STOP! You're Giving Me a Headache!

Today, Lynx and I are both sitting in my bed while watching TV and I haven't stopped asking her all my random questions.

I learned quite a bit about how the world works outside of the hospital and the different kinds of people in the world. I lived in an Oligarchy. There were the first three groups: the humans, a few kinds of elves, and I think Lynx said that there are two types of dwarves. Then there were the Lycans, which had many different types, too many to remember.

There was a group of people that had become cyborgs, using both magical and non-magical technologies to enhance their bodies to do various things like healing what ails them, extending their ever-shortening lifespans, or doing it just because they thought it would be cool and beneficial. They had started to consider themselves a new race once it started to grow as a group.

Tieflings were known for their evil ancestry in the past but no one really cares about that anymore.

The orcs used to be considered a crude and violent race, they were always at war or fighting something because that was how they proved themselves worthy. Eventually, with the sharing of technology and culture, they can be said to be a little less crude, although they do like to keep their old ways, they aren't fighting with everyone as much.

Then there are the Krytures, which consisted of the few animals that had gained or surpassed human intelligence and wisdom and are usually long-lived. They could talk with people and create their own technology and other things like that. Sadly, they are a minority race and tend to live in separate and faraway lands rather than mingle with the collective population.

Lynx told me that mermaids claim that they are a separate race to the Lycans, but she argues that they are just descendants of a specific type or group of Lycans that migrated then intermingled with humans for so long that they can no longer completely shift into their animal forms.

I asked her where Lycans came from, but she said she doesn't know. She said the most popular guess is that the greater animal spirits took pity on the animals of the realm for the smarter counterpart species with whom they shared the land with had started to overwhelm the land and force them away from their homes. They allowed some of the animals to take on a humanoid form to be able to interact with and learn from the humans, elves, and dwarves.

Kenny, on the other hand, thinks that is just like what has been happening recently, people were used in magical research, but instead of the outcome, the Lycans were a byproduct. I asked Lydia and she says that it is most likely a case of natural evolution.

Lycans are considered a race of any humanoid being that has animal characteristics. That means that not all Lycans can shift and the amount of the animal that shows through in the human form tells us the percentage of the soul that the animal occupies or controls. There are some cases where Lycans have regressed in the past, completely giving in to their animal running away and living wild or sometimes even as monsters.

"There are so many different kinds of people, Lynx. How did we all end up together?"

"There is evidence that we all used to live in separate realms or different dimensions, even the monsters. One day, a rift happened and forced all our worlds to collide and fuse into one place that we could all live in. But we didn't encounter the other races until later on when we all started to explore the world around us. I heard that in the past, our world was only Lycans and there were many of us living in various regions that suited our animals."

Hearing that means that Lydia's idea of natural selection was correct. How could lycans be created if they were the only ones in the realm before the collision?

"The collide caused everyone's environment to change and many died to what was deemed an unknown but natural cause. Those who were able to adapt went on to live their lives, unaware that the world they were currently in wasn't the one they had lived in but a new fusion of many."

"Because of the natures of everyone's worlds, some people brought mana and magic, others brought what were considered racial skills, there were divine powers and curses from others, the humans mostly brought technology and innovation. With so many different things fusing, some humans woke the potential for magic within the race. Some were touched by the blessings of the unknown celestial beings or cursed and corrupted by the rulers of the dark realm."

"There are still many things that we don't entirely understand because they didn't come from our world. That caused many wars in the beginning when all the races first met."

"Echo, can we talk about something else? I know you want to learn and all, but I don't really like to talk about stuff that happened over a millennia ago and I do find this topic to be quite boring and dreary." She sounded a little frustrated, but I couldn't understand why. I was only asking her questions because she said she would teach me.

"Then what about chimeras?" I think back to the flying blood wolf on the white stone.

"I'm rather okay at talking about them. What do you want to know?"

"If my soul is bonded to a chimera, do chimeras exist outside of the lycan race, like as wild animals?"

"Some people say that chimeras are just a type of strong monster that lived in the monster realm. Others say that they were created from magic or very advanced technology and exposed post-collision. Then there are some who say they were created when the worlds collided, the collision fusing not only worlds but some creatures as well."

"Most chimeras were unstable and unbalanced, going insane and becoming nothing more than a wounded monster or creature, most likely driven crazy from the will of the many souls that resided in the body. But the lucky ones who were able to stabilize their bodies became genuine species that with each generation showed that they didn't tend to stray from the original animals that were mixed and have recognizable features and temperaments. That earned them their names, which meant they were no longer chimera but the historic monsters and mythical creatures we know of today."

"Let's see… we got griffins, manticores, perytons, chamrosh, alicorns, satyrs, minotaur, harpies, and any of the other half-human hybrids, including all lycans. Recently, there was a debate about the identity of the pegasus and hippogriff, which I found to be completely stupid and pointless. They are technically a mix of the same types of creatures, the only difference is which one shows more."

"Wendigos, cockatrice, and the ones with less creative names like flying pigs, angelfish, turtle duck, saber-tooth moose lion, tiger shark, and a bunch of other names I can't think of, and then there are the rest of the weird mixtures that made up the rest of the creatures."

"Originally, lycans and certain other species were placed under the category of chimeras because of our half people, half-animal natures, but later on, it was corrected because we didn't have the one thing that made a chimera a chimera: the instability and unpredictability that can be found in their nature and form."

"You see, as I said..."

To my surprise, Lynx continued to drone on about animals and monsters for another 47 minutes. After a total of 137 minutes, she finally stopped.

I learned so much that I didn't want to learn...

How these animals fought, what they ate, how they lived, or something like that... not that I could tell you because my brain felt too full to think.

'I know I've been asking question after question, but can you please slow down and talk in simple words I can understand.'

I complained in my soul while I tried to recover my mind that had gone blank. I spaced out around the part where she started talking about monsters because of the huge amount of information that was being dumped.

Not to hate on Lynx because she has helped me a lot so far. But right now, she sounded passionate, prideful, and extremely excited as soon as she started talking about the lycans and monsters. What did you think was going to happen to a supposed 11-year-old kid who is currently recovering from memory loss and extreme physical trauma?

I closed my eyes to try and calm the pulsing headache I currently have. Lydia comes in at the perfect time.

"My savior!" I mumble under my breath as I stare at Lydia.

"What was that?" Lydia suddenly turns to me and Lynx just glares. Oops! I was heard.

"H-hey Lydia, my head hurts. Do you have anything that can treat it?" I say while guiltily looking. anywhere except in Lynx's general direction.

"What do you feel right now? Wait, is this related to your memories? Because if it is, then I need to go get Dr. Talis to check what you…"

"No no no! It's not that. I asked too many questions and got more than I could mentally handle when Lynx started explaining." I said as I rubbed the sides of my head.

"Oh. So, you just ended up overwhelming your brain. *Sigh* Echo, please do try to remember that you are trying to recover both physically and mentally. I know you like learning with Lynx but stressing out your mind is not going to help you get any better."

"While I did ask her questions, I didn't ask for an info dump session. Oh, this poor unfortunate soul!" I pull my pillow over my head.

"I'm sorry but I can't be blamed. You were the one who kept asking and asking, and I said I would answer all your questions to the best of my ability. Did I not live up to my promise?" Lynx shrugged.

I put the pillow onto my lap as I try to bore my glare into Lynx's face. Then Lynx smiled at me like what I was doing was cute, which just annoyed me further. I take deep breathes and tried to ignore it while trying to convince myself that as a recovering child, I shouldn't try to attack the experienced adult drake lycan with my pillow. I hear Lydia giggle as she walks to go get pain relievers for me.

Even after I calmed down, the fullness of my head didn't go away. Everything sounded too loud, my ears twitching at every small noise. I bent my ears back just to see if I wouldn't hear as much noise if I did and it kind of worked. Yet it was still too loud. I closed my eyes while covering my ears and curling into the pillow on my lap as I tried to block everything out.

"How about I cast a spell instead?" Lynx waves her hand over my head. I see some sort of energy flow out from the center. As the stuff covers my ears, all the sounds I was hearing dampen and soften, making it easier on my hurting head.

"Magic!" A soft whisper leaves my lips.

I see Lynx smile playfully at my awe-stricken face, probably guessing what was going through my mind at the moment. I wanted to learn magic!