Once again Oliver had that dream where he woke up sitting inside of a subway car. And as usual he was soon greeted by the old man he only knew as Harmony. "Hello Oliver, it seem like you arleady made use of my gift. Impressive, even if it's still far from perfect I did not think you would be able to use the Reaper's Cry in a real life or death situation so soon."
"I still don't think someone like me deserve such an amazing ability." Oliver said while looking down.
Harmony sighed. "I know what you are thinking about. You think you should let Maikoh kill you as a sort of atonement for abandoning your adoptive sisters four years ago. I know what it feel like when you make mistake that cost people's lives. But letting yourself die will not solve anything, atonement should come by you making the world a better place. If you're gone Mika will still be dead and your friends and your Elestia would be hurted just as much as Maikoh is hurting right now.''
"...Maybe you're right, but I feel like if I stay alive I will end up hurting more people like I hurted Maikoh. What if by trying to save the world I only end up making things worse?"
''Not to sound pessimistic but I do not think the world can get much worse at this point.'' Harmony said with a frown.
''It can always get worse, the world has a way to make you think you've seen the worse only to hit you even harder later on, I would know. I've seen so much destruction in the four years I was roaming Orchestralia. Not every settlements were lucky enough to be protected by the Resistance.''
''I suppose you are right, but that is exactly why you must do something before the situation get much worse. The Dragons wanted to keep humans around so they could feed on their ether. But I'm afraid one of them will eventually get too greedy and bring the humans to extinction.'' Harmony said grimly.
''... Say you said you know what it's like to make mistake that cost people's live. What mistake did you make?'' Oliver asked with a raised eyebrow.
''...Oh look! it look like we arrived at our destination!'' He said in a excessively jovial tone.
Oliver narrowed his eyes at him but decide to not bring it up for now, but he would learn his story eventually of that he was sure.
They arrived in the same empty field as the last time with the large Rainbow Tree atop the hill. ''So why did you call me to this place again? You want to train me with the Reaper's Cry again?''
Harmony shook his head. ''No I think you learned everything I could teach you about that. The only thing you need now is more practice so that you can develop your range and your stamina with the Reaper's Cry. Today I want to start training on my second gift to you as my Champion.''
With that said the old man snapped his finger and conjured an angry looking tiger made entirely of molten rocks and it's stripes made of magma. Without warning the tiger let out a huge torrent of fire toward the old man but instead of dodging it he stayed in place and lifted his left arm before taking a deep breath of air.
As if by magic the fire seemed to disappear into the palm of his hand. Once the attack was finally done Harmony lowered his left arm and lifted his right one and curled all his fingers except his index and middle finger which he took to aim at the fire Elestia. Then he let out a huge exhale of air and the fire came out of the two fingers and destroyed the imaginary tiger.
Oliver looked at him with a look of awe. ''That was amazing! How did you do that?!''
Harmony smiled at his enthusiasm. ''I call this technique Rainbow's Breath. It is a technique that allow you to absorb Elestia's ether and send it back to them.''
''And I can really learn to do that?!'' He said feeling like a kid on christmas eve.
Harmony's smile turned into a frown. ''Yes... But I need to warn you, there is a reason why I taught you the Reaper's Cry before this. This technique is extremely dangerous and should only be used as a last resort. If you do any steps of the technique wrong the ether will disperse in your body and destroy your organs from the inside.''
Oliver gulped at this, suddenly this skill didn't sound as amazing as he thought. ''That sound... really bad.'' He said with a nervous chuckle.
''The Reaper's Cry will help you, but it will only help you for the first step of the technique the others are crucial to remember. First you lift you left hand like this toward any oncoming attack and take a deep and slow breath. Once you start absorbing an attack you cannot stop inhaling for a second or the absorbtion will stop and you will get killed.''
Oliver nodded stifly making sure he didn't miss a single detail of his explanation. Harmony then lowered his left arm like he did earlier and lifted his right one. ''When you're ready to counter you point your opposite hand to the enemy and begin to exhale. You cannot stop exhaling until the ether completely left your body. If you do the remaining ether will disperse in your body and kill you.''
''How do I know if I still have some ether inside of me?'' Oliver said with a worried frown.
''Trust me you will know, when you absorb the ether of another being it will feel very alien inside your body. That's why you cannot keep it for a long time inside of you. The foreign ether will fight for control with your own and damage you from the inside. I would say you can keep ether inside of you for ten seconds at most until it become dangerous. So do you understand everything so far?''
Oliver nodded in confirmation. Harmony smiled before he summoned the same Elestia as earlier. ''Alright then try to do a Rainbow's Breath.''
Oliver almost lost his balance at his words. ''W-what arleady?! What if I miss and I die?''
Harmony chuckled at that. ''Don't worry Oliver, remember we are in a dream. If you fail and die you will simply wake up.''
''O-oh right I knew that.'' Oliver said with a nervous stutter in his voice. He slowly made his way in front of the Elestia and lifted his left arm and began to take a breath. The Elestia immediatly started throwing a torrent of flames at him. Oliver looked in amazement as the fire started dissapearing in the palm of his hand.
''I'm doing it!'' He exclaimed happily.
''Don't talk!'' Harmony shouted, but it was too late the fire both inside and outside of Oliver began to attack him at the same time, Oliver began to feel very hot and he was waiting for the searing pain to envelop him...
- - - - -
He woke up with a gasp in his own bed. He touched his own body to see if he had any burn mark but was relieved to feel nothing. But then disappointment came crashing on him. He had failed, how could he be so dumb, Harmony had said to not stop exhaling but he just had to talk like an idiot in the middle of the Rainbow's Breath. Once again he felt like Harmony was wasting his time with him and should choose another Champion.
But his self loathing was interupted by a knock on the door of his bedroom. ''Oliver are you awake?'' The voice of Clara asked on the other said.
He quickly collect himself and lifted himself from his bed. ''Yeah, I'm awake.''
As soon as he said that the door opened and revealed the disheveled fur on her body. Seeing him staring at her messy form Clara used her power and turn back into her perfect illusion of her human form. Without missing a beat she began to explain why she was here. ''Xofamai is at the door. Apparently something really bad happened yesterday and every Hunters and Rangers in the Resistance are called to a meeting.''
Oliver felt a pit of dread in his stomach a thousand different scenarios was playing in his head. Finally unable to handle all of what his mind came up with he made his way downstair and Clara followed him closely behind. They opened the door of their house and saw the familiar form of Xofamai looking as expressionless as ever.
''So you're here? Good let's go we don't want to be the last one to show up it wouldn't look professional.'' He said before he started walking toward what the people had dubbed the 'town square.' But calling it that was kind of generous seeing how much bigger the town square of the original Ringabell City was.
Finally they arrived in front of a large crowd and a stage made entirely of stone that had been constructed, or most likely it had been conjured by an Earth Elestia at the last minute. Finally the familiar form of Olivia Clementine made her way on stage. Accompanied by her usually invisible Elestia Happi the Hattuny.
The gem on the Elestia's hat began to glow brightly and the voice of Olivia came clear for everyone without the need of any microphone. ''Hello my fellow Hunters, Rangers and the few Elite Rangers who managed to show up. Today I have many news some good but unfortunately mostly bad.''
The crowd chattered at that wondering just what the General would talk about. ''First, I think I will start with the good news. Gaia the Earth Dragon who has made it's den in New Scitofi for the last ten years is dead.''
Loud chatter started up at that. ''How is it dead did you send some of our Elite Ranger to deal with it?!'' Someone asked in the crowd.
''Maybe she sent the legendary Team Hybrid to deal with it just like they dealt with Boreas.'' Another voice said full of admiration.
''Wait Team Hybrid?! Since when are we called that?!'' Oliver asked in indignation.
''You haven't heard? Ever since you two finished off Boreas everyone can't stop talking about the legendary Team Hybrid. Last week I heard some people say we apparently singlehandely killed ten Dragonlings in our first mission.'' Xofamai said with a shake of his head.
''Seriously, Ten Dragonlings? We had trouble dealing with just one!'' Clara said with a bemused expression.
''Why are we called Team Hybrid?! I'm not even a Hybrid!'' Oliver said with crossed arms and a pout.
''The rumor say you're a hybrid just like us but you're just too shy to show your real form to people.'' Xofamai said with a slightly amused smirk.
''I can't believe people are making so much stuff up about us. It's kind of worrying that they expect so much of us.'' Clara said with a frown on her face.
''Don't worry about it, I think deep down they know some of this stuff is really exaggerated. But people really need some sort of heroes in these hard times and I guess since we're the first ones to ever kill a Dragon they latched onto that.'' Xofamai said in his usual monotone voice.
Once the chatter of the crowd finally died down Olivia was able to continued her speech. ''Unfortunately we cannot claim victory upon the death of Gaia. The ones who killed the Earth Dragon was... The Knights of Humanity.''
''What, the Knights?! Since when did they get the balls to face a Dragon? They've been avoiding any contact with Dragons for as long as they existed, they didn't even do reckons on them like we did!'' A woman said in the crowd with indignation.
''I understand your surprise, I was shocked too. Unfortunately I do not think they did it out of the goodness of their heart. After Team Hybrid killed Boreas the support for the Knights has been dwindling drastically. I believe killing a Dragon was a stunt for them to gain more support for their cause from the people who were starting to doubt their status as protectors of Orchestralia.''
''That would be something she would do.'' Xofamia muttered bitterly under his breath only Oliver and Clara could hear him and they looked at him with empathy.
Olivia took a deep breath before she started speaking again. ''Now onto the real bad news and the reason why this meeting was really called upon. Yesterday at around noon, the city of Bajoon was attacked.'' Shocked gasps echoed throught the entire crowd. ''It was an attack staged by the Cult of The Great Ones. The witnesses we managed to interview said they came with a blimp and released a poisonous gas into the city.''
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Olivia looked directly at Clara with a sad expression when she said the next part. ''Evidence seem to point that... Everyone in Bajoon city has been turned into hybrids.''
Cries rose from the crowd. ''Evidence?! What do you mean evidence? Did they turn or not?!''
Olivia seemed to brace herself for the next thing she was about to say. ''Unfortunately before we could reach Bajoon half of the population had been turned into hybrids and the other half was missing. They're either dead... or were captured by the CGO.''
Clara clenched her first so hard that her nails dug into her palm and created a small bleeding cut. ''I swear I'm going to kill him, I'm going to kill Michael Balsam!'' She said with pure spite in her voice. Oliver putted a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but it did not do much to calm her down.
Once the outrage of the crowd died down Olivia continued. ''The mayor of Bajoon is afraid the CGO will come back for them. So he has asked us to host the remaining civilians within the walls of New Ringabell until the threat has passed. And this is why this meeting was called today, we will vote on whether or not we will accept these refugees within our walls.''
''Why should we accept them?! They've been treating Chosens like shit for years and never allowed us to enter inside their city!'' A man said with disaproval.
''We can't run the risk of them all getting killed or captured by that crazy cult! We swore an oath to defend the people of Orchestralia! We can't turn our back on them in their time of need just because they've been acting like jackasses!'' A woman said equally as loud.
''Those who are against hosting the refugees raise your hand.'' Olivia yelled over the crowd. Immediatly about a third of the crowd raised their hands ''Those who are for hosting the refugees raise your hand.'' Almost half of the people including Oliver, Clara and Xofamai raised their hands. ''Very well the majority has spoken, we will host the refugees of Bajoon.''
A lot of people who were against grumbled but accepted the ruling nonetheless. With that decided the meeting was called off. Oliver had nothing to do for the rest of the day so he decided to go train with his Elestia in preparation of his next mission...
- - - - -
The next day arrived and with it the Refugees came. Oliver and Clara had been assigned patrol duties to make sure the newcomers were not causing any troubles. It was lucky that they had Earth Elestia on their side. They had managed to build hundreds of simplistic stone huts in preparation for all the new arrivals. They were pretty small and basically contained a single room. But it was better than nothing especially after such a short notice.
Clara felt weird seeing so many hybrids roaming the streets. She had been used to being the odd one out. But now she almost didn't even felt the need to put on her human illusion. But despite the facts they had turn into hybrids some of the people from Bajoon were still recentful toward Chosens and gave them wary glance any time they passed them.
Most of the hybrids were still able to wear clothes which puzzled Clara and made her a bit jealous. Why was she not able to wear clothes if they could? Was it because she was a Mind Nature? Or did that bastard mess up the transformation with her?
Her musing was interupted when a familiar man they hadn't seen for a long time came into view. ''Hello there darlings!'' He exclaimed loudly not caring one bit that he was atracting the gaze from everyone in the street.
''Umm hi?'' Oliver responded a bit uncomfortably.
''I was so jealous when Xofamai got the chance to teach the ropes of being a Resistance member to the two of you. But I am happy to announce I now I have students of my own!'' He said before dramatically striking a pose.
'This guy is really... interesting.' Oliver thought to himself resisting the urge to facepalm.
''Present yourself my little kitten and my little pup!'' He said in a loud sing-song voice.
True to his word two hybrids came beside him the first one was dog-like boy with sandy-colored fur and aqua blue stripes all over his body. He grin at the group with flawless teeth as if he was some sort of superstar. The second one was a cat-like girl with orange fur and black stripes. For some reason she looked nervous while looking at Oliver and Clara, also he couldn't tell why but there was something... familiar about her.
''Umm... hi Oliver, Clara it's been a long time huh? Eheheh.'' She said in a nervous tone.
Clara cocked her head curiously at her. ''I'm sorry but I don't recognise you, have we met each other before?''
''Is it alright if I tell them?'' Steven asked the two of them, the boy didn't seem fazed at the question and simply nodded but the girl seemed more hesistant but finally she nodded but she still looked nervous.
The man turned back toward Oliver and Clara. ''You see these two are kind of a special case. We knew that the serum of the cultists could change a person's species but with these two it has gone a little further. These two used to be of the opposite genders.''
Oliver and Clara were shocked at the news. Finally it was the girl that talked. ''We met each other when you came to protect the wall of Bajoon from a horde of Bunterra, back then I was called William.''
''William that's you?! I'm so sorry that happened to you! I can't believe these bastards would do something like that to you!'' Clara said with a clenched fist.
''I... it's not so bad, I'm more worried about the people who have gone missing. That's why I decided to join the Resistance and fight against the CGO until we can save them or at least find their remains if the worst has arleady occured.'' She said while fidgeting her hands.
''Still changing not only of species and of gender must be really hard for you.'' Oliver said with a frown on his face.
''I... to tell you the truth I'm more comfortable than I have ever been with my old body.'' She admitted while looking at the ground.
Seeing the confused expression on their face Steven decided to clarify. ''You see we think we might have found the reason why these two were the only ones out of all the hybrids we ever seen that has been turned into the opposite gender. It seem both of them were suffering from a condition called gender dysphoria.''
William finally got the courage to look at the two teens in the eyes and explained herself. ''The two of you asked me why I would work for Bajoon even thought they treated me like an outcast the first time we met. The truth is... my parents wanted nothing to do with me once they found out I wanted to be a girl, so they kicked me out of our settlement. I had nowhere else to go, Henry the old guard of Bajoon took me after I collapsed from hunger and accepted me for who I was and taught me everything he could about being a Chosen. Then that damn Scorbat came and killed him and I was alone again, protecting a wall for people who hated me just like my parents did. I could have left, but at the time I felt like no one else would want me.''
Clara was the first one to make a move by embracing the cat-like hybrid in a warm hug. ''I'm so sorry William.''
''It's not your fault, to be honest I was afraid of your reaction since the three of you were the first ones since Henry who ever talked to me. If it's not asking for too much please call me Willow from now on.''
''Alright... Willow.'' Clara replied with a small smile.
''So Willow what new power do you have with this new form?'' Oliver asked curiously.
The feline girl smiled grateful for the change of subject. She backed off from Clara and suddenly her black stripes all bursted into flames. Oliver whistled in admiration. ''A Fire Nature huh? Not bad at all!'' He said with a smirk on his face.
''That must make wearing clothes kind of complicated thought.'' Clara said while watching the flames dancing all over her body.
''To be honest I kind of burned my old clothes when I first tried to used my power.'' She said with a slight blush on her face. ''I feel kind of awkward walking around naked like this, apparently making fireproof clothes for Elestia is pretty hard. The fire made by Elestia is a lot stronger than natural fire. So until we find a way to make such clothes, I'll have to get used to only have fur to cover myself. '' She said with an sheepish smile.
''I know how awkward it is, just remember that nudity is not taboo for us since we're techically not humans anymore. And also you're now a hundred time stronger than any boys that would want to take advantage of the situation.'' Clara said with a small smirk on her face.
''And hey at least it's a lot less worse than me, I can't even hide a boner in public.'' The canine boy said finally deciding to speak.
''Don't compare yourself to me, unlike me you have the choice to wear clothes, you just don't because you're shameless.'' Willow said with an annoyed expression.
The boy smirked. ''Alright you caught me, guilty as charged. I just don't like how stuffy clothes feel against my new fur.''
Oliver had a weird expression once he heard the boy talked. ''Is it just me or does his voice really sound familiar?''
''My name used to be Niesha Miller but you can call me Nick. But you might know me under a different name. Freeya come out!'' He said before before a small butterfly almost completely covered in small glittering blue gems materliazed in front of them. ''Freeya it's show time!'' He said before the butterfly entire body lit up with a blue glow. And then he began to speak with an all too familiar voice. ''Hello everyone this is Krazy K-9 bringing you the news! Awoooo! Because if I don't who else will?''
Both Oliver and Clara gawked at him in bewilderment. ''You're Krazy K-9?!'' Clara asked with wide eyes.
''I can't believe Krazy K-9 used to be a girl! Umm... no offense.'' Oliver said realising that might have sound offensive.
''None taken little dude, to be honest I didn't think I had gender disphoria before I transformed, but I have to admit being a guy feel a lot more natural. Back when I lived in Bajoon I only told myself I was pretending to be a guy to hide my real identity. Being a Chosen sympatizer is not really regarded well in Bajoon and all that. But I guess I was just lying to myself.'' He said in a nonchalant tone as if he hadn't discovered something major about himself.
''Anyway now that the introduction are done I am proud to present you Team Fabulous!'' Steven said proudly before making another dramatic pose.
Oliver and Clara both looked at him incredulously. ''Team Fabulous... really?'' Oliver said while resisting the urge to facepalm.
''Of course! Now that Xofamai has his own team's name we had to find something just as grand for our own team name! Don't rest on your laurel just yet you two! We will catch up to the legendary Team Hybrid in no time!'' Steven exclaimed proudly.
''I thought General Olivia didn't like accepting minors into the Resistance. I remember she gave us a hard time the first time we tried to join.'' Clara said with a thoughtful frown on her face.
Steven nodded his head in confirmation. ''And she still doesn't, but the fact that these two were arleady experienced Chosens made her reconsider her stance for these two. Beside they will have me to protect them! The fabulous Ranger of fashion and justice!''
Oliver went to whisper in Willow's ear. ''This guy is really something, are you sure you'll be okay with him?''
She chuckled in response. ''Steven might be really weird but he has a good heart I can tell. Beside I heard he was strong enough to become an Elite Ranger but when the General tried to promote him he refused.''
Oliver cocked his head curiously. ''Why would he refuse that?''
''Well apparently the role of an Elite Ranger is to spread the Resistance to other countries by creating and leading other smaller branches of the Resistance throughout the world. But Steven wanted to stay right here to protect Orchestralia.'' Willow explained to him.
Oliver nodded in understanding. ''I see, that make sense.'' Despite the fact he wanted to save all the world from the Dragons, Oliver wouldn't want to leave Orchestralia behind for a long period of time either. It might have many issues with the Knights and the CGO but it was still his home.
Steven clapped his hands together with an excited grin. ''Alright darlings! I think we have wasted enough time introducing ourself to our new friends! Let's go accept a mission, so you two can get enough experience to enter the Ranger Trials!''
''The Ranger Trials? What's that?'' Clara asked with a Inquiring look in her eyes.
Steven was all too happy to explain it to her. ''You see rising to the rank of Ranger is not as easy as reaching the rank of Hunter. You can't simply do something amazing and simply be promoted like the two of you did to reach Hunter's rank. No, anyone that want to become a Ranger need to be tested in a rigorous way. So once a year the Resistance host the Ranger Trials where Chosens are tested on their skills, knowledge, on their bonds with their Elestia and above all else their ability to survive extreme situations.''
Oliver gulped that sounded... really tought but at the same time if he could pass something like that maybe he could be closer to his goal to slay the Dragons. ''So when are those trials hosted, are they soon?''
Steven scratched his chin thoughtfully. ''Well usually General Clementine host the Ranger Trials during fall, so we still have a while to go before it happens. And I don't want to rain on your parade darlings but the General decide who can participate. If she judge you're too young and inexperienced to enter the Ranger Trials then that's that. To be honest I'm not sure she will allow Willow and Nick either but I will do my best to make them ready for it either way!''
With that said the trio took their leave and left Oliver and Clara with their toughts as they continued their patrol trought New Ringabell.
- - - - -
Another day passed and Xofamai woke them up early in the morning by knocking at their door. ''So are we going to see Olivia? Like usual?'' Oliver asked with a yawn.
But much to their surprise Xofamai shooked his head. ''No I received a letter this morning from the General. It seem like she's done coddling you two by selecting the mission for you. From now on you will select the mission yourself by going to the request board.''
They arrived in front of a board with many pieces of paper stapled onto it. A lot of Resistance member were milling around and taking requests from the board before making their way out of the settlement.
All the requests were divided equally in four parts of the board, each labelled with a different letter A, B, C and D. ''Wait aren't there supposed to be S-rank missions too?'' Oliver asked curiously.
Xofamai nodded. ''There is but they're never posted on the request board. S Rank missions are only given by the General herself, so don't think of doing one on your own.''
''I wasn't about to, I was only curious.'' He said defensively before turning back his attention toward the board. Today would be the first mission he ever did on his own so he didn't want something too hard right away so he limited himself to C-rank.
Finally he landed on a request from a mother asking help to search for her missing son who got lost in a forest full of Elestia. Judging it as something he could do he ripped the notice from the board and placed it inside his backpack.
''So you're really doing this? Going out on your own, are you sure you shouldn't reconsider? There's no telling how dangerous things can get out there, especially with that crazy girl who seem intent on killing you.'' Clara said with a worried frown plastered on her face.
''I've been putting you and Xofamai in danger with each missions we have been on these last few weeks. I can't do this anymore, this problem is between me and Maikoh, no one else.'' Oliver said with a determined scowl.
She sighed in response. ''Oliver you're going to get yourself killed on your own! That's why we're a team so we can protect each other!''
''I'm sorry but I have to do this, my actions have hurted too many people arleady, it's time I face the consequences... on my own.'' And with that he left on his own clutching a familiar brown gem in his hand.
''Xofamai I really hope I'm wrong, but it feel like this is the last time we'll see him alive.'' Clara said barely holding back a sob.
Xofamai put a comforting hand on her shoulder. ''Don't worry about him he's not really alone he has his Elestia with him. Not only that but he know how to survive on his own, he survived four years alone without any Elestia on his side. He know not to take on more that he can handle when he doesn't have us.''
''I really hope you're right.'' She replied before wiping out tears out of her eyes.