PARALLEL UNIVERSE CHAPTER 18

STALKING GOES WRONG

‘Aww man!’ I yelled in my head once more.

“I know you’re behind the crate, so show yourself!” the man yelled.

“I have no choice, do I?” I asked back as I slowly revert back to a human form. I slowly rose on my feet and stood under the moonlight flowing through the cracked walls and boards. I loosen the top two buttons on my uniform and stood there preparing for anything.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” he yelled once more.

“I could ask you the same thing,” I smiled back. “I mean, creating a door to an abandoned warehouse, isn’t it kinda suspicious?”

“H-how did you…”

“Know? The warehouse door is on the other side. You could’ve walked through there without drawing any attentions. Instead, you made a large door yourself.”

I noticed that his breathing began to deepen.

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked him. Without hesitation, he clasped once more. I readied myself in combat if anything attacks me. As he thrusts his hand to the ground, the same lightning and sparks flew and the ground quickly transformed into giant spikes that are heading towards my direction like a snake. I swiftly jumped up and ran on them like they were skipping stones. He gasped a little as I was gaining on him really fast. I made another jump and pulled his robe all the way out. I landed on my feet and turned. The person is a blonde man, probably in his mid thirties, with blue eyes that glows in the dark.I also have a feeling like I've seen him somewhere before. He grunted slightly and thrust his hands on the ground once more. This time, the ground savagely transforms itself into five giant cannons surrounding me. It was even faster and brutal than when he did the circle. The cannons fired simultaneously towards my direction. I quickly slid towards a blind spot of the cannons and rolled into position. As I stood up, he already made a few more cannons and fired at me. I quickly ran around the room avoiding all attacks. As he thrusted his hand once more, I pulled out a plank of wood from the window and threw it to his arms. It hit him directly and he quickly flinced in pain. Before he got the chance to react, I tackled him to the ground, pinning his arms. I quickly remembered where I've seen him before. It was Lloyd, the person who had tried to kill my brother.

"You!" I yelled. Before I got the chance to say anything else, he kicked me off and thrusted his hand once more. As I landed on the ground, a stone restraint bounded me on the waist, making me unable to move.

"Miss me?" Lloyd chuckled evilly as he approached me. He took out a gun from behind him and pointed it at me. "You know, it's nice to see you alive and struggling. It makes me happy that my victims are scared as hell."

"You jerk!" I growled as I tried to slip out of the restraint. He immediately hit my face with the butt of the gun.

"Now, now. How could you even say that? You should enjoy it. This is, after all, the last seconds of your life. I will return the favor you did to me a week ago."

He pulled down the safety of the gun and pointed it at me.

"Any last words before your brain is blown to bits?" he smiled sinisterly.

"Yeah," I chuckled as I took out the card out of my pocket. "I never thought I had to use this againts you."

"Ooh! What can a measley card do to a dangerous gun?" he asked with a mocking tone. I flicked the card off my hand, sending it flying towards his face. The sharp edges swiped his right eye. He yelled in pain as I took off my uniform and slipped the other way around, sliding towards his direction. I made a sliding kick and a backflip one to disarm him quickly. I grabbed the floating card near me and pocketed it.

"You know, you should learn how to do that while you're in prison," I chuckled as I prepared another battle stance. He grunted slightly and threw a can towards me. It quickly explodes as it made contact with the ground. I covered my eyes to prevent the light from blinding me. As the light dispersed, I noticed Lloyd was gone. I peered on the ground to find droplets of blood making a trail towards the exit.

"Maybe I shouldn't have told him about the door," I said to myself, cursing my stupidity. I stood up and began to follow the trail once more. But my action was interrupted once more by the ringing of my cellphone. Again. I groaned and took out the device. I pressed the answer button without looking at the screen name.

"Hello?"

"Michael Xavier Stone! You'd better have a damn good explanation for this!"

I cringed slightly as the voice on the other side of the phone yelled on my ear. And I think it was most likely damadged since Lloyd definately hit me right on the same spot.

"I tried to call you and what did I get?" mom's yelling rang even if the distance between my ear and the device was an arm length. "An immediate reject? What do you have to say for yourself young man?"

"I'm guessing I have a lot of explaining to do when I arrive," I sighed as I slowly crept the cell closer to my ear.

"Damn right, you will! Now if I don't see you here in twenty minutes, I'm gonna lock you out!" After the last sentence, mom hung up on me with a last bang, causing me to flinch once more.

"Harsh," I muttered. I quickly ran outside the building to go home. As I stepped out of the warehouse, I heard a tire screeching to my left. I jumped back and looked at the car. Lloyd was in the blue sedan with the window lowered. He pulled a gun out and fired several rounds. One of the bullets hit me on the shoulder as he continues to drive away from me, while another hits me on the stomach. I fell down on my knees and groaned as my wounds continues to bleed. I quickly took out my cell phone once more and pressed a speed dial. As seconds passed, I feel my body began to weaken as I have lost some blood.

"Hello?" John anwered my call.

"John, I"m hurt," I panted on the phone.

"Gerald?" John's voice began to sound more serious. "Where are you?"

"An abandoned warehouse, near le Blanc," I said as my vision became blurry.

"Don't move! I'll be over in a minute!"

Before he got to say another word, I slowly fade into the darkness as the pain became too much for me. I heard yelling over the phone shortly before I pass out.


I slowly woke up by the constant sound of beeping in my ear. As I slowly open my eyes, I found myself in a white bed with different monitors beside it. I groaned slightly as the pain on my shoulder and stomach returned to me. I slowly sat up and took a deep breath.

"Gerald!"

I turned to my left and found John and Mei sitting close to my hospital bed.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine now," I smiled back. I was really surprised when Mei jumped on me and took a deep kiss on my lips. The two of us stayed in that position for minutes. As our lips parted, she made a quick slap across my face. It really stung since it was close to where Lloyd hit me.

"Don't ever scare me like that again!" Mei yelled at me. I could see on her face that she was crying while I was still out.

"Sorry," I sighed and gave her an apologetic look. She smiled back and pulled me into a hug.

"You know, there are other people in the room," Alex's voice rang behind John. Mei quickly turned around and the both of us saw everyone in the room, including mom and dad. Mei and I immediately blushed heavily and chuckled nervously.

"So, lovebirds," dad smiles sinisterly. "Are you enjoying yourselves?"

"We were," Mei smiled back.

"So Michael," Louis stared. "Care to tell what happened back there?"

"Lloyd's back," I said seriously.

"What!?" everyone yelled in an instant. John, Chris, Ter, and our parents, however, didn't join in.

"I said, Lloyd's back."

“Yeah, we heard it the first time,” Mei said.

"Honey, who's Lloyd?" mom asked. I sighed deeply.

"The one who nearly killed Alex last week," I said.

"Oh, that Lloyd," mom remembered. "I thought he was sent into prison."

"Just got a message from the PD," Louis said as he closed his cell phone. "He really did escape from prison."

"And he wants revenge," I added.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE CHAPTER 17

FIRST DAY ON THE JOB

I groaned as the pain on my head slowly subsides. I opened my eyes and found myself in a bedroom. I sat up and scanned the area. The walls of the room are completely white with a carpeted floor below it. The west wall has two doors, one leading towards the hallway and the other towards the bathroom. On the south wall, which was currently in front of me, hangs a 48” flat screen TV with a DVD set on the rack beneath it. The east wall is replaced by the same windows on the living room, giving a beautiful view of the garden outside. There is also a large white sofa, enough for three, in the center of the room, accompanied by two easy chairs of the same design.

“Ah, you’re awake.”

I turned my head to my left to see John sitting on a chair similar to the ones I saw.

“Are you okay?” he asked. His green eyes show concern as he stares towards my direction.

“My head feels like it was hit by a truck,” I chuckled softly.

“What happened? Why did you suddenly pass out?”

“I dunno,” I replied. “When I took a look on your eyes, I felt very nostalgic. Then, I began to saw images of an event.”

“Event?”

“I think it was Gerald’s memories that came to me.”

“Really? What was it like?”

I began to retell the images that I saw when I passed out, from walking on the hillside, to the part where the fox was hit on the head with the flying object. John listened closely to every detail that I gave him as he rubbed his chin.

“Well,” he said, “that definitely happened in the past. I think it really is your memory.”

“So… I’m really Gerald?”

“Very likely,” he smiled. “You just got a portion of Gerald’s memory, the part where we never spoke of in front of Albert’s father.”

“Oh yeah. Who are Albert and Kendric? And I think I remember Al mentioning something about a Winter sword technique.”

“For starters, Albert Winter is the prince of a kingdom in Rivergale, a neutral territory located smack down in the middle of the two opposing legions. Usually those people would come and tried to kidnap him as ransom so the king would have to join their team.”

“Did that ever happen?”

“Never in a million years!” John smiled. “His majesty always took extra precautions whenever events happened. He also had guards patrolling to take care of the city and Al.”

“Okay, what about Kendric?”

“Kendric is one of the city’s best scholars. His mother is an alchemist, so he didn’t learn magic. He likes to go to the city library and studies every kinds of knowledge he could find.”

“In the image, you asked him to tell you their weaknesses. Does that mean…”

“Yes, he studies the anatomies of all species. He could tell us the weak spots of every creature in the world. He also has some talent on finding their elemental weakness.”

“How? And who could use the attack magic?”

“We really don’t know. And in our group, none of us can use it. You, Al, and Kendric can’t use any magic. Gabriella specializes on healing since her mother is a healer. I specialize on summoning.”

“Wait! Does that mean…”

“Yes,” Ter said as he entered the room. “I’m a summon guardian.”

I continue to stare at the two of them for a while, trying to say something as these new things enter my memory bank.

“Uh…”

“If you feel uncomfortable, we can talk about it next time,” John stopped me. “Now come on. Everyone is worried about you.”

I nodded and started o follow him outside. In the hall, he stopped mid way towards the stairs.

“Gerald,” he called me. “Perhaps we should keep that last conversation until the time is right, okay?”

“No prob,” I smiled back. We slowly descend the white stairs and head towards the east wing towards the living room. As we entered the room, everyone else stood up and walked over towards me.

“Are you okay?” Mei asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I smiled at her. “I just need a little rest, that’s all.”

She quickly pulled me into a tight hug, which caught me off guard.

“I was so worried about you,” she whispered in my ear. I smiled softly and rubbed her back.

“Sorry…” I whispered back. We embraced each other for a while until I noticed Nick was staring on my face for a while.

“What?” I asked as we broke the hug.

“Well your eye doesn’t seem to change,” he answered. Tony and Mei quickly smacked his arms, a little angry about the comment.

“What?” he asked the two.

“Show a little concern,” Tony glared.

“Sorry,” Nick apologized to me.

“It’s okay,” I smiled back. I noticed that the room was missing something. I did a head count and noticed Chris is not around. “By the way, where’s Chris?”

“I sent him off on a mission a moment ago,” John answered. “There was a fiend appearing on the docks that needs to be taken care of.”

“I see…” I mumbled. Then I suddenly remembered about my job. "How long was I out?"

"Two and a half hours," Tony told me as he looked on his watch. "It's three thirty now."

"Are you going somewhere?" Ter asked.

"Yeah. I got work later at six," I answered.

"Okay then," he said. We went outside the living room and towards the foyer. We stepped outside the front doors and said our goodbyes.

"If you need anything, you can give us a call," John said as he handed each of us his business card. We left the estate and head home. As we arrived at our home, we lethergically entered the three storied building. We went our seperate ways towards our rooms. I stepped inside my shower and took a nice bath under the steaming water. As I lather myself with soap, I began to think about the images in my head. Something in the memory has been bothering me.

'If I saw it correctly, the people in my vision are anthros,' I thought to myself. 'But we're humans now.'

I began to think for an explanation that would make sense. After a while, I couldn't find one. I gave up for now and stepped out of the shower. I dried myself and wore my cook uniform. It's a white long sleeved shirt with white buttons down on the center, accompanied by a black trouser and shoes. I wore the name pin on my shirt and faced myself on the mirror, making sure it was completly straight for my job. Satisfied, I walked out of my room and head downstairs where Alex was waiting to see me in my new uniform.

"Are you ready to cook them the meal of their lives?" he asked me with a smile.

"I can't wait till I get my hands on those cooking tools," I said enthusiastically.

"I can't wait to see the look on your customers' faces," he replied. I said my goodbye and started to jog my way to the famous restaurant. In Chez le Blanc, I began to cook meal after meal, serving my customers with the best meals I can cook, from appetizers to dessert.

"Come on, people!" Gaston, the head chef and manager of the restaurant, yelled through the small window. "We still have five more tables to serve!" Everyone in the kitchen gave an energetic yell to heighten their spirits. I, on the other hand, didn't because I was new. Instead, I jumped a little because I was really surprised. We instantly went back to work and give our best for the night. As the last couple finishes their meals, we started to close up. As I was about to leave the kitchen, Gaston patted my back.

"Michael!" he smiled under his black french mustache. "Your cooking skill is truly cest mandifique! I never thought you could cook all those hard leveled meals perfectly!"

I began to blush as he continues to praise my cooking skills.

"When did you learn how to cook like that?"

"Well, let's just say I had a lot of practice," I answered as I averted my eyes, avoiding eye contact that could make me blush even harder. Gaston wasn't fully convinced of my reason, but he let it slide afterwards. We parted our way a few momwnt later. The time now was 8:48. All of the buildings have closed down for the night. The only lights remainig are the streetlights and the moon. I smiled as I walked slowly down the dark street. I took out the small card out of my pocket and observed the fox once more. Under closer inspections, the fox in the card really look like an adult version of Gerald the fox in my memory.

‘Maybe he’s right. Maybe I am Gerald,’ I smiled softly. As I continue to stare at the magical object, I felt someone was watching me. I looked to my right and saw someone in a black cloak standing in the dark alley. He is most likely a man with the amunt of light given around us, but I really couldn't tell his features. We stare at each other for a while before I saw him walking away into the darkness. I wanted to go home, but I was a little worried since there are fiends lurking in the docks and the area is very close to it. I began to follow him and ended up near an abandoned warehouse with the windows all boarded up and the walls are all cracked. As I was about to yell, he began to draw something on the wall of the warehouse. Deciding it will be a very bad idea to interrupt him now, I stayed behind and watched. After he finished, the drawing appeared to be a circle. Because I'm still not familiar with it, I dunno what type of circle it is. He clasped his hands together and thrusted them to the center of the glyph. In an instant, lightning and sparks flew everywhere and a door appeared on the circle.

'No way! A mage!?' I yelled on top of my head. As my mouth continues to gape, he slowly entered the broken building. My instinct said it was a bad idea to follow him, but my curiosity got the better of me. I silently transformed myself into my fox form and stealthily followed him. We continue to walk until we reached the center of the warehouse. The area is totally open with very few shelves and wooden crates placed here and there. I hid behind a crate and peered on his every movement. He was drawing another glyph on the center of the room.

'What are you doing now...' I said in my head as I continue to stalk on him. As he finished, he stood up and clasped his hand once more. As he thrusted his hands towards the ground, a loud ringtone of a cellphone interrupted him. My cellphone. I jumped lightly and quickly turned it off without looking on the screen. As I peered back, I noticed he stopped midway of the process. He slowly got up from his knees and turned his cloaked head towards my direction. His blue eyes glowed in the darkness.

'Oh man! Oh man!' I panicked, knowing how totally busted I was.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" the hooded person yelled.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE CHAPTER 16

Memory rekindled

We gasped as we saw the color change of his eye.

“W-what…” Mei stammered.

“It’s okay,” he smiled gently. “It always happens. Every one o’clock, my right eye changes its color.”

“How’d you do that?” Nick asked.

“I don’t know either, but it doesn’t really effect me that much.”

“When will it come back to normal?” I asked worryingly.

“One o’clock after midnight. Same headache, though…”

“Isn’t it a serious condition?”

“No, not really,” he smiled. "But I'm used to it."

"I see..." I muttered silently.

"Well, enough about my eye. What do you think, Gabriella? Wanna train too?"

"Hm... maybe..." Mei pondered for a moment. I continue to gaze on his green eyes more closely. I felt something very nostalgic about them. Suddenly, out of nowhere, my head burst into intense pain. I cringed and held both sides oif my head before I collapse to the ground. I heard voices around me, but I couldn't determine what they're saying as I slowly drifted into the darkness.


It was a very sunny morning. The area is covered by lucious green grass and trees. The gentle breeze flows down the hillside as a group of five young fur ascend it. The one leading them is an orange fox. His shirt is cream colored, paired with his dark brown pants and shoes. His eyes are light blue like the color of a stream.

"Come on, guys!" he smiled. "You seriously don't wanna miss it!"

"Slow down, Gerald," an artic wolf responded. His clothing is similar with Gerald's, but green, like the color of his left eye. His right one is blue, similar to Gerald's. He carries a brown pack behind him. "We still have a lot of time."

"But the best places will be taken if we don't hurry!" Gerald whined.

"Forgive him, your majesty," the wolf said to the white tiger falling behind. The tiger's clothing stands out of the group. His clothing is more of a noble's. His top is the color purple with a white long sleeved shirt beneath it. His pants are white like his fur and his feet is covered with yellow shoes. He carries a long sword on the left side of his belt. "He's just excited to see it."

"It'll be fine, John," the tiger smiled. His blue eyes gleamed under the light. "But, no formalities. After all, we're all friends, aren't we?"

"You're right, Albert," the wolf smiled back. "But you know your father would kill us if we're being rude to you."

"That's why drop the formalities when we're away from the castle, and use thme when we're near," the tiger chuckled.

Gerald quickly ran back down to the group and pulled a feline's hand. Her clothings and eye color are very similar to his. The only difference between their clothing is hers has more feminine touch.

"Come on, Gabriella!" he smiled. "Let's hurry up a bit!"

"Slow down, will you?" she smiled back. Her gray fur flew as she chased the young fox.

"How come he's so full of energy?" a brown husky sighed. His shirt is green like John's, but his pants is brown like Gerald's. His blue eyes shows a tired look on his face. The beltbag on his waist made a clinking noise as he continues to follow the leader.

"That bundle of energy probably came from his father, Kendric," Albert chuckled. "He's always enthusiastic when he guarded the castle from attacks."

The fox turned when he heard a little about his father.

"Come on guys!" he yelled, but not as energetic as before. "Stop talking and let's go!" He turned and quickly ran forward with Gabriella.

"That kid..." John sighed. "He must've missed him."

"What can I say," Albert said. "He was five when he lost him. Seven years without a father to protect you is really hard. I wouldn't even know what to do if I lose mine."

The three boys on the back followed silently as they reach their destination. On top of the hillside, they sat down and viewed the open field in front of them. It was filled with furs of all kinds, demonstrating their magic to the crowd for entertainment. The leader of the gang is a blue scaled dragon. He raised his staff high and a firework appeared in a shape of a feral dragon. The children gasped and were intrigued by the show until it ends. They slowly got up and walked back down the hill.

"That was amazing!" Gerald said, still psyched about the magic show. "Did you see the fire dragon?"

"Yeah!" Albert nodded. "You can definitly feel the heat from far away! I kinda wonder how they stand it."

"They're dragons," Kendric told him. "They're very adaptive to temperature."

"I see," Albert smiled. "I guess you really are a young scholar."

"Not much. I still have a lot to learn."

"Boy, I wish I could learn how to use magic," Gerald sighed.

"Maybe you can," Gabriella smiled as she cuddled the fox. "My mother is a healer, so she probably know some healing spells."

"Not healing, attacking," the fox replied.

"Why's that?" John asked.

"So I could protect the town like my father," the fox sighed deeply.

"I see..." John frowned. He suddenly stopped in his tracks, sniffing around his area.

"What's..." Gerald ask before he and Kendric smelt the same scent on the air. It's a mix scent of different furs.

"Guys," Kendric whispered. "I think we need to run."

"I don't think so, kiddies," a voice appeared. The group turned to see a large number of rouge furs surrounding them. The leader, a snow leapord, stepped forward. Gerald raised his arms to protect Gabriella.

"I think you kids know what we want," the leader snickered.

"If you're after Albert, then you'd have to go through me!" John, being the eldest of the group, yelled as he stepped forward. All of the rouges roared in laughter.

"Just what can a kid like you do to a band of sixty rouges?" the leader chuckled.

"This!" John yelled. He grabbed the necklace under his fur and concentrated his energy. A gust of wind blew out of nowhere and a magic circle appeared behind the wolf. A bright light shone, blinding the rouges. As the light disperse, a lion warrior appeared from the center of the circle. He wore a full body armor with a great sword on his back. The hilt of the blade has a design of a lion head, with it's mane spun around to make the handle. The lion's green eyes stared deeply at his opponents as he drew his sword.

"A summoner," the leader gasped. Before he had the chance, the lion warrior smacked the side of his blade to his head, flinging him from the ground.

"You guys dare to harm children?" the lion growled. "Then prepare to be slaughtered!" He drew his sword high in a battle stance.

"Ter! Don't slaughter!" John yelled as he grabbed the bow in his pack and drew an arrow. "You can hurt them, but don't kill them."

"Fine," the lion grumbled. "You guys are really lucky he doesn't want to kill you.". The rouges were furious and drew their weapons.

"Everyone, get back," John told the group.

"No way," Albert smiled as he drew the sword on his belt. "I'm not gonna let you fight alone. I'll show them the fury of the Winter sword technique passed down from generation to generation."

"Fair enough," John smiled. "Kendric, can you tell us their weaknesses?"

"No prob," he replied with a smile.

"Gerald, can I trust you on protecting Gabriella?" John asked as he prepared to shoot an arrow.

"No worries," he smiled as he crunched his fists. "I'll protect her with my life."

The group smiled softly and faced their opponents.

"Alright!" John yelled. "Let's go!"

The group dashed towards their opponents and started to attack. John swiftly fired his arrows continuosly, hitting his foes' limbs, disabling their fighting potential. Ter and Albert continues to slash every opponent in their way, injuring them and also knock them unconcious. Gerald continues to punch and kick anyone who gets too close to Gabriella and himself. As minutes passed, most of the enemies have been disabled for battle, and only a few of them are left. Albert and Gerald panted as they ran out of breath because their stamina has been depleted. John and Ter, however, remained strong at the end of the battle. John, due to minimal movement, and Ter because of he's the only adult with them. Not to mention he's also a summoned guardian.

"Want some more?" John yelled as he drew his bow once more towards the remainder of the group. The rouges fled in terror as they had feared the group of children, and a summoned guardian, that defeated them. John blew a sigh of relief as he set down his bow and placed the arrow back to the pack.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked as he spun around.

"We're fine," Gerald panted. "Tired, but fine."

"Seconded," Albert said as he resheathed his sword. "I'm completley exhausted."

"Don't worry," Kendric smiled. "I got just the thing for that." The husky drew a couple of bottles from his beltbag and handed them to the exhausted pair. The two took a drink and in an instant, their satmina was replenished.

"Thanks," Gerald smiled. "It's a good thing your mother's an alchemist."

John suddenly cringed in pain as he held his head. Everyone was startled and walked towards him.

"Are you okay?" Gabriella panicked.

"I'm fine," he panted. He raised his head, showing his artic lupine face, with his right eye changing color into green.

"Oh, his eye is changing again," Albert sighed a little in relief and a little in worriness. "I guess it's already one o'clock."

"Sorry to worry you all," he smiled gently at the group. He stopped smiling and stare at something in the woods behind his friends.

"Watch out!" he yelled. Gerald turned around to see something flying towards his direction in high speed, knocking him unconcious. The rest was a total blur to the young fox.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE CHAPTER 15

Ancient history

"My name is John Yerlin Styler," John smiled at us. "And, as you may have heard from Louis and Lionel, I used to be a hunter like Ter and Chris."

"I'm Tony," Tony introduced himself. "This is Nick, Mei, Alex, and Michael," he said as he gestured his hand to each of us.

"So you quit as well?" Nick asked. John nodded softly.

"Ter and I had our reasons. But let's get on the topic. What do you guys want to talk about?"

"We want to know a little more on the fiends," Tony replied.

"And what would it be?"

"When did all these actually began?"

"I see..." John nodded. "Well, this will probably a long story. So why don't you prep up with some tea and snacks?"

We complied by grabbing our cups of tea and plates of snacks as John slowly began to narrate.

"It all began 1500 years ago," he started. "It was a brutal war between two nations. One of them is the nation of Galeriver. The other is the nation of Pyroshock. And as you may have noticed from the names, the two nations have their differences on their elements. One conjures the power ow wind and water, while the other uses fire and electricity.

"The battle went on for centuries, until 1000 years ago, the Pryoshocks created a new spell technique that could destroy the entire universe. The Galeriver retaliate with their own, but it causes a major imbalance on the world and the dimensions. Both side have lost their abilities on using magic, and nowadays, magic users are very rare."

"So, Alex is special?" I asked.

"Indeed he is," John smiled. "But back to the topic. The major imbalance made a rift hole that could destroy a larger portion of the whole system. But a young soul made a huge sacrifice, turning the deadly magic into something that could be disposed, hence the fiends were born.

"Until now, the magic still lingers everywhere. That's why a group of people got together and formed an alliance to fully dispose these things. That's when the Hunter's Guild was born."

"Wow..." Mei said. "That's so detailed."

"Thank you."

"I have a question," Tony said. "What exactly did he sacrifice?"

"No one else but the man knows," John sighed. "But I do know this. It was him that specifically chose the hunters and taught them the art of animorphic."

"So, he was alive?" I asked. John just smiled and nodded.

"Is there anything else?" John asked.

"How exactly do you know all these?" Mei asked.

"The Styler family has been in the war for generations," he stated. "It's no surprise that someone in the family might know a lot more than normal."

"So how long have you been fighting these things?" I asked.

"Longer than you could ever imagine," John chuckled.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Gerald, let's just say you really don't wanna know right now."

I sighed and nodded. I was slightly disappointed of the answer.

"So who exactly is these Gerald and Gabriella?" Mei asked.

"They're old friends of mine," John answered. "We've known each other since we were kids."

"And we're also in the Hunter's Guild," I added. Again, everyone, including me, is surprised when I said it. John, on the other hand, just smiled.

"That's right," he said. "We used to work together. Until that day..."

"What happened?" Alex asked.

"Let's just say, some things are meant to be kept until the time’s right," he sighed. The room became silent once more.

"Say Gerald," John called. "Do you still like to cook?"

"Me?" I asked. John nodded back. "Of course."

"Then can you help me in the kitchen? Let's make some lunch for everyone."

"Okay," I smiled. We slowly stood up and picked up the trays on the table. Everyone placed their dirty dishes on the trays and stood up.

"Ter, Chris," John called. "Why don't you take them to the game room? We'll call you when everything's ready."

"Okay Jo..." Ter said midway before John interrupted him.

"If you don't want to be covered in these things, I suggest you call me by my real name," he glared.

"Okay John..." Ter said with a shudder.

"Come on Ger," he smiled at me. We walked towards the room behind the doors. It's a very clean kitchen, with silver utensils hanging here and there. The counters themselves were spotless and all of the supplies are in order.

"I arranged them just the way you used to like," John smiled as he placed the tray on the large sink basin. I awed at the marvelous positioning. He knows what I like more than I do. I placed the tray on the sink as well and scanned the inventory. His fridge and spice cabinet practically have all kinds of ingredients.

"So what do you have in mind?" John interrupted my scanning.

"I think something French," I smiled back.

John nodded and started to help me cook. We started with the garlic bread with french bread and garlic.

"Say John," I said as I began to dice the garlic. "This Gerald guy, is it me?"

"I think so," he smiled back to me as he diced some tomatoes for the main course. "You remember some parts of our past, and you know my name before we knew each other."

"So exactly how long since you've known this guy? Am I his decendent or something?"

"Actually, you're a perfect resemblence of him. I think you're really him."

"Then these feelings I have with Mei..."

"Probably your deep connection with Gabriella. You two were..." John smiled as he stopped midway.

"Were what?" I looked back up. John just shook his head.

"Nothing," he smiled. "You'd probably freak if I told you. Maybe next time, okay?"

I smiled back. We continue to cook the food while talking about my life, as Michael, of course. I really don't know this Gerald, but I became more curious by the second. Eventually, the whole dish was prepared and we smiled in satisfaction. We placed the dishes on a cart and walked to the door on the North, leading to another majestic room. This time, it's a fancy dining room, complete with table cloth, candelabra, flowers, and stuff alike. We set the dishes on the table, positioning them to be like a fancy dinner party.

"They looked pretty good if you ask me," John smiled. "I see you haven't lose your cooking skills."

"Thanks, I guess," I smiled.

"You want to call them, Ger?"

"Why don't you do it? And my name now is Michael, not Gerald."

"Alright, Michael," he smiled back. He stood there looking at me with gentle eyes.

"What?" I asked. I was surprised when he suddenly hugged me tightly.

"Thank goodness you’re still alive," he said. His eyes began to form tears.

"H-hey, don't cry," I said as I patted his back.

"S-sorry," he smiled as he pulled back. He slowly wiped the tears forming in his eyes. “I’m just happy you survived the incident.”

"Um..." I rubbed the back of my head.

"Don't worry, Ger- I mean Michael. I'll tell you when I think you’re ready," he said. He left the room to call the others, leaving me alone in the dining room. I ponder for a moment, trying to remember anything about my past life, or anything that relates with John. But no matter how hard I tried, nothing came up.

“Arrgh!” I yelled in frustration. “What’s up with this!?”

“Michael?” Mei’s voice sounded from the hallway. I turned to see her walking in the room. She had a worried look on her face.

“Is everything alright?” she asked.

“Y-yeah,” I smiled back. “Just got a little frustrated, that’s all.”

“Okay…” she smiled as she slowly walked to me. The look on her face is very gentle. I don’t know if it’s my feelings or Gerald’s, but whenever I see it, I always felt happy. We slowly leaned into each other and closed our eyes. Our lips were a few millimeters away.

“Hey guys! Ready to eat?”

We jumped back, really surprised of the sudden interruption. Our faces were red when we saw Nick coming in from the hall.

“Uh… did I interrupt something?” he raised an eyebrow.

“N-nothing!” I blurted out. My face and Mei’s were burning with embarrassment.

“Okay…” he said as he shrugged it off. The rest of them joined in and sat down on a chair. Mei and I continue to stare at each other for a moment.

‘Am I really in love with her?’ I thought. I was thinking she thought the exact same thing when both of us started to blush once more.

“Gerald, Gabriella,” John called. “If you don’t sit down, we can’t start this lunch.

“Huh? Oh… right,” I said as I took one of the remaining seats as Mei took the other. The both of us were completely silent as the rest of them continued to talk. I wasn’t paying much attention as a lot of things are floating in my head. I could tell from Mei’s expression, she couldn’t pay attention as well. Suddenly, I felt a lot of stares coming towards me. I looked around and saw everyone is staring at Mei and me.

“Are you two okay?” Chris asked. “You two have been awfully quiet.”

“Y-yeah,” I answered. “W-we’re fine.”

“If you say so…” he mumbled. The dining room suddenly became very quiet.

“Hey, uh… John,” I called. He raised his head once more to see me. “If we’re old friends, then could you teach me about my old techniques? I might need some of those old skills.”

“No problem,” he smiled. “Why don’t you come here every Saturdays for your lessons? Perhaps Gabriella would want to train too.”

“M-me?” Mei looked at him.

“You were very good when you used a sword,” John rubbed his chin. Suddenly, he held his head and cringed in pain. We were about to walk over to check on him when he raised his other hand to stop us.

“It’s okay,” he panted. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Tony asked.

“Yeah…”

He raised his head once more and saw the change in his eye. The color of his right eye changed into the same shade of green of his left.