They had been on the road all day and they were now getting tired. It didn't help that the streets were all cracked and uneven making it even harder to walk on it. But their luck turned around when they stumbled upon an old abandoned mall.
''This could be our resting spot for the night.'' Xofamai said.
Clara looked at it with wonder. ''Oh wow a mall! I wonder how much stuff is left in it?''
Xofamai raised an eyebrow at her. ''Don't expect to find too much inside. These kinds of place has been raided over and over again in the first few years after the Invasion. There's probably not much left other than rotten food and trash.''
Clara seemed to deflate at that, but she quickly recovered as they made their way inside the large building. Inside they found that the mall looked surprisingly well kept. There was a few broken windows there and there probably from looters that had come years ago. But there was no sign of glass shards anywhere on the ground.
They soon found the reason for why that is when a young adult man pointed the barrel of his shotgun toward the group. ''What are you doing here?! This is our territory if you think you can just come barge in, you're in for a nasty surprise!''
The trio all lift their arms in the air, Xofamai stared at the man with a frown. ''We're not looking for any trouble here. We just want a place to rest for the night.''
The man responded with a disbelieving chuckle. ''You expect me to believe that? I bet you'll just wait for nighttime to stab us in the back and steal everything in here! Now get out of here before I decide to fill your skulls with lead!''
''Frank, what are you doing?!'' A female voice from behind him. The girl looked around the same age as him but she stared at him as if she was scolding a child.
''I'm getting rid of the intruders, what do you think I'm doing?'' He replied with a glower toward the trio.
''Have you seen the symbol on their clothes? And the gems hanging on the belt of the one dressed in black? They're clearly members of the Ding Dong Resistance. With a single word they could summon their Elestia and kill us all, so please stop being a dumbass and lower your gun!'' The woman said to him.
The man scoffed but did as the woman say before leaving, glaring daggers at the trio all the way. ''Sorry about him, we got some problems with robbers in the past. I'm Katey by the way, we don't really have a leader in this place, but a lot of people listen to me since I'm the closest thing this place has to a doctor.''
Xofamai nodded at her. ''We didn't think this place was inhabited. We'll be on our way, thank you for helping us out of that situation.''
But before they could leave the voice of the woman stopped them in their tracks. ''Hey don't go so soon. You three look like you're dead on your feet. You can stay here for the night, you can even go in the abandoned stores and loot what little stuff is left, if you want. But everything on the second floor is owned by us. So don't touch it unless you want an angry mob with guns running you out of here.'' With that said Katey walked away and left the trio in silence.
The first one to break the silence was Oliver. ''So... Where are we sleeping? I feel like I could sleep for the rest of my life right now.''
Clara looked around in hope that maybe there was an old abandoned furniture store. Unfortunately they weren't so lucky. They settled to sleep inside a surprisingly untouched clothing store. The clothes they sold here were mostly made for kids and teens, so that might have been a reason it hadn't attract too much attention from looters.
Clara gasped as she stumbled upon a blue dress. ''Wow that would have look so cute on me when I was human. Too bad I'm not anymore.'' She said with a downcasted expression.
''So what? you should still try it. I bet it would still look amazing on you.'' Oliver said behind her making her jump in surprise.
She quickly regained her composure and frowned. ''I don't know... I tried wearing clothes before a few days after I turned into an hybrid and it wasn't a pleasant experience.'' Clara said with a frown.
''Maybe it's because you were still not used to your new body?'' Oliver suggested to her.
Clara gained a toughtful expresion and then sighed. ''Alright I'll try to wear the dress. Can you look away while I change?''
Oliver looked at her in confusion. ''Aren't you always naked?''
Clara blushed and then glared at him. ''That doesn't mean I want you to stare at me while I change!''
Oliver shrugged and turned around. ''Whatever you say.'' He heard the sound of clothes fumbling for a few minutes and then total silence. ''Clara are you done?'' He asked and the only sound he heard was loud breathing. He turned around and grew alarmed when it looked like Clara had trouble breathing. ''Clara are you alright?!''
''Can't... Breath.'' She replied barely above a whisper.
Without any hesitation Oliver took the dress and teared it in half to get it off of her. After a few seconds Clara's breathing was finally back to normal. But then much to his surprise tears began to form in her eyes. ''I hate that monster I used to call father. Because of him I have to run around without clothes like an animal. He took my humanity away! I'll kill him! I swear Oliver, I'll kill him!''
Oliver responded by giving her a hug, Clara buried her head in his chest and started crying. He held her until all her tears had been spent...
- - - - -
Later that night they were laying in their sleeping bags on the floor. Despite how tired he was Oliver couldn't fall asleep everything that had happened in the Memory Maze kept replaying in his mind over and over again.
''Psst, Oliver are you awake?'' The voice of Clara asked.
''Yeah I can't sleep.'' He replied.
''Are you still thinking about what the apparition of Maikoh said to you? Because I think she was wrong.'' She said.
He shook his head. ''No she wasn't, I am a coward and a traitor. I'm surprised you still want to hang out with me after everything you learned about me in there. I know I wouldn't trust someone like me.''
''There's nothing you could have done about the Knights back then Oliver. You were still a kid, the knights would have killed you.'' She replied to him.
''Maybe I would be better dead.'' He replied not looking back at her.
''Don't say that! If it wasn't for you Boreas might still be alive. Would a coward really be able to stand in front of a Dragon like that and deliver the finishing blow? I think you're much braver than you think'' She said in a self-assured voice.
''No I'm not, I'm still a coward. There was a thousand times since I joined the Resistance where I wanted to run and forget this insane plan of killing the Dragons.'' He said in a shameful tone.
''But you didn't.'' Clara replied.
''Yes, because I know what it cost to run and I'm much more scared of losing you and Xofamai over anything else. You're the only reason why a worthless mess like me made it this far.'' He admited while looking down.
Then he remembered something and looked up at Clara with a worried frown. ''What about you? You never told me you were religious.''
''That's because I'm not, not anymore anyway.'' At his sympathetic look she shook her head arleady knowing what he was about to ask. ''And no it isn't because of my father, not entirely at least.''
''Then why did you stop believing?'' He asked with a raised eyebrow.
''Well... If I want to be honest deep down I never really believed in religion. Growing up without a mom I just wanted to believe I could still meet her someday. I didn't want to believe that she simply ceased to exist before I could even meet her. I never really believed that an all-powerful entity was watching us 24/7. I guess I just didn't want to admit how cruel this world is, I was still mourning the fact I would never meet the woman who gave me life. And my father decided to rip that band-aid without a single thought to my feelings... Talking about this, I'm realizing maybe my father was never really a good man afterall, just like with my mother I tried to go against my own judgement of him because I didn't want to see the truth in front of me...''
Oliver was silent for a while. ''...I'm sorry Clara.''
She shook her head sadly ''None of this is your fault, but what about you? Have you ever followed a religion?'' Clara asked curiously.
Oliver responded by shaking his head. ''My family was never really religious you know. I wouldn't say I'm atheist, not with all the insane stuff that has happened in the last ten years. But at the same time I think giving your undying faith and loyalty to someone you barely know is kind of reckless and dangerous even if it's a god. I mean just look at the Cult of The Great Ones they worship the Dragons even thought they have bought us nothing but misery. I'm not saying every religions is as insane as that but I also think it has bought a lot of unecessary evils in our history. And I can't support something like that, no matter how much I want my family to be in a better world.''
After that the two teenagers stayed silent for a while trying to fall back asleep. But then Clara remembered something else from their time in the Memory Maze and she had to get an answer. ''... Hey Oliver, is it true that you find me attractive even in my hybrid form?'' Clara asked to the boy laying a few meters away from her.
If Oliver had been drinking at that moment he would have spit it all out on the floor. A red flush invaded his whole face. ''W-why are you asking that?!''
''I always thought I looked like a freak after becoming an hybrid. But if you think I look good then maybe I could try to see the good of this form too.'' Clara said barely above a whisper.
Oliver wanted to deny all of it and saved himself the embarrassment. But then he realised that if he lied now it would only hurt Clara's self esteem and he would feel even worse. Steeling himself he finally found his voice. ''I-I think both your form look good. I think your human form is more atractive and you smile more often in that form which make you seem even more beautiful. But I think your hybrid form is definitively your cutest form. And the fact that such a cute form can be so powerful and devastating make it seem even more adorable somehow.'' After having said that he just wished for a bolt of lightning to strike him down and save him from this awkward moment arleady.
''... Thank you Oliver, I also lied earlier you look way better than average, at least to me.'' She said before closing her eyes.
Oliver still felt bashful after the confession but he tried to close his eyes and fall asleep too. It took a while but finally he felt his consciousness slip away and was transported into the realm of dreams...
- - - - -
The first thing he noticed was the steady sound of wheels on steel rails. As he opened his eyes and looked around he noticed that he was sitting inside of a subway car. He looked throught the window and felt a strange sense of familiarity as the vehicle stopped in front of a station.
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That's when it hit him, he was in the metro that housed the Ding Dong Community! But how? The metro hadn't been in working condition for the last ten years! The doors of the subway car opened up wide and a lone figure stepped inside.
''Is this seat taken?'' The old man asked with a strange twinkle in his eyes. Oliver dumbly shook his head and the man sat beside him. He looked to be very old between seventy to eighty years old at the very least. He had balding hair and a long white beard that reached all the way down to his chest and he wore long gray robes as if he had just stepped out of a wizard convention or something.
''This place isn't real is it?'' Oliver said as he looked the old man with a weary expression.
The old man chuckle. ''Very perspective, yes you are dreaming right now young one.''
''Who are you exactly?'' Oliver asked with knit eyebrows.
''Me? Oh I'm no one important, just a humble servant of the All-Mother. But you can call me Harmony.'' He replied with a mysterious smile.
''The All-Mother? Who is that? Now that I think about it that Death Elestia mentioned her too.'' Oliver said while crossing his arms.
Harmony scratched his beard thoughtfully. ''That would take a long time to explain. And there's other things I wanted to discuss. But I suppose those can wait to another time. The All-Mother is for the lack of a better word a Goddess.''
Oliver crossed his arm and immediatly shook his head. ''Uh-uh, sorry but no, we arleady have the Cult of The Great Ones to deal with I want nothing to do with your weird religion.'' He said before trying to walk away but the old man put a hand on him and made him sit back down.
''It is not a religion, the All-Mother doesn't ask to be worshiped, all I'm telling you is simply the truth.'' Harmony said with his most sincere smile.
The boy sighed and nodded his head. ''Very well let's just get this over with.''
''I guess I should start at the begining. At the very begining of all things when time and space had yet to exist two beings came into existence. The All-Mother and the All-Father. The All-Mother is said to represent warmth, peace and order while the All-Father represent cold, freedom and chaos.''
''So let me guess these two being created the world?'' Oliver said having heard similar origin stories quite similar to this.
But to his surprise Harmony shook his head. ''No They did not create the world, not exactly anyway. You see the All-Father and All-Mother are not entities that came from outside this universe. They are the universe. Every living planets, every stars, every black holes and every galaxies in this universe is contained inside of the All-Father body, he is quite literally the universe itself.''
Oliver blanched out at the concept. If the entire world was a body did it meant they were nothing more than microbes living inside a body? But then something seemed to be missing in all this. ''What about the All-Mother in all this?''
''The All-Mother body host a completely different universe from the All-Father. A world where the souls of the dead come to rest so they can prepare themselves for another life inside the All-Father. You might know this world as the Spirit World or Heaven as humans often call it.'' Harmony said.
''I don't believe any of this, but I got to admit it's an interesting concept.'' Oliver replied to him but the old man didn't even seemed to notice what he said.
''There is another thing you should know. Just as the All-Father and All-Mother are important to us the mortals who live inside them, we are important to them. Oliver have you ever heard of the concept of entropy?'' The old man asked curiously.
Oliver frowned and shook his head. ''I think I heard the word somewhere but I don't know what it means.''
Harmony nodded in understanding and started to explain. ''Some scientists of the Old World as you call it theorized that the world is slowly turning colder as it is expending and that one day the universe would become too cold for life to exist. What these scientists didn't know is that a solution to that problem has arleady been in place for a very long time. Mortals are the solution to the problem. You see inside the All-Father, the world want to get colder. But inside the All-Mother it's actually the opposite, the world want to get hotter until it get so hot nothing could exist inside of it.''
Harmony took a breath between sentence and looked out of the window as he continued. ''If both of these scenario were to happen the two of them would perish and the two universes would cease to be. So they both came with a plan. The All-Father created living beings. At first the first living things were basic and almost robotic only obeying their basic biologic code. But the All-Mother created the Sparks or souls as most people call it. The primitive living beings started to gain emotions and they became more than just programs of flesh. Soon the living beings died and were sent to the All-Mother, the transition between the All-Father and her cooled her being. Once their Sparks had recharged inside of her, she sent them back to be reborn. Warming up the All-Father in the process and delaying entropy. And this constant cycle has been going on ever since. The mortals have kept the balance between the All-Father and All-Mother for billions of years.''
''That's a lot to take in...'' Oliver replied trying to wrap his head around everything that had been said. ''But wait you said you work for the All-Mother? If anything you said is true why would someone as important as you talk to me?'' At that point he still didn't believe it, but he still wanted to poke holes in his story.
Before he could reply the strident sound of break interupted their conversation before the door of their car opened up. Harmony smiled before lifting himself from his chair. ''Look like we arrived at our destination.'' He said before walking outside.
Curious Oliver decided to follow him and gaped when he found himself in front of a large large field of blue grass. And on top of the hill he could see the most massive tree he had ever saw in his entire life. The thing could give some of the still standing skyscrapers of Ringabell City a run for their money.
''What is that?'' He asked in wonder.
''This is one of the legendary Rainbow Trees. They were very important of the home planet of the Elestia. Unfortunately about a thousand years ago they all withered and died. The trees used to give the Elestia their power even the Dragons drew their power from it. But once the trees died the Dragons were facing extinction and so they decided to give back some of their power to the Elestia and in exchange the Elestia would give all their ether, to the Dragons upon death.'' Harmony said with a frown on his face.
''I see so if the trees was still around maybe the Elestia wouldn't even need the Dragons at all... But wait how do you know all this old man? Just who are you?'' Oliver said with a suspicious stare.
''As I said I am a servant of the All-Mother. As her servants I have two duties. The first one is that I have to help the lost souls of the departed find the All-Mother and secondly I have to make sure the balance that keep entropy at bay do not be disturbed at any cost... unfortunately I have failed in my second task. Ten years ago the balance of the universe has been damaged almost irrevocably.''
''The Invasion.'' Oliver said in realisation but then he realised something else. ''Wait so you guide the souls of the dead?! Does that mean I'm dead? Did I died in my sleep?!'' He asked in a panic.
Harmony chuckled and shook his head. ''No you did not, even if you did I wouldn't be the one that greet you if your mortal life had ended.''
Oliver was confused at that. ''Why is that? Didn't you say you guide the souls of the dead?''
Harmony nodded his head. ''Yes I do, but I guess I should clarify. I am not the only servant of the All-Mother, each planets that harbor life has their own servant. I am in charge of the Elestia, the servant that take care of humans and animals is a very reclusive fellow, I have yet to even meet him.''
''Wait... so if you take care of Elestia why do you look like a human?'' Oliver asked inquiringly.
''In the world of dreams I can take any forms I desire. I thought taking a familiar form would make our conversation easier. But I guess I have stalled long enough, you must be wondering why I decided to come talk to you.''
Oliver nodded in confirmation. ''Yeah to be honest I don't get why someone like you would waste his time with someone like me.'' He said looking down.
''I know what you did Oliver. And I do not blame you, we all did things we regret. Even I have made some pretty big mistakes in my existence. I have come to you Oliver, because I want to make you my Champion.'' Harmony said with an expectant look.
Oliver recoiled at his words and looked back at him bewildered. ''What?! What does that mean?''
''As I said my task is to keep the balance to make sure entropy is kept at bay. But ever since I lost my physical form, my interactions with the mortal world has been severly limited. I need help in restoring balance to the universe.'' The old man said with a serious expression.
''Do you realise what you're asking? This sound way over my head.'' Oliver said backing away slightly.
Harmony smiled at him and shook his head. ''I know how it sound, but the truth is that there is a very good reason why I decided to choose you. It's because you're arleady on your way to restore balance. You arleady decided to slay the Dragons and that's exactly what I need you to keep doing. When you killed Boreas I knew I had to step in and help you in your quest. By becoming my Champion I will bestow upon you abilities that will help you become an even better Chosen for your Elestia.''
''W-why me? I mean if anything Clara would make a better Champion. She killed Boreas with me and she's a way better person that I could ever be.'' Oliver said to the old man.
''The truth is I did considered her to be my Champion and you're right she is more qualified than you are for the job.'' Harmony said which made Oliver feel a pit in his stomach. But then the old man continued. ''But I decided to choose you for two reasons. Firstly she arleady has powers that will help her in her quest to slay the Dragons. She doesn't really need my help, but you do. And secondly since you and her are a team, by helping you I am also helping her. With my help no longer will you always be the vulnerable one in a battle. Clara will be able to focus on the battles instead of worrying about you and you will be able to protect her just as she has done for you in the past.''
Oliver seemed to think on that and with a resolved expression he nodded at Harmony. ''Alright, I don't get what you see in me but if I can help Clara and stop being a burden I will help accept your offer.''
Harmony smiled and clapped his hands together. ''Very well! For now I will leave you alone with your dreams, you need some rest after the exhausting mission you just did. But I will come back another night and we will start your training as my Champion. See you later young one.''
Harmony disappeared and so did the scenery all around Oliver. He did not remember any other dreams he could have had that night...
- - - - -
As he woke up the next morning Oliver wasn't sure if the dream he had, had been real or not. It had certainly felt like it and yet maybe he just had a lucid dream? The only way he would be sure would be if he ever saw the old man again.
Xofamai decided they should take what they could from the mall before leaving for New Ringabell. They hadn't found much that hadn't arleady been looted. But Oliver decided to take some clothes for himself. He had teared a lot of his clothes in some of his missions and didn't doubt he would tear even more in the future.
Clara had found an old pouch of sugar and proceeded to eat it straight from the bag. Oliver sometime worried about how much sugar she would ingest if candies were still a common thing. But oh well he supposed she could have developed worse addictions.
Speaking of worse addictions Xofamai could be seen smoking one of his cigarettes just outside while he waited for them to finish looting the place. One of the store he found was a electronic shop. The place had remained mostly untouched which didn't surprised him. Electric technology had lost a lot of their value in the New World. He felt thankful that he lived in a community where electricity was still a thing, even if it was severly limited.
In the shop he found a radio on a counter and tried to turn it on. But as he did nothing happened. Then he looked down and saw a small opening on the back as he looked inside he noticed that there was no batteries inside. Looking around the store he noticed a few rows of unopened pack of batteries and decided to put two of them in the radio and putted the rest in his backpack to be used later on. He finally turned on the radio and static greeted him until he turned the channels to the one and only working station in all of Orchestralia.
At first a rock song was playing on the radio, but with a final beat of the drums the song ended and a familiar voice came on. ''Hello everybody! This is Krazy K-9 bringing you the news in this crazy world of magical monsters! Apparently last night a huge party was going down in the small village of Organu. It turns out that the village was being haunted by a Death Elestia that mysteriously appeared along with an old creepy mansion. And who else would show up but the three legendary Chosens who slayed Boreas to help the villagers! Hey guys, next time you're throwing a party don't forget to invite me!'' He said with a laugh.
But then his voice turned more serious as the subject switched to another matter. ''On a more serious note it look like The Knights of Humanity have been getting jealous of the success of the Ding Dong Resistance. Earlier this morning they launched an attack on the wall of New Ringabell. Fortunately they did not managed to breach the wall, but I cannot confirm how many casualities there was on both sides at the moment. This was Krazy K-9 bringing you the news, because if I don't who else will?''
Oliver face turned pale and he turned off the radio before running toward the exit of the mall. ''Clara! Xofamai! We have to leave, now!''
- - - - -
As soon as they had heard what had happened to their community the trio packed up everything in a hurry and rushed back home as fast as they could. But even with their hurried pace they still had a long way to go to reach New Ringabell. They stayed on the worn down highway for most of the journey. But their journey was soon interupted when they came across a collapsed bridge that fell into the lake.
Xofamai cursed under his breath. ''Great just what we needed. We'll need to pass throught the ruins of Bluesung.''
''Is there something wrong with Bluesung?'' Clara asked worriedly.
''Well for one it's a ruined town and a pretty big one at that. Which mean either of two things. One it's been taken over by Elestia. And big ruins like this tend to attract a few Dragonlings from time to time. Or secondly the place could have been claimed by a group of survivors. And let's just say the type of people who are crazy enough to live in ruins without a wall don't take kindly to strangers crossing their territory. Either way we might walk into a nasty trap in there.'' Xofamai replied with a grim frown.
Clara gulped but then she frowned. ''We don't really have a choice don't we? We'll just have to be prepared for anything that might happen.''
Xofamai nodded but then he crossed his arms. ''You're right. But we've been travelling almost all day now. I believe we should take a quick rest before tackling this.''
Clara and Oliver nodded and agreement. They walked out to a small wooden area so they wouldn't be seen by anyone passing through the road. Oliver decided to sit at the foot of a tree and rest his eyes for a few seconds. Before he knew it he slowly drifted off to sleep...