver with a small key.

Oliver breath caught in his troat as he reached for the key with a trembling hand. ''Thank you great-uncle.''

Timothy nodded with a smile on his face. ''It's nothing my boy and just call me uncle. Great-uncle is a bit of a mouthful.'' Oliver nodded before he rushed toward the exit with anticipation in his step.

''Oliver wait! I'll come with you, that is if you don't mind me being there?'' Oliver looked back at her and nodded. Clara smiled and walked beside him. Timothy smiled with a michevious glint in his eyes as he watched them go.

- - - - -

Oliver was surprised when a few minutes after they left the library Clara decided to drop her illusion and revealed her hybrid form. ''Sorry Oliver, after everything that happened in the last two days I feel kind of naked walking around in my human form. I know the undead are gone but I feel more safe being able to use my power at their fullest.''

Olive nodded at her with an understanding look in his eyes. ''I know what you mean. I accidently forgot to bring my Draconid Gem with me today and I feel like I'm left completely defenseless right now.'' Clara smiled at him and took his hand in her own hands. Making the boy blush slightly in the process.

''Don't worry if anything happen I'll protect you Oliver.'' She said confidently.

He rose an eyebrow toward her. ''Isn't it usually the man that's supposed to protect the girl?''

Clara rolled her eyes at that. ''Well I'm the one that's able to lift boulders with my mind. So until you somehow become powerful enough to top that I'll be the one to protect you.'' She said with a smug expression.

Oliver grumbled slightly at that. ''Fine but don't think I'm always going to be defenseless. Sandy and Bolt might be weak for now but I'll train them until they're even stronger than you.'' He said in a cocky voice.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Clara responded with a cocky expression of her own. ''Bring it on! I'll beat any Elestia you throw at me!'' They looked at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter. As they continued to walk Oliver was overwhelmed by a sense of nostalgia as he recognised a few of the building they passed. He didn't really have the time to enjoy the scenery when the undead were wandering the streets. Even then he was only three when his mother died and he had to go live with his father in Ringabell, so his memory of this place wasn't the best.

But when he saw the old ice cream parlor. He remembered that his mother would often bring him here after they had spent the day at the local park. His favorite thing was the screamer. It was a slush but they also putted a mountain of vanilla ice cream on top of it. He remembered that he once got a brain freeze because of it. He thought that he would die because of it, but his mother had just laughed at him.

''Oliver are you alright?'' Clara said in a worried voice making him snap out of his memory.

He looked at her in confusion at the question. ''Yeah why?'' He asked nonchalantly.

But Clara frown remained. ''You're crying.''

Oliver looked at her in surprise before wiping it away from his eyes. ''It's nothing... Just lost in memories I guess.'' Clara still looked worried but she let it go deciding that if anything was really wrong he would tell her. Their walk throught the small town ended when they came in front of a small house. It had white fence around the backyward and a small door that still look new despite all the years that had passed. The only thing that made it look like it wasn't inhabited was the long overgrown grass surounding the house. But considereing that his uncle wasn't able to come here in a few months it didn't really surprised him.

Oliver came in front of the red door and took a deep breath before putting the key in the keyhole. As he turned it inside it responded with a soft click and he slowly opened the door. As soon as he stepped inside Oliver felt like he had been tranported into another time. A much happier time when Dragons and elemental beasts were nothing more than legends and fairytales.

The first room they entered had a chimney he remembered he would often roast marshmallow there while his mother would read him books about heroes saving Princesses in distress. There was a small library of book one of them in particular jogged his memories. It was a book called Lord of The Ring he remembered that his mother would use to read that one to him. But it had been so long ago that he barely remembered anything about the story apart that it had to do with a powerful ring and an evil entity that wanted it at all cost.

Clara took the book in her hand along with all the other books of the same series. ''Maybe you can read them once you learn to read properly.'' He nodded maybe reading the story would remind him more of his mother, he certainly hoped so. They decided to leave the room in search of another one.

As soon as he entered the next room another wave of memories hit him. The room had obviously been intended for him. The room had been painted blue and there was a large poster depicting a young man dressed in green clothes and holding a sword and shield. He was locked into a fight with a man with green skin and dark clothes holding a sword almost bigger than the hero himself.

There was a television that hadn't been used in a long time along with a console the same ones he had seen in a dream not that long ago. But his dream had obviously been incomplete for a lot more stuff was there than he remembered. There was large shelves filled with a lot of old consoles like Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis and the first Playstation. He remembered now that his father had been a huge fan of all this old retro stuff and had tried to make Oliver like it just as much as him.

His bed was a lot smaller than he remembered which was to be expected. The bed was shaped like a pirate ship. If he remembered correctly his grandfather had been a sailor, his father had been proud of him always telling tales of his great adventures at sea. Oliver noticed he was crying again and tried to wipe away the tears before Clara noticed. But it was too late, the girl putted a reassuring hand on his back.

''I-I'm fine this place is just dusty, let's look for another room.'' He said in a shaky voice Clara nodded she looked at him sadly. Unlike him she never had the chance to meet her mother since she had died at childbirth. But there wasn't a day where she didn't wish she could meet her. So she somewhat understood the pain he was going through.

The next two rooms in the house was the kitchen and the bathroom these places did not invoke as much memories as the last two place so they decided to move on. They arrived in another bedroom. With this one they could tell it was intended for adults.

The walls had been painted into a plain white color. There was a bed in the middle of the room and it was a queen size which implied that this was intended for both his mother and father. But Oliver remembered that his father rarely visited. He was always too busy in the lab at Ringabel City. It made his mother sad that he was always gone and he remembered hating his father for it. But now he only missed both of them.

He still wished his mother was here but he didn't know if she could have handled this world. She was a gentle soul and she wore her heart on her sleeve. The only reason why she hadn't been taken advantage of much, was because everyone in town loved her. If anyone would have dared hurt his mother's feeling the whole town would have surely made their life a living hell.

In the room they could see another television but this one was much bigger than the one in his room. Under it was a bedside table with a Blu-ray. Oliver got curious and opened the door of the bedside table and found stacks of movies. He recognised almost none of them, It had been a long time since he had lived here. And watching movies wasn't really a common thing to do nowaday. People used the little electricity they had for things they absolutely needed to survive. It's crazy what people of the Old World took for granted that was now a rare commodity nowaday.

Clara however had much less trouble recognising some of those movies. ''Wow! The first six Star Wars movies, the Indiana Jones Trilogy and the complete Infinity Saga. Your mother had some good taste in movies.'' Oliver didn't recognised any of those names but he trusted Clara's judgement on this.

Oliver looked around the room once more finding nothing else of interest apart from some more furnitures that loooked like they were full of clothes. But then on one of the desk he saw a small unassuming red book with no title on it. He opened it up and tried to read. He was still learning the basics of reading but with some effort he managed to decipher the first two words.

''Dear... Diary. Who is Diary and why is my mother writing to him?'' He asked in confusion.

Clara looked at him with a deadpan stare until she realised he was serious. ''Wait you don't know what a diary is?'' Oliver shook his head in response. ''...Wow either you're really ignorant or our civilisation has fallen a lot further than I thought.''

''Hey! Just tell me what it is arleady!'' He shouted angry that she would insult his inteligence, sure maybe he wasn't book smart like she was but he knew a lot more of what was going on in the world than she did everything, she knew she readed it. He on the other hand knew what was happening because he saw it firsthand. Oliver was of the opinion that experience counted for more than reading thing on a piece of paper... Then again his opinion might be biased considering he barely knew how to read at all.

''Well... A diary is simply a book people write into. They talk about how their day went and they sometime talked about their dreams, their goals their fear and worries, anything really.'' She said in a lecturing voice.

''Why would they do that?'' Oliver asked incrediously.

Clara rolled her eyes at him. ''Well some people write in diaries to remember what they were doing years ago, or they just want to vent to something that won't talk about their problem to anyone else. There's also some people that want to leave a record of their life behind after they die.''

Oliver looked down at the book and he felt something caught in throat. What would he find if he managed to read this? Would he even be able to read it at all? Seeing his conflicted looked Clara approaching him and grabbed the book.

''You should bring it with you. Maybe it will help you remember more of your mother.'' Oliver nodded and Clara proceeded to put the book in her backpack. Clara then looked at the window and saw that the sun had moved quite a bit since they had entered. ''We should go back to the library. Xofamai must be awake by now.''

''Yeah you're right let's go.'' They left and locked the door behind themselves. Oliver didn't want some random thieves to come here and ruin his last link to his childhood memories. As they made their way back to the library Oliver looked back at the small house one last time with longing in his eyes before turning back. ''Goodbye mom, I promise I will work my hardest and I will create a world that you would have loved to live in. A world without Dragons.''

''Uh? Oliver did you say something?'' Clara said turning her head toward him curiously.

He shook his head and smiled at her. ''No it's nothing, let's just go back.'' He said and began to walk with purpose in his steps. Clara was confused about the whole exchange but she shrugged and followed him.

- - - - -

Xofamai was still asleep when they returned much to the disappointment of the two teens. But Timothy was more than happy to host them for dinner. They stayed with the old man one more night. Oliver was kind of grateful to stay here once again even if he slept on a couch it was much more comfortable than the tent back at the metro.

But it couldn't last forever, the next morning Xofamai had finally woken up. He had been surprised to learn how long he had slept and told the teens that they had to return as soon as possible. Before the Resistance started to worry about them and send another team after them.

Timothy was sad to see them go so soon in the morning but he understood they had obligations and gave them a good farewell before sending them on their way. Once they were far away from Fluoti Town, Clara finally got the courage to ask something she had wanted to know since they defeated the Dragonling.

''So... What are you exactly Xofamai?'' She asked with trepidation.

Xofamai sighed in exhasperation. ''I knew the question was coming. Very well I guess you have the right to know. As you probably guessed by now, I'm a hybrid just like you Clara.''

Clara nodded she had expected as much but she was also curious about another thing. ''I figured as much. But I thought the Cult of The Great Ones only experimented on the people of my shelter. And I don't remember seeing you there.'' She said with a suspicious glared toward the man.

''Actually if I understood the timeline of your story correctly. I got my power a month after you got your. Since they had used every members of your shelter CGO started kidnapping people in the wild. I'm ashamed to admit it, but they caught me while I was returning from a mission to protect the wall of Bajoon. I thought I had dealt with all the dangers of the region and grew careless. I was only worried about wild Elestia and didn't consider other humans as a possible threat and it almost cost me everything.''

''I see so that's why you look much more human than me they must be closer to perfecting their formula by now.'' Clara said with a thoughtful frown.

''I'm not so sure about that.'' Xofamai said bitterly.

''Huh? Why do you think they're not close to completing their goal?'' Clara asked in confusion.

''CGO want to gain the power of Elestia without losing their humanity right?'' At that Clara nodded in confirmation. ''Well they did manage to come close to that but it came at a cost. The mortality rate skyrocketed... I died after they injected me with the serum.'' Both Oliver and Clara look at him in disbelief.

''Wait you can't have died you're standing right in front of us!'' Oliver exclaimed gistering at the man to make a point.

''I guess I should clarify, I was dead for almost ten minutes. And yes I know that being dead for this long, I should be brain dead by now, but as you can clearly see that's not the case. Not only that but my heart has stopped beating ever since I became a hybrid. The only reason I got out of the CGO base so easily is because they disgarded my body thinking I had died in their experiment. I woke up in a pile of bodies schedule to be burned I don't need to tell you how disgusting that was. After that I returned to the Resistance and learned to deal with my new abilities.''

Clara touched the man chest to confirmed if he was telling the truth and her eyes widened when she realised his heart really wasn't beating. ''How are you even moving about without a beating heart?''

Xofamai shook his head. ''I don't know, Death Elestia in general have stumped scientists for a long time. They don't make any sense scientifically. A lot of the more superstitious people say that Death Elestia are the ghost of living beings who weren't able to find peace after death.''

Clara wrinkled her nose at that. ''Yeah right as if ghosts could be real.'' She said with distaste in her mouth.

''I mean who can really say? Ten years ago no one would have believe you if you told them that Dragons actually existed.'' Oliver said with a shrugh. Clara opened her mouth about to protest but when she couldn't find anything to say in response she deflated and sulked away. ''But anyway you're a Kitsubi hybrid right?'' Oliver asked with a raised eyebrow.

''Yes I'm a hybrid of a Kitsubi from the Thanatos tribe.'' Xofamai said wondering where this line of questioning was going.

''You said the other day that each tails represent a century of a Kitsubi life right? Then how did you sprout three tails? You're clearly not three hundred years old.'' Xofamai scratched his head.

''Sorry kid I'm really not good at explaining this sort of complicated stuff. Once we return to the Dong Dong Community I'll present you to someone who know a lot more about all this, alright?'' Oliver was disapointed that he wouldn't get his response right now but he nodded.

The rest of the way was spent mostly in silence. The road had been mostly uneventful. Oliver wondered why so few Elestia had tried to attack them lately. Normally Elestia had no qualm in attacking any humans that cross their territory but most Elestia he had met these last few days turned tail as soon as they saw them. Maybe he had been just unlucky in the past? Then he look around his group. He had both Sandy and Bolt out following them and they alerted them of any potential danger they could sense, And then there was Xofamai with Aqua and he himself looked threathening with his glowing red eyes.

Were the Elestia... Afraid of them? Oliver had a bit of trouble believing that. he saw group of Elestia attacking entire towns with no fear at all so why do a small group of Chosens would scare them? He shook his head, it wasn't really important right now he should just focus on returning home...