The Chosen And the guardians

  Chapter 5: Between Past and Future

  The morning began quite well when, Reit, tried to wake up Drake up with her delicate style "Hey sleepy head! Wake up already!" but Drake was in a deep sleep and ignored her until she decided to turn the bed and throw him out of it forcefully, waking up Drake pretty much instantly "What the....are you crazy?" Reit laughed "That teaches you to wake up when I ask you and to not oversleep" Drake got up pretty pissed "Why did you throw me out of bed like that?" Reit smiled happily "Training time punk! You and me, after breakfast!" Drake was kinda perplexed "Why? In more than one way, why?" Reit laughed again "Because that's how it works. Now take your butt over there and let's eat so we can begin our morning training!" Drake sighed and decided to not argue anymore, especially since he was not in the mood thanks to the harsh awakening.

  Iris and Lifia were waiting at the table and watching Drake coming out of the room "Sorry Drake...we could not stop her" Iris smiled perplexed while Lifia simply was preparing her bowl, completely indifferent. Drake just sighed and nodded while taking a seat, starting to eat together with the others. The only one really happy seemed Reit which finished first and was waiting for the others, especially for Drake, so she could began her training. Once outside, Lifia seated on the grass near the house, waiting for the show to begin while Iris stood against a wall ready to intervene in case of need, especially knowing that Reit tends to overdo it. Drake sighed "Well then...what's the plan?" Reit stood in front of him and simply grinned at him "EMBODY!" and so she transformed looking at him with deadly eyes "Show me what you got...young noble and divine dragon guardian" The irony in her voice and taunts were clearly aimed at Ryu, more than at Drake anyway. He then looked toward Iris "Do I have to fight her?" Iris just nodded seriously "...." Drake was a little perplexed and did not know what to do, still, pushed by Ryu's wrath, he decided to go with it "EMBODY!" Drake's body began to change, his eyes changed shape, his body began to fortify and increase in size, his muscles reinforced themselves, claws began to grow and his skin started to reflect the light around with the tiny scales that were growing.

  Drake was ready to fight, his dragon form was complete and he got in a fight posture "Let's do this ursine, so we might see how you will shut up once I finished you!" It was more Ryu than Drake's talk and, even if he still was in control, the overflowing rage could not be contained by him and could not stop Ryu from letting him do how he pleased. Reit didn't even answer, she started to rush him with fury, Drake prepared himself with a defensive posture, trying his best to get a solid stand against her strength which he already tasted and saw in action. Reit attacks were fast and strong, powerful blows were flying against Drake's defense and her furious hits were barely blocked by Drake's skills, the 2 were engaged in a fast paced fight which few were able to see. Drake was more or less only defending "Answer to her attacks boy! You cannot defend forever!" Ryu's words were hard but true, he was getting weary by defending himself against such powerful blows. "Enough..." Drake's voice came like a silent thunder when he began to answer back Reit's assault, but Reit was able to see his attacks, blocking or evading them, but she was not able to attack anymore. The fight was getting pretty tight when they began both to attack and block each other blows, Drake seemed pretty much in trouble and began to miss some of Reit's attacks, getting hit pretty badly, until a strong kick sent him sliding back a few meters and, while he was recovering a little, began to feel the pressure of the fatigue. Reit stopped to mock him, seeming quite disappointed "That all you got Dragon? I was expecting more..." Then she began to walk toward him "I cannot understand...why can't I use all my powers?" Drake, and Ryu alike, seemed quite frustrated but Reit was approaching fast and, when near enough to him, her eyes began to grow dark and bloody "Now you will pay for all your words useless specie..." And so prepared a punch enveloped by a red energy, quite dangerous to everyone's eyes. Drake was surprised and didn't knew what to do and, once Reit started to throw her attack, he just closed his eyes. The blow never came and only one word could be heard "EMBODY!" Iris was in front of Drake, blocking her attack with all her might, looking Reit in her eyes "Stop now! It's enough" Reit already lost it and jumped back a little "DO NOT INTERFERE!" she began attacking Iris with all her strength, Lifia was simply watching and did not interfered at all.

  Drake was stunned to see the 2 fighting and could not do nothing for a while, Iris was fighting Reit with ease, knowing her moves and being faster than her, but her blows were hard to block "Stop it Reit! It's over! Calm yourself down!" Reit didn't answer and launched a strong energy attack which sent Iris flying back. Drake's heart began pounding hard, seeing Iris being hit that hard and sent flying by her friend, his fury began to raise and his senses disappeared, no sound or image could be felt anymore by him "YOU WILL PAY!" A huge energy began to manifest around Drake, exploding with raging strength, making Drake disappear and reappear in front of Reit and, in an instant, a punch sent Reit against the trees, breaking tree of 3 of them and leaving her on the ground covered by wood and stunned by the powerful attack suffered. Lifia was genuinely surprised by that discharge of energy and moved fast to put herself in front of Drake, who was still engulfed in the powerful silver energy but, after seeing Lifia, he began to return to himself "It's over Drake..." Lifia said those words with supreme calm, Iris in the meanwhile recovered in mid air and landed safely but was stunned by the scene and could not say anything, proceeding toward Drake.

  After Drake calmed down, which made that huge energy disperse, Iris and Lifia went to check on Reit. Drake was looking at his hands speechless, Reit was able to recover her senses but was dazed, not believing what happened both to her and to Drake. Drake was still looking at his hands, almost afraid of them, until Iris came near him and tried to put a hand on his shoulder but he immediately retreated himself away from her once he felt the hand "I am a monster...this power hurts! It does not protect!" Iris was a little surprised but sighed and tried to calm him down "Drake...it's complicated, what can hurt can also save, power is good or evil based on how you use it" "But I just lost control! A second ago I could not even land a single hit on Reit..." Iris smiled gently and sweetly "She is much more experienced, she knows how to fight and she's a born warrior too, her kind is known for searching fights and train against the best foes" Drake seemed more confused than before "Why did you fight then? She hit you! Is that kind of power supposed to protect someone? By attacking teammates? Attacking your family? And by having rage riot like mine or hers?" Iris seemed a little troubled "It's not the first time Drake...you see" Reit came back from where she landed and cut through the discussion "That rage can be guide if you know how to control yourself. It's not your enemy if you don't fight it and let if flow but guiding it where you wish it. I'm a special case...and let's leave it at that, still that was a good hit, but you must train more..." Her voice was neither provocative nor ironic, she seemed terribly serious, like rarely happens "You cannot fight no one like that, and your powers are still weak..." That said she started to walk toward the forest, ignoring anything else. Iris sighs once again "You see...her kind, the ursine berserker, are known for having this power known as 'berserk' or, simply, fury. This power makes them attack friends and foes alike, usually Reit can guide that rage against the enemy but it's not the first time she cannot control herself. We usually must stop her and force her back to her senses. It's strange but, this time, it wasn't Reit's rage but rather her primal beast one..." Drake looked toward the direction Reit took and just didn't knew what to think, Iris saw his discomfort and so she took his hand and smiled "Do not be afraid of your power, you used it to protect me and I appreciate that, thank you. That proves that you can guide your power for good purposes, it's natural that your rage made you react like that. It's strange how you reacted and how you gathered so much energy but...you are not dangerous...trust me" She smiled again sweetly and made Drake calm down.

  Ryu, in the meanwhile, was trying to understand why he could not use his powers to their fullest, while
also listening to Iris communicating with Drake, and one thought worried him "Our kind is known to being able, on the pitch of our rage and when strong sentiments strike, to enter a rage and act like a primitive animal, attacking everything on our sight. This usually happens at adult or ancient dragons in their animal form and rarely happens when with a guardian...which makes me worry a little" Drake nod "I see, then I must pay attention on how I use my powers" Ryu snorted "What power? Didn't you see that we could not even hit the ursine?" Drake seemed more concerned about the rage part "Whatever..." Ryu sighed and dropped the argument, starting to meditate by himself and leaving Drake to his thoughts.

  Reit was walking in the forest concentrated on herself to talk to his primal beast "Why did you do that? I told you already to stop going berserk without reason!" "Tsk, shut up little girl, I choose how to use my powers and, besides, it wasn't without reason!" "Then tell me the reason!" "It's my business, now stop speaking...you are annoying me!" "Why you...!" Reit's attention was distracted all of a sudden by Lifia's sneaking after her "Strange moment to use your powers Reit, what happened?" Reit sighed "I dunno, I just wanted to punch him so hard...I wanted to really hurt him, but I still miss the reason behind it..." Lifia looked at the sky between the leaves of the trees "I see. Might it be the rivalry between your primal beast and Drake's?" Reit stopped all of a sudden and recalled all the things that happened between him and Drake, relating them with the story of the ursines "You...you might be right" Then she began to concentrate "Hey you!" "What else do you want?" "Is it true what Lifia said?" the big bear just shrug and nod "Now that you got your answer, leave me alone!" Lifia just stood on a tree looking at Reit "Well?" Reit just nodded "This seemed to be the reason, I guess. Still, even with all of this, he went past the limit" Reit punched a tree "I already told him to never do this! Still, he insists to do what he wants!" Lifia just smiled "Well...happens often that primal beasts and guardians argue at the beginning but, if you do not know to understand each other, you will never be able to grow and achieve the other stages of transformation" Reit nodded annoyed "I know, I know already..." Lifia was looking at her from a branch "Well then...I'll leave you be" she then jumped away using tree branches and disappeared in the forest, leaving Reit alone.

  In the evening, the 4 gathered at the table to eat, everyone except Reit which was still out. "Shouldn't we search for her?" Drake seemed a little concerned but Iris just smiled "No, She is all right, she just wishes a little lone time to meditate and think, leave her be" Drake nodded unsure "If you say so...anyway, tomorrow I'm gonna go back to school" Iris and Lifia were kinda surprised "You are a guardian, you cannot resume your old life like nothing happened Drake, you knew that when you accepted the way of the guardians..." Drake nod again to Lifia's saying "But still, the supreme guardian said that there is evil there, there are still people I care for and I cannot let them suffer or be targeted by the enemy. I want to destroy the evil there and erase their memory of me...I guess it's the best..." Iris stood silent while Lifia nodded "As you wish, we will accompany you as your friends and transfer students...I will take care of the things there. We will stay in the same class and check the situation and, once over, I will take care of our 'disappearance' so to speak" Drake nod and started eating together with the others while thinking about tomorrow.

  Reit came back late and was informed by Lifia about the new plan and, even if she wasn't much all right with it, she agreed to join in, hoping to fight the evil there. The next morning, Drake, as well as the other girls, prepared the necessary to go to Drake's school. The girls used an uniform gathered by Lifia, she even fixed the matter about their presence in the school. Reit felt uncomfortable with the uniform and decided to dress more casual using jeans instead of the skirt. The 4 went toward the school and were talking casually. For the period in which they will be at school they decided to stay at Drake's place which was big enough for all the 4 of them...with some little adjustments. On the way to the school, a girl, sad and out of energy, was walking toward school looking on the ground, but a voice woke her up and made her look up in front of her, her face brightening up seeing Drake. She started running toward the voice but stopped when she saw other 3 girls near him and watched almost hypnotized the scene of them 4 talking together in a friendly manner. She decided to reach him once again "Drake?" The young man turned his face and smiled troubled "Hey Talah, long time no see..." Talah came in front of him and gave him a slap on the cheek "Where have you been?! You know how much you made me worry!?! You could at least call me or something before disappearing like that!" Drake was troubled and didn't know how to answer but that's when Iris stepped in, a little pissed for the slap she gave him, and answered "Sorry, I don't think we know each other" she forcefully smiled "I am Iris, a transfer student and old friend of Drake, we transferred here for a period and will be staying at his place for this exchange project. The reason he missed is because he went to get us and helped us settle in, giving us a tour of the city and, since it was kind of sudden, he could not warn anybody" then smiled again "By the way, these are Lifia and Reit, also transfer student and friends of Drake" Talah was confused and stunned by the story and looked at Drake with a confused expression "You never told me about this friends of yours, is this all true Drake?" Drake just nodded when all the 4 girls looked at him waiting an answer, so Talah just nod back "I...I see. Why did you never told me about them?" Drake was a little troubled "Well, I know you get mad easily...so I preferred to don't bother you with old friends I had, hehe....so yeah, that's why anyway...it doesn't matter anyway, it's getting late, we must hurry" That said he started to walk toward the school, almost running, trying to run from Talah. Iris Lifia and Reit followed him "Bye Talah" Iris smiled at her while the other 2 just waved a goodbye and went toward the school. Talah was looking blankly at them going away and was starting to feel almost empty about all of this, his beloved Drake was with other 3 girls, friends, which will stay at his place too. It seemed almost a bad dream from which she could not wake up.

  In class, the 3 new girls, were greeted by all the other student: many were stunned by Lifia's figure and careless behavior, she refused any invitation from any guy and preferred to stay on her own rather than having company; most feared Reit who was quite violent and carefree and some teased Iris which resorted to Drake's protection but, one person, was depressed on her desk in the class, that being Talah who still could not believe what was happening. After days of absence, he now returns like this, she went to his place everyday to check if he was all right, called him many times uselessly and searched for him many days without rest and now...he returned like nothing...it was almost like a bad joke for her. Far away, on a building, a dark figure smiled satisfied looking at the school "Oh, I see now, this will be fun, very very fun...." Then disappeared in thin air laughing.

  Once the day of school ended, Talah tried to talk to Drake for more explanations but he was still surrounded by the 3 girls which seemed to not leave him alone, she was frustrated by this but could not do nothing for now and preferred to wait the next day in the hope to find him alone. Drake and the others went to his home "Long time since I've been here..." Drake looked at the walls and rooms like it was ages since he was there, it was understandable after everything that happened "This is a nice place Drake, we might use it as a base instead of the cabin, it might be a little more in sight but could be a excellent place to keep an eye on the city, we could not find a good place and had some difficulty staying in the city since the many battles we had, and it was difficult to hide ourselves or rest properly. But this could be a better solution" Drake nodded "Well yes...I live here alone so it's all right, I do not mind at all..." Iris smiled back while Reit prepared the place for all of them to rest and done proper furniture moving for the place to be suited for all of them. Lifia began cooking dinner while the other 3 just rested a little on the big couch "I forgot how difficult is to go to school..." Iris sighed tired while Reit just laughed it off "I had fun, I slept most of the time, at l
east until that teacher woke me up. The gym classes were awesome, also all the guys watched me for some reason..." Drake laughed "Of course, they never saw a girl beating them in almost all activities like that! You may have some fans from now on!" Iris laughed while Lifia, who was preparing dinner, called the 3 "It's all ready..." The 3 got up and sit at the table, starting to eat and discussing about the day that passed. In that night, Talah could not sleep well because of the thoughts that were filling her head, the nightmares she had also contributed in waking her up most of the night. A dark presence seemed to enjoy her torment and was laughing silently looking at her suffering.

  The next morning Talah went to school looking almost like a zombie, she wasn't feeling well and had few, if none, hours of sleep but Drake was busy with the other girls to notice her and, with the intent of searching for the evil infesting the school, he did not notice what was happening with her. But Talah noticed that...and this only made her condition worse. Another day passed at school but the guardians found nothing about the evil that Ryu's father talked about, Talah went home unnoticed and collapsed on the bed, she was unable to sleep but unable to stay up or do anything else. Every drop of energy she had vanished and a dark presence appeared in her room and smiled satisfied "Well well, a poor little soul has lost his way" Talah looked at the dark figure but was too weak to react "Who are you?" The dark figure once again smiled "A friend...who wants to help you get revenge on those bitches that stole your beloved one from you..." Talah was speechless and could not say anything back "Leave yourself go to me little one, I will take good care of you" The dark figure started to laugh while a dark shadow began to swallow Talah.

  The next morning, Drake and the others went to school, again with the intention of searching all day for the evil lying inside the school, Talah did not came to school that day and none noticed her absence, except for one of the friends who usually talks to her, but ignored it thinking it might be a flue. After all the searching, the group rendezvous on the school's roof "So...you found anything?" The girls shook their head in denial "Well...I guess it's pointless searching anymore, we looked and analyzed every place we could. Maybe the darkness disappeared or is well hidden and it's best if we wait for it to show up I guess" Everybody agreed with the idea but someone else entered the discussion "Interesting idea, I say you try harder instead ahahaha!" all 4 looked around trying to find the source of the voice but none had success "Ah, do not bother searching, my little puppets, I will show myself if I want to, for now know this...you will have a lot of fun the next days...or at least I will have for sure...bwahahah!" And like that the voice disappeared, as well as the dark presence he cast upon the group "Damn...him again" Reit began to clench her fist "Again?" Drake seemed curios "Yeah, he's the one that put us in trouble when you began being a guardian with that giant creature you defeated. He's also the one that would like to have me as his personal pet...he finds me charming....but I will find him and kick his ass so hard that he will remember my lesson forever!" Reit began to lose control but Lifia and Iris calmed her down "No purpose to get angry now Reit, he's gone" Iris nod too "Yeah calm down" She smiled sweetly "Try to relax...we will get him don't worry. But I am curios what he meant by 'having fun' in the next days..." Drake shook his head "No idea, we should be careful...for now let's go home. But stay on alert". The 4 went home after school. No one attacked them on the way home and neither at home but they still decided to take shifts and keep an eye out.

  The next day though, Talah's friend, warned Drake about her absence and began to get worried, she would not answer her phone and neither was home for when they checked on her and began to worry. Drake began to think about Talah, which he ignored for the past few days, but could not remember nothing strange since he was not paying much attention, busy searching the school. After trying to call her, without success, he proposed himself to check on her after school. The day was quite simple and went by normally, except for Drake's worries that began to grow little by little thinking about Talah. After school he went to Talah's home but she wont answer the door and, after some tries, he decided to go home, thinking about where could she be and starting to worry seriously about her. The late hour made him decide to resume the matter in the next morning.

  In the next morning, the pressing matter of the new enemy and the disappearance of Talah, seemed a little too much to worry about for the group so they decided to do a meeting before going to school and decide on a plan. "All right, we need to organize ourselves and split to solve the matters at hand" Drake watched the girls reaction but all 3 were paying attention to him and waiting for his next words "Good, someone must keep an eye on the school in case something happens while, the others, should search for Talah. I know it might be nothing...but I am starting to worry about her, please be careful everybody and eyes peeled. Iris and Lifia will go to school, the strange figure seems focused on Reit so it might be best for her to avoid the place for now. Also, Lifia and Iris, you can help much faster than the both of us in case something happens in the school. In the meanwhile, me and Reit, will take care of searching the city and known places in the attempt to find Talah" Reit sighed "I guess I'm stuck with the newbie. Very well then...but, why are you so worried about her?" Drake stood a little silent, everybody in the room wanted to know an answer "Well...I guess she was one of the few people that I care and who cared about me. I kinda forgot about her in the past days, too busy with the danger in the school to do so. I guess it's my fault too that she disappeared like that...." Reit, as well as the others, nod. Iris seemed a little off "Something wrong Iris?" Drake was a little worried about her too "Y...yeah, I was wondering...do you love that girl?" Lifia and Reit were stunned at the question, Drake was not different but he still managed to answer "She loves me...that I know for sure, but I never saw here as a possible choice. It's true that I care a lot about her, but for me she's an important person, but not in that way..." Iris seemed a little relieved but did not give herself away and, like that, the matter seemed solved "Very well then, let's go and take care of business!" that said, they departed to take care of the matter at hand.

  Lifia and Iris departed for school like the days before, trying to be cautious about everything they could see and hear, in the meanwhile, Drake and Reit started searching a few points, pinpointed by Drake, to be common places where Talah could be. He went to the mall and she went to the train station. The girls arrived at school and everything seemed normal and quiet, the everyday normal activities were going on with no problems and, seeing the quiet atmosphere, they decided to participate to a few hours of lessons. Drake arrived at the mall, and being a sunny day, everybody was doing shopping or having a walk inside of it and, considering it's size, it has quite some entertainments to offer so many hang out there. He began searching for Talah everywhere but she was nowhere to be found. But he did not gave up and went on searching for her in different locations. Reit in the meanwhile arrived at the station and started searching here and there, hoping to find Talah, but no sign of her. She was kinda hard to found but, even so, she didn't gave up as well, knowing the value of that person to Drake. While Drake began to search the city, heading to the next spot, Reit was distracted by a strange light between some houses and decided to investigate. Once there, a strong light blinded her for a few seconds and, just moments later, a strong attack made her fly against the wall. Once she came out of the wall, she saw a dark figure, a human shaped figure covered completely in darkness and with 2 blades instead of hands, 2 bloody eyes that resembled those of the lust of fury she has once at the peak of her berserker mode. With no moment to lose, she transformed "EMBODY!" the transformation ended and she was ready to fight. The figure dashed like the wind against Reit and started attacking her with incredible strength and speed, incredible even for her. Only Iris or Lifia could match such speed. For her was a little too much so she lost patience after several attacks she endured and started to answer back with similar rage while her fists began to be engulfed by a red energy that made them st
ronger, her eyes began to blank and she started to attack like a whirlwind the enemy, making it slide back with every hit. Reit was attacking with all her strength the creature and, although it was receiving such punishment, was still up and kicking, attacking back, but the rage of Reit seemed to wear off once she saw that her attacks were kind of useless and did not achieve much with them. The dark creature used an opening on her defense to strike a terrible blow on Reit, sending her sliding "Grr...What are you? Why, and how, do you keep fighting like this after all those hits?" The beast was just shouting strange noises once in a while but never stopped fighting and, while it was getting near, Reit was trying to recover her position to resume fighting but a figure appeared in front of her "Missed me?" Drake smiled while giving an amused look at Reit "Shut up..." Then she regain her composure and got ready to fight once again, side to side with Drake, which was transformed and came to help once noticed the commotion and energy discharges.

  Drake started to attack the creature, with every hit forcing it to retreat a little, but it never counter attacked and avoided when possible his hits. Drake stopped his attacks and slide back a little "Why does it just stand there?" Reit was getting ready to attack " I dunno, either your attacks are too weak or something happened...because trust me, it is everything but weak or quiet that little fellow" That said, she began attacking but the creature answered back with all its power and started again fighting with her "Tck.." Reit retreated after a while and looked at the creature "See? I dunno why but it seems that it wants to fight me mainly..." Drake was perplexed by the creature's reaction "Then let me fight it, you recover your strength. You might needed it." Reit nodded "All right but don't get too cocky" Drake smirked back and started attacking again but the beast unleashed a strange shout and, once again, did not answer any of the blows it got from him, it only tried to avoid or block them with a very good success rate too. Other than that it would not do anything else "Damn it, we can't hit it like this" Ryu was frustrated "I know! I am seeing that...but we don't seem to be able to do more, that all you got Ryu?!" The dragon began to get angry "No! Of course not, but I cannot seem to be able to use my full powers and I cannot understand why!" Drake just sighed "No use to think about it now. Let's give it our all!" Ryu nodded and started to focus again on the battle but with poor results nonetheless.

  In the meanwhile, Iris and Lifia felt Reit's call and alarm about the enemy "Reit is in trouble, we should go and help them" Lifia nodded and prepared themselves to go toward them but a voice blocked them instantly "Where are you going ladies?" The same black figure appeared again in front of them and smirked "I guess you should stay and have some fun with me instead. Your friends are having some fun with one of my little creatures" Iris and Lifia looked at each other and lose no time "EMBODY" Both transformed right away and prepared themselves for attack "Oho, no losing time hm? Very well" The dark figure raises his hand in the air and a puddle of darkness covered the 2 guardian's feet. Lifia jumped in time but Iris got stuck in the puddle and darkness started climbing on her little by little "Ehehehe...I hope you enjoy it because, once you will be swallowed...you will be doomed!" A green energy rose from below and a triangular shaped energy blasted the enemy "Shut up!!" Lifia began attacking it with strategic blows and magic attacks to keep him busy while Iris still struggled to free herself from the puddle "Dammit...." Her primal beast whispered calm "Use my special power Iris" "But...but it's very tiring and energy consuming to use, especially since it's not yours...." The primal beast nod "I know, but we do not have any other chances" Iris nodded "I invoke the sacred tiger's power, SACRED LIGHT!" Iris's fur began to release a powerful pink glow which melted the darkness almost instantly and allowed her to break free in an instant. But the usage of a that technique left her on a knee recovering energy and air. Lifia kept attacking, mainly to keep the figure busy and allow Iris some recovery time. The dark figure was skilled in avoiding her attacks and counter-attacked at the first occasion with a darkness energy sphere which sent Lifia flying back in pain "Ngh....your attacks are quite strong" The dark figure grinned "Of course they are, I am not a simple little wimp like the ones you fought till now. Hah! you are dead now" Then with one hand he started focusing his energy into a giant sphere of darkness while the 2 guardians were out of options "Iris...can you sustain that technique?" Iris nodded "Barely I guess...but we will use it to it's full extension this time" Lifia nod and they both started to concentrate together "DUAL FELINE ATTACK!" The 2 began to shift their form into a sphere of light and began charging the dark figure, attacking him furiously. Unable to defend himself, and surprised by the attack, he got damaged enough and disappear in thin air "That was....too easy" "No time to discuss Lifia, off we go like this because I won't be able to keep it up for long.." The 2 nod and started to speed up toward Reit in the duo feline form at immense speed.

  Drake was getting tired attacking and his attacks began to be slower and weaker, the monster never fought back and avoided every hit with ease "Why it does not attack?" Drake stopped attacking and looked at the creature while regaining his breath and energy "Damn, I am tired..." Reit in the meanwhile recovered some energy "Let's switch" Drake nodded "All right" Drake began to back off while Reit began attacking, but once that happens, the creature began to answer her attacks and gave her a hard time "What the..." Drake was surprised and didn't know what to do, he was too tired to attack further but the creature was obviously superior to Reit's raw power. The creature then stopped all of a sudden "D...D.....DREAKKK!" A high pitched shout went out from the beast and Drake seemed to know that voice, it had something familiar but he could not understand what was it.

  Reit got the chance to attack him and hit it hard, sending it flying against another wall "That's it! Good one Reit" Reit smirked but the beast got back up and started to dash again against Reit but, at half road, 2 energy sphere attacked the creature and caused it to slide back with each hit. Once the attack was getting weaker, the 2 spheres retreated near Drake and Iris and Lifia made their appearance, both tired "That's one strong creature...what is it?" Drake shook his head "Can't say, but it seems to attack only Reit" Iris and Lifia were pretty surprised "How so?" Drake shook his head again, then Lifia tried to attack the creature, which was recovering a little from the numerous attacks received before by the powerful dual feline form but, in a second, it counter-attacked back and sent Lifia flying back "It seems it hates me too..." Drake nodded "Seems I am the only one that it doesn't attack...but I am a little tired to do that..." "Ahahahah how are doing my little puppets?" The dark figure again appeared out of nowhere and stood floating over the group "You again? But we saw you vanish!" he then simply laughed "Fools! that was just a little dark copy of me, a mere tool to keep you occupied a little. But it seems that I underestimated you since you made it here so fast, it doesn't matter though, the little sweetie there will take care of you" Then he grinned widely while looking at the group.

  Drake was getting pretty angry "What is that thing? And why it doesn't attack me?what do you want from us?" "Oh? It does not attack you? It must still have some feelings for you maybe..." Drake was stunned "F..feelings?" The dark figure laughed "You still did not noticed it? What a fool you are! That one is your little friend which you forgot and ignored for all these days while she desperately tried to look for you and get your attention and love. She was soooo sweetly depressed when she saw you with other girls, ignoring her, that she broke down and began to get revenge...with a little help from me" Drake then realized what was that shout before, it was Talah calling for him "T...talah?" The monster just looked at him with his deadly red eyes "Is that you?" The dark figure laughed again "How fun is this!? Let me heat the party though, Cause I believe it's kind of cold here" That said he sent a flying dark energy ray toward the creature which shouted deeply when hit and, after a little smoke that came out of it dissipated, it began attacking with superior fury Reit and sent her flying away "NRGHHH!" The creature was obviously out of it's mind and began attacking Lifia and Iris too
and, even if tired, they tried to keep it occupied "Damn it...STOP IT TALAH!" The beast still ignored Drake's voice and kept attacking the 2 tired guardians.

  The dark figure laughed once again "Ahahah this is such a beautiful show! I really enjoy things like this, now die like the little worms you are!" Drake began to focus his energy again "Ryu, I know you don't like me, I know I am not the guardian you wish me to be but...I need all your power to protect my new family and my old one too...I do not care with what price, give me your power" Ryu was silently looking at him "Doesn't matter the price?" Drake nod and Ryu just smiled, but then Lifia and Iris were sent on the ground by the beast's attack. The beast began focusing Drake shortly after "Damn..." He began to defend itself but the hits of the creature were hard and difficult to block and too fast to avoid. Reit began to raise herself while limping a little "Damn...Hey you!" her primal beast looked at her with fiery eyes "What do you want?" "I know that you felt betrayed by the dragon clan, I know how you feel about their way to treat your clan....but I need you to share more power, share all you have with me, give me the power to protect them...p....please!" The primal beast was surprised by the beg of Reit "You know, my family began attacking themselves while I was little, they battled each other like savage beasts and were on the verge of attacking me too if the chaos didn't started outside too...I saw trusted friends attacking me, as well as others, without any kind of remorse or feelings...since that day I never trusted no one. I chose you because we are similar, but it doesn't mean I must do what you want" Reit sighed "I know how you felt, you said it yourself...I am similar to you, I know how it feels to be betrayed and attacked like that, believe me when I say that. I know what you felt back then, and even if you don't believe me, please have faith in me and help me protect my family! you could not do that, you were young and could not do much to avoid any of that, but these people, they...they are different, they are my only family, please don't let the story happen again, give me the power to protect them and do what you could not....giving them a chance" The primal beast went silent for a few moments "Hmpf...I dunno why I listen to you sometimes...so be it, I will have faith in YOU, and YOU only! For now let it be enough" Reit nod and smiled "Thank you....I owe you one old bear!" The primal beast just smirked back. A powerful light engulfed Reit's body "TRANSFORMATION!" The light began to change Reit's body, the fur began to expand more, the tail and ears were a little bigger, his claws began to grow and glow with a little red light, starting to get sharper and pointy like a blade, her muscles and body began to grow and doubling in size and her eyes began to shine of a red color. "What the dark damn it's happening?" the dark figure was surprised by the light and looked it's way. In seeing the new Reit, he grinned "Interesting my little pet...." Reit instantly punched the creature that was beating up Drake and sent it flying back quite some space "Tch, you ok?" Drake nodded slightly "Thanks...what happened to you?" Reit smirked "Second form....take care of Iris and Lifia, I'm gonna take care of business..." that said she dashed against the creature and started attacking it with new speed and power, which the beast was unable to beat, and was getting a heck of a beating by Reit. In the meanwhile Drake shouted "Reit do not kill it! That's Talah!" Reit sighed and stopped attacking "Then think of a plan because like this we won't solve anything..." Drake nod while the dark figure laughed "Think fast little puppets!" and then he sent a dark sphere toward Lifia and Iris which were recovering from the hard beating they got before and were unable to move from there. Reit, like a thunder, reached them and protected them from the attack "I cannot fight in 2 places Drake!" "I know, I know!" The dark figure smiled "Let's see how much punishment you can suffer before going unconscious!" The figure began to shoot more energy spheres, the creature began to attack Reit as well who was struggling to keep them both under control with little results. Lifia and Iris retreated a little but were unable to do anything "Drake....we cannot fight like this, take our energy and help Reit!" Drake was surprised "Your energy?" Iris nodded "We can give energy to one another but it's usually not the best idea cause it worn us out in case we give too much and can even lose the transformation, still...me and Lifia are too tired to fight. You are still in shape for it, please help her" Drake nodded and concentrated himself while Lifia and Iris transferred their energy to him. A strange sensation of warmness began to fill Drake's body and a strange sensation of darkness too, but it was too little to be felt and he began to feel better and his energy rising again.

  "Let's go!" Drake began attacking the creature to give Reit a hand but the creature tacked him off easily and attacked again Reit with fury "Damn it...Ryu!" The young dragon was looking at Drake "You know? You remind me why I choose you. I had a strict dad, he taught me about the dragon clan and how high and powerful we are, superior to other clans, sacred and holy, we must not confuse ourselves with the others, even if we fight side by side, we are guiding them like a clan leader or something like that...but now, now I see an ursine, considered traitors by many...defending us while getting hit just to protect us. This is not what I knew about them....maybe my father is wrong about some things, maybe he is just old fashioned from that old war. Now I know what you want to protect Drake....and you will have my aid" Drake nod. Iris and Lifia transformed back and went unconscious after giving all their energy to Drake. Drake started to recall all his strength and power, this time he could gather the fully potential of his form "Finally my full powers!Seems that we needed just to agree more and fight both for a reason Drake..." Drake nod and smiled "Let's get em!" Ryu nodded as well and so they dash against the dark creature, blocking it with both his arms "Time for payback!" Reit, now free from one pressure, could focus on the dark figure's attacks and fight back. She began to get near him by jumping on the building while avoiding his attacks "I'm coming for you, you bastard!" "How can you have so much energy left after all those attacks you took?" Reit smirked "Never underestimate a ursine berserk's power!" Then she began attacking him with all her strength and, even if he blocked most of the hits, the few hits that got him made him go back "Grr...damn you! You are lucky that I am unprepared and tired...but I will be back!" Then he disappeared in thin air while Reit was left shouting at the wind "COME BACK!! COWARD!" she sighed once she understood that he was gone and started to reunite with Drake which was holding the dark creature with his new strength.

  The 2 were almost having a strength contest, trying to push one another to get the advantage "Talah, please wake up! I am Drake, I came to search for you, please come back wherever you are!" The beast flinched a little and a voice came out of the monster "D...Drake, you....you....YOU BETRAYED ME!" The voice began to angrily shout at him "I was worried that you disappeared! I searched for you! I was worried! And what did you do? You came back after days with 3 girls and ignored me all this time!? I HATE YOU!!" Drake began to lose ground under his anger and power rising "Ngh...well....I...I didnt! I know you love me Talah, and it's true that I can't return that same love that you give me, but I came to search for you, I ignored you because I wanted to search for the darkness inside the school and avoid other victims. I just wanted to protect everyone, especially you. You...were my only family for a long time Talah, you were always there, even when I didn't wanted to. You took care of me since we were younger, and stood by my side for a long time, I know I cannot love you as you do, still you are precious to me and won't allow anyone to hurt you, I will sacrifice myself if needed and, if it's revenge you wish, then take it!" Drake retreated a little from the beast and opened his arms "Give me all you got and get your revenge! I am the cause of all this and I am going to pay the price if needed!" The creature began attacking Drake while he did not tried to block anything, the attacks were a lot weaker than before and were not hurting Drake as much, the attacks were getting slower too and, after a while, they began to be slower and slower, then Reit arrived but Drake said firmly "DO NOT interfere Reit! Let her get her revenge of me, I made her suffer like this!" Reit was unsure on what to do, but the creature stopped attacking him and stood
silently to look at the injured Drake.

  Moments of silence filled the place, Reit was ready to attack in case the creature resumed its attacks, but that never happened because the creature embraced Drake and began to melt little by little. In that moment, a girl crying, emerged from the darkness and Drake embraced her, hugging her back while comforting her "It's all right, it's over" Talah began to cry without refrain and gave everything she had while the darkness melt away and faded into emptiness. After a while Iris and Lifia recovered their senses thanks to the little energy they received from Reit. Drake was embracing Talah which was still in shock and crying "I...I..." she was unable to speak properly and resumed to bury her face into Drake's chest. Drake smiled sweetly "It's all right, I know you didn't meant this to happened..." "But...even last time..." Drake put a finger on her lips "I know. Like I said, it's not your fault, it's mine, and I am sorry for ignoring you, I won't hurt you anymore, I promise" Talah nodded silently while her tears stopped pouring. Reit, Lifia and Iris stood to watch from afar, they didn't wanted to interfere, it was not necessary but Iris knew what she had to do once that was over. Drake smiled again "I know what you feel but I guess this is the best solution" Talah looked at him "What solution?" "I am sorry, this is the only way to protect you" and so he kissed her sweetly like she always wished, a farewell kiss, a kiss that seemed to bother quite a lot the young Iris who looked away and sighed with sorrow. Once Drake departed from her and smiled, Iris put a hand on Talah's head and began to erase her memories of Drake. All except for that little kiss, she left it like a dreamy kiss from her white knight, even if she didn't liked it, she knew what it meant for her and respected that. Drake and the others put the sleepy Talah back to bed and retreated to recover their energy, Drake still unsure if that was the best choice.

  The next morning Talah woke up and started to dress up for school as usual, a strange emptiness filled her heart in her walk toward the school, someone was missing "Hi" a person smiled and greeted her on the street and, when she looked at that figure, it seemed to her someone she could not remember, a familiar figure, an important person she could not focus on but, after a while, she resumed walking again toward school and start her daily routine. Drake stopped in a dark alley and looked at the floor with sorrow "Drake...this is the best solution, you know that as well" Drake nod "I know, but I will miss them, especially Talah" Ryu nodded as well " I know, but you made the right choice, let's go...." Drake began to slowly walk back to his new hideout, returning back to the team which withdraw from school, erasing everybody's memory of them and Drake to avoid putting them in danger again.