Family History

As the three of them stilled their hearts, they walked around the corner of the cave to be met with a huge cavern.  

"Deja vu." Jewels whispered to herself.  

Instead of stairs this time, they flew down the cavern and they could hear the breathing louder.  Knowing that they were close to what ever monster that lived down there, Nemean led them towards the sleeping monster.  Behind a big stone pillar, was a sleeping silver and black raptor.  It was twice the size of Fenghuang and looked twice as fearsome. 

"Beloved."  Fenghuang cried out when her eyes landed on him.  "I have finally found you!"  

She runs to the bird and the bird wakes up in a dreamy state.  His eyes meets Fenghuang's body and he turns into his human form quickly as she jumps into his open arms.  He swings her around once then they hold on to each other as if it was only a dream and if they let go, the other one would disappear.  

"Beloved." He whispered.  "You've broken free. How?" 

Fenghuang touches her forehead to his forehead and pass along her memories on to him as he does the same to her.  The silent communication made Jewels uncomfortable, because she didn't know what they were talking about. 

The man lets Fenghuang go, but still kept a hand around her waist as they approach Jewels and Nemean.  

"Let me introduce you guys," Fenghuang said. "Roc, this is my human, Jewels and her animal and my friend, Nemean the lion.  Jewels, Nemean, this is my beloved, Roc." 

They greeted each other and suddenly she found her forehead pressed up against his. His memories were shared with her as her memories went into his mind.  And as quickly as he grabbed her head to make a contract with her, it was quickly moved and he stood by Fenghuang again, holding her waist. 

"Why'd you do that?!" Jewels asked angrily.  "I never said I wanted to make a contract with you." 

"It was the only way." He said.  "It was the only way to guarantee that we would never part again.  Fenghuang is your animal to call, then so will I.  If her loyalties are to you, then so is mine.  If it is her goal to ensure you reach your goal, then it should be mine as well.  I will serve you as Fenghuang serves you." 

"What am I, a freaken zoo?" Jewels asked mostly to herself than to them.

"Zoo? What's a zoo?" Nemean asked. 

"Its where humans keep all the wild animals like you in cages."  Jewels told him.  

None of them spoke because they were trying to sift through Jewels's memories about zoos. When they found a memory, they all shuddered at the caged animals and never wanted to be in that situation. 

"We're lucky." Nemean said out loud. 

"Yeah, well piss me off enough and I'll build you a pretty gold cage to match your fur and parade you around town as the prettiest lion out there in the 4 Kingdoms.  We could make tons of money off of it and I could even teach you tricks---"

"Stop,"  Nemean said.  "You're scary when you joke like that. I actually believe you." 

Jewels laughed out load and looked at the cavern before she asked Roc the reason why they were there in the first place. 

"So... you hide any treasures in here?" 

Roc smiled and led her to his hiding spot where he hid his treasure over the centuries.  

"You can have all of it." Roc said. 

When Jewels entered the room, the room glittered gold.  The piles and piles of gold and gems, reflected against the cave walls even though there was little light showing through.  Without even going through them, Jewels swept them into her grey space, placing them in a room in the cabin.  When the whole cave was empty, Jewels turns around to Roc and asks. 

"Any more?" 

Roc leads them into another room, where weapons, shields and scrolls were stored.  She moved to sweep them into another room in her cabin until the cave became empty as well.

"Anymore?" Jewels asked greedily.

"Yeah." Roc said as he lead them to the very back of the cavern.  in the back, held his most precious treasure.  In the cave, there lied a set of clothing that hung from the ceiling.  It's blue long sleeved shirt and pants, looked light weight and durable. 

"Its made from the scales of a blue dragon." Roc said as he took down the clothes.  "The clothes stretches and shrinks to the owner's body.  Blue dragon skin are clothes that can block against  all elements and weapons. It protects the owner body and is light enough that it feels like a second skin.  It adjusts to the owner temperature and protects it from the weather. It now belongs to you, my human." 

Roc hands over the clothes and Jewels hesitates for a second before accepting the gift. She so wanted to try it on, but with her clothes and body still covered in gorilla blood, she wanted a long bath before wearing the blue dragon skin.  

"Do you know a place where I can wash up?" Jewels asked.

"Follow me."

Roc leads them through a long tunnel, bringing them deeper into the mountain.  Slowly Jewels could smell sulfur in the air.  Jewels started getting excited as Roc was leading them to a natural hot spring.  Soaking in hot water would make them feel so rejuvenated.  Roc then led them to the end of the tunnel and behind him was a pool of water with steam coming from it.  Jewels excitedly ran towards it while stripping off her clothes in front of them, not caring for any modesty.  Jewels jumps into the pool and where she jumped in, she turned the water red. And as quickly as the water turned red, it turned back to its original milky white.  

"What the?" Jewels shrieked in surprise. "How did it do that?" 

"The natural spring has been enchanted. By who?  I don't know, it was here before I came here."  Roc said as he got in with Nemean and Fenghuang. "It has healing abilities as well." 

"This is too interesting." Jewels said as she laid back on the stone.  "Fenghuang, do you think the water is enchanted or the room is enchanted?" 

"I believe the water is enchanted." Fenghuang answered.  

"When we leave, do you think I can make a hot spring in my grey space and take the water from here and place it in my grey space.  Do you think it'll still have healing capabilities?" 

"I won't know myself. There's only one way to know and that's to try it out." 

"I think if it does work, it'll come in great handy to us in the future."  Jewels said out loud as she closed her eyes and went to her grey space.  

In the grey space, she extended the cabin to be bigger by adding five more rooms to the cabin.  She built a large shed to store her herbs and once she found a nice cauldron, she would bring it into her grey space where she could make medicine, potions and salves.  She then built an empty pool pit behind the cabin.  It would no longer be a hot spring, but what she wanted was the enchanted natural spring water.  

She left her grey space and returned back to only Nemean sitting a ways from her with his eyes closed as well.  Fenghuang and Roc was no where to be seen.  Jewels could guess where Fenghuang and Roc went and what they were doing so instead she came closer to Nemean. 

"You regret it?"  Jewels asked as she sat beside him. 

"Regret what?" Nemean said with his eyes still closed. 

"Making a contract with me." 

Nemean was quiet for a long time before he answered. 

"No."

"Why'd it take you so long to answer?"

"I was weighing the pros and cons.  It turns out I have more pros than cons. And besides, making a contract with you is just a small blip in my long life.  It just seems long to you because you're living your life right now.  I will still be on this earth long after you're gone and be here even after your children's children's children's are gone."

"When we shared memories, you held some back, I can't find anything about your family.  Do you have family?  Are they alive?  Do you have someone you love, like Fenghuang loves Roc and Roc loves Fenghuang?" 

"My family can die for all I care." Nemean said. "If you want to know about them, I'll tell you the whole truth of my past.  And yes, I did have someone I love a very long time ago, but she is no longer here on this plane of existence."

"Which plane of existence is she on?  We can go try to find her, just like how we found Fenghuang and Roc.  They were on a different plane of existence and we were able to free Fenghuang and reunite her with Roc." 

Nemean finally opened his eyes and stared at Jewels with serious eyes.  

"Do you mean what you say?" Nemean asked slowly. 

"Of course, I wouldn't of said it if I wasn't serious about it.  And you know I only do things I want to do. I mean, I know it won't be an easy journey, if it was, I'm sure you would have gone and done it yourself already, but if there is any way we can all go together and find your beloved, why not?  The four of us is better than one when facing any dangers. Besides, the thought of you being alone for eternity is just sad.  At least I'll die when I'm old, but you can live forever and being alone forever, is not something I think my dead soul could rest peacefully knowing this fact." 

Nemean suddenly embraces Jewels within his arms, hugging her tightly.  

"You are the best human I know."

"I'm the only human you know." Jewels reminded him. "Besides the thought of you guarding my burial site for all eternity is a lonely and wasteful existence, one which I do not want you to do, so it's better for you to have your beloved with you while you watch over my dead body."  

Nemean pulled back and laughed heartily.  The wrinklies on the corner of his eyes creased deeper.  His eyes lit up with light and his white teeth showed his sharp canines as his mouth opened.  The bellowing sound echoed through the cave and the walls shook with vibration. Jewels smiled back.  She liked seeing him like this, laid back, relaxed, and carefree.  

"I am your animal to call for life."  Nemean said. 

"How magnanimous of you, considering my life is just a blip to your long life.  Oh, the demands I will make in my short lifetime will make you regret that you made a contract with me." 

Nemean continued laughing and said. "Any demands that my human asks, this animal to call will obey."

"Even if I use you for evil?" 

"As if you could do something so evil." 

"I know I won't, because I'll have you do it."  Jewels joked half heartily.

Nemean stopped laughing and looked at Jewels to see if she was joking or not. 

"I told you that you were scary when you joke like that." 

"Who says I'm joking? " 

Nemean saw the darkness come over her eyes as she looked back at him with a serious face.  And as fast as the darkness came, it left and Jewels starts laughing at him. 

"You should have seen your face!" Jewels said between breaths. "It looked so serious and scared at the same time." 

Jewels held on to her stomach as it started to hurt.  Nemean feeling like a fool, splashed water into her face, causing her to stop laughing and look at Nemean in surprise.  Jewels never though Nemean could be so childish considering how old he is. Jewels splashed water back at him and they had themselves a water fight.  

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After the water fight, Jewels got dressed in the blue dragon skin, it felt cool on her skin and stuck to her skin like a second skin, shaping itself to her curves and muscles.  Since she couldn't take the Infinity Galaxy off, she folded the sleeve up on her right arm then wore the extra pair of clothing that she prepared.  She went to the natural spring and started to wash her blood stain clothes, once all the blood came off, she hung them up to dry in her grey space. 

Nemean and Jewels went back the way they came and found Fenghuang and Roc under the covers of what looked like a bear skin.  A fire was lit and they were holding each other as Nemean and Jewels approached.  

"Is there any animals near by that we can kill for dinner?"  Jewels asked.  

"Yeah, I'll be right back." Roc said as he quickly changed into his silver and black raptor form.  He looked like a hawk with sharp talons and an even sharper beak, with a mighty wing span.  Roc took off and flew off.  

Fenghuang took the time to get dress while the three of them waited.  In a short span of time, Roc came back with two wild bulls squirming in its talons.  He dropped them next to Nemean and Nemean turned into his lion form and pounced on the bull as he drank it's blood.  Fenghuang turned into her phoenix form and with the help of Roc they took down the other bull and with their beaks, they pecked the bull to death and also drank their blood.  

Jewels sat there surprised that in their animal form, they drank the blood of their prey, she was slightly disgusted, but at least none of the blood would be on her clean clothes.  After they finished drinking the blood of the dead bulls, Nemean changed into his human form and asked to borrow one of Jewels's dagger.  When Nemean received the dagger, he went to work with skinning the bull and gutting it.  He threw the guts for Fenghuang and Roc to eat because they were still in their bird form.  After skinning and gutting both bulls, Nemean cooked the bull with the fire he breathed out from his mouth.  In a matter of mintues, the meat was cooked and Fenghuang and Roc joined Jewels by the fire pit as Nemean sliced the bull into hug pieces and served them.  When everyone sat down to eat, it was then that Jewels asked Nemean about his family and his beloved. 

"You never told me about your family or what happened to your beloved."  Jewels said between bites.  

"Lets talk after we eat or else I'll lose my appetite." Nemean said as he gave himself a second serving. 

Fenghuang and Roc shared their story instead.  Fenghuang grew up in a noble family, being a phoenix and all, but one day she was hunting with her family and decided that she was experience enough to hunt by herself. So instead of following her family, she went a different way and found herself a nice wild boar to kill.  When she scooped down to attack, it turned out that the she turned out to be the prey for another raptor.  Raptors being twice the size of a phoenix, could easily kill her. That was when Roc saw what was happening and came in to save her.  The raptor and Roc fought as they fell down from the sky.  When they were getting close to hit the ground the other raptor let go to save himself and the moment he did, Fenghuang breathed her phoenix fire on him and turned him into ash.  Roc, on the other hand, couldn't right himself fast enough and crashed to the ground.  He was dying, however when Fenghuang found him, she gave him a piece of her phoenix soul so he could live.  From then on, they started to fall in love.  Fenghuang and Roc carried out their secret relationship for many years, until Fenghuang's family found out.  They were against Fenghuang and Roc being together.  Fenghuang was considered royalty being a phoenix while Roc, a raptor, was considered a servant.  They ran away together and met a mage who tricked them into believing that he could help them  if they helped him first.  He wanted them to get color stones and gems for him, he told them that it would be easy since they were strong.  Fenghuang was sent into the scroll to get a pearl and a red ruby, while Roc was sent here to get the green emerald.  

Jewel's heart stopped when she heard this.  Nemean looked at her when Fenghuang mentioned about the pearl and ruby. Since Jewels did not show any signs of knowing what she was talking about, Nemean went back to listen to Fenghuang's story. 

In the other dimension, Fenghuang ran into trouble right away, there was another mage that lived in the dimension and was able to capture Fenghuang and caged her in the ice crystal.  Her phoenix fire did not work because the ice crystal absorbed her phoenix fire and sent the energy to the mage to use.  For a long time, she was stuck in the ice crystal and had resigned her to her fate. After some time the mage stopped visiting, Fenghuang thinks he must have died of old age and left her there.  Fenghuang waited and waited, stuck in the ice crystal and was about to give up hope when Nemean and Jewels came to the cavern that she was finally free.

"Were you ever able to find the green emerald?" Jewels asked Roc. 

"I did find it and when I went to the mage to give it to him, he told me of Fenghuang's fate and that since the scroll was taken from him, he couldn't do anything to help the two of us. In a fit of rage, I killed him and lost any information on who took the scroll and if there was any other way I could find Fenghuang.  With the mage dead, I took every valuable item he had and came back here.  I knew that, if Fenghuang ever got out from the dimension that she was trapped in, she would come here first to look for me. So I stayed.  And here we are together, thanks to you and Nemean." 

"Everything was really all an accident." Jewels said.  

"Accident or not, we are reunited and that is all that matters."  Roc told them. 

"The emerald, was it with the other gems and gold?" Jewels asked Roc.

"Yes, its somewhere in the pile of gems and gold. Why do you ask?" 

"Infinite Healing Potion. Have you guys ever heard of it?"  Jewels asked them.

When the tree of them shook their head no, Jewels told them about it. 

"Infinite Healing Potion, is a potion that could cure and heal all ailments.  Whither it be a deep flesh wound, a common cold, or a plague. Infinite Healing Potion can cure it all. To make it, a master herbalist would have to gather all its ingredients to make it. The white pearl, a red ruby, a green emerald, a five star gem, a black jade leaf, and the sea blue sapphire, together they make the Infinite Healing Potion.  A drop of the potion into a barrow of water can cure a whole village." 

"Back when you saved me, you swam into the lake and retrieved a red ruby.  Is that the red ruby we're talking about?" Fenghuang asked. 

Jewels nods her head.  

"Are your skills strong enough to make the Infinite Healing Potion?" Nemean asked. 

"I don't know, maybe?" Jewels told them.  "Currently, I have all the gems and stones except two.  The sea blue sapphire and the green emerald.  Once I go through the pile of gold and gems to find the green emerald.  I would only need to find the sea blue sapphire and I can try making the potion." 

"Do you know what it means when you have the potion in your hand?" Fenghuang asked her. 

"You will be standing on top of the world." Nemean whispered. 

When Fenghuang told him that Jewels wanted to stand on top of the world, Nemean automatically thought that she would fight, beat, and kill everyone in her way to get to the top.  He never thought that she would stand on top of the world by making a healing potion that could cure the world.

"Everyone would be in the palm of your hands, should you be able to make it." Fenghuang said out loud.  

Jewels nods her head once agreeing with them as she finishes eating.  

"Now its your turn, Nemean." Jewels said. 

"My story is long and boring with a lot of political bull that would bore you.  Long story short, I am the rightful heir to the Nemea Kingdom.  The Kingdom also resides in a different dimension.  Anyways, there was a coup and instead of fighting, I was forced to leave.  They took my beloved and our child and used them against me.  My brother, that greedy bastard, wanted to be King so badly that he used his own nephew to get the crown!  We made a deal.  I would leave Nemea and never return and he'll keep my beloved and son alive and let them live a life in luxury.  If I didn't leave and decide to fight, he would have his men kill them.  So we agreed to the terms and I left.  He became King of Nemea and my family is safe." 

"I'm sorry, Nemean."  Jewels said. She then turned to Fenghuang and Roc. "I promised Nemean that we would help him get his beloved back.  When things settle down with my family, I would like to find a way to Nemea and help Nemean." 

Fenghuang wiped her eyes and smiled through her tears. 

"It would be a great honor to help the truthful King of Nemea reclaim your throne and rescue your family." Roc said as he bowed towards Nemean. Fenghuang also knelt down  in front of Nemean and bowed.  Nemean looked at Jewels and Jewels shook her head no. 

"I'm not bowing." Jewels said with a straight face. 

Nemean laughed and said. "I wouldn't have it any other way." 

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Just for you guys to know, some of the names I have chosen for characters in this book has meaning to them.  

Nemean is the lion that Hercules fought and killed in his 12 labours.  Nemean the lion is a vicious monster that lives in Nemea.  He couldn't be killed by mortal weapons because of his golden fur was impervious to attacks.  His claws were sharper than weapons and could cut through any armor. 

Fenghuang is a mythical bird in East Asia that reigns over all birds. In the West it is commonly called the Chinese phoenix. Fenghuang is said to originate from the sun and sometimes carries scrolls or a box with sacred books. 

Roc (pronounced like rook) is a mythical, enormous and legendary bird of prey.  

There's nothing really special about Roc other than the fact that, it's really big and can carry a baby elephant in its talons. So you can imagine how big it is, but for my story I'm going have Roc have a special power (shhh, not telling yet, you would have to keep reading). 

As always thanks for all your love and support. I'll keep on writing as long as there is someone who keeps on reading.  Grammerical edits will be done later  -ptd

P.S.  That moment when you want to press save, but instead press publish and have a mini heart attack, yea, that happened to me twice.  With this chapter and the last chapter... ahhh... the stress of going back to unpublished your work is a struggle. LOL