The Secret
With Zorah Magdaros successfully diverted, and the New World was saved from being destroyed, Shepard had the ship they were on pulled out of the area he had docked it in, which Grogar had to do with his magic, finding that he didn't feel tired after all of that and that his magic was definitely stronger than before. Part of him had to wonder if it was due to the magic that displaced him, sensing that he had done something amazing and was worthy of praise, or if absorbing all that bioenergy had done something to his body, making him more like a monster and less like the humans he traveled with. He guessed the later might be the more reasonable option of the two, even though the former likely explained why his initial magic was far stronger without the bell that was his icon, something he didn't need anymore, though he forced himself to focus as he moved the ship, making sure to do so after the Dragonator was in 'rest mode' again. Basically that meant the weapon was retracted, the hull sealed itself up, and turned back into position, making it look like a normal ship again, and once Shepard was sure that everything was in position Grogar pulled them out and set them down so they could return to Astera for a well earned victory feast.
As they sailed back to Astera, however, he noticed that many of the Hunters were curious about him, especially after the strange power he had awakened not too long ago, where he raised his right hand for a moment and stared at his fingers as he thought about something, finding Nergigante's claws replacing them.
"My eyes weren't deceiving me earlier, you really awakened a strange new power." Shepard remarked, recalling what he and the others had seen while they were facing Zorah Magdaros, though in the heat of the moment he decided not to focus on it and focused on the Elder Dragon, before finding that Grogar altered his arm a little and the spikes appeared as well, as he was curious about his power, "The Researchers and Scholars are going to have a field day with this power, as I'm positive that they'll try to figure out the ins and outs of what you're capable of now."
"Yeah, well, we can learn everything together." Grogar stated, though his attention was on his new claws, as he hadn't paid any attention to them when he was fighting the massive Elder Dragon earlier, but now that the fate of the island had been decided, and they were no longer in danger, he found that the alteration looked and felt like Nergigante's claws, which he guessed was the point, "Still, when I was thinking of unlocking more power I thought it would be more magic, a boost to what I was capable of before this point in time, instead of gaining what might be the strongest power in the world... I'm not entirely sure what to make of it."
"Well, I'm sure you'll figure things out in due time." Shepard said, and that was the truth, he had a feeling that Grogar, due to everything he had discovered about the odd figure who joined the Fifth Fleet, would be able to figure this out in no time at all and would know just how strong he was, before he tilted his head and decided that it was time to lower his voice for a time, "When we get back to Astera, I'm going to reveal Sherry's arrival... we can see how the Imposter reacts to having the person she's impersonating arrive without warning."
Grogar had a feeling this would happen at some point, especially after discovering that the true Sherry had arrived, but if this was Shepard's plan he decided to go along with it and not fight it, as he knew fighting his Commander's plans was doomed to fail, given what happened during the first siege. This was a gamble, as they had no way of knowing what in the world the Imposter was, though he was sure she was a monster, and that meant it was impossible to gauge what would happen when the secret was revealed to everyone in Astera. It was possible that nothing would happen, like she'd admit defeat and show them her true form, or maybe she'd go berserk and just wreck the place, or she'd flee from Astera after showing everyone what she really looked like, no doubt using the transformation to flee before they caught her. The only reason he wasn't putting any faith into the second option was because she didn't seem like she wanted to hurt anyone, as she seemed more like a scholar that found a subject she was interested in studying, so attacking Astera, and hurting the people she had befriended, didn't seem like something she'd do.
As such he said nothing as they made their way back to Astera, finding that Sherry was standing nearby and the Imposter was hanging out with Patches, with no one discovering the truth of who was lingering near them, and when they reached their base of operations Shepard had them disembark without delay, returning to his table with Grogar at his side, which was when he turned towards everyone for a moment.
"Everyone, you have done well today and saved the New World from being destroyed." Shepard said, where the rest of the Commission cheered a little, as they were overjoyed to have succeeded in turning back the Elder Dragon that could have blown the entire island apart if he had been allowed to detonate, before he readied himself for what he was about to do and what might happen next, "Now, before everyone wanders off to celebrate... and trust me, you all deserve it... I have a short announcement to make: Sherry, would you join us by the table for a moment? This concerns you as well."
Grogar shielded Sherry from the Imposter's eyes for a moment, that way she had no idea that the real one was coming as well, and once both of them were within range of the table, almost right in front of them, he dismissed the spell with only a nod of his head, where the real Sherry pulled the robe off to reveal herself to everyone, causing the Imposter to pause for a moment as she realized who was nearby.
"When the Captain returned with our new ship, and the Dragonator, he brought an unexpected passenger, the real Sherry that is part of the Fifth Fleet," Shepard continued, where many of Astera's residents turned their heads towards the pair for a moment, as while they looked identical one carried herself with confidence and the other was shocked that her ploy had been revealed so suddenly, all while Grogar found that the Imposter was struggling to contain herself, "which begs the question: whose been taking her place all this time?"
In that moment, just as Grogar was expecting, a change washed over the Imposter as a pair of wings appeared behind her and she burst into the air, fleeing from Astera before anyone could say anything, though he didn't wasted time as he used his new power to add Legiana wings to his body while adding a tracker to his target. The tracker was mostly in case he lost her, which was a possibility he couldn't ignore given that he had no idea what she was capable of, though based on what Grogar was seeing right now it looked like she was heading to the Coral Highlands, or maybe the Rotten Vale. That was if she didn't change her course midway to her destination, like pretending to go to one region when she actually wanted to go to another one, and sure enough she dropped down into the Wildspire Wastle and spun around, creating a vortex of sand that would cover her tracks. As he expected she was gone when it died down, though fortunately she didn't know he had placed a tracker on her and found that she was heading to the Ancient Forest, instead of where he initially thought a few moments ago, so he gave her more of a head start before following, all while keeping a close eye on where she was going and where she was going to stop to see if she got away from him.
As it turned out the Imposter stopped in the more open area of the Ancient Forest that they had passed through, where he and the others found the Pukei-Pukei and a fragment of Zorah Magdaros, though as he landed he tucked his wings in, showing him that the desperate battle had boosted his power by a larger amount than he thought, before he glanced out at the area he was in.
"Come on, I know you're out there. I just want to talk." Grogar said, which was the truth, he wanted to know more about the individual that had been pretending to be Sherry since the moment he came to this world, especially since what he had seen in Astera confirmed his suspicions, which would be further confirmed when he talked with her.
Not a few moments later the Imposter emerged from where she had been hiding, though she wasn't using Sherry's form anymore, rather she had returned to her true form, no doubt planned on leaving the New World now that her secret had been discovered by everyone, and it was rather impressive. The beast in front of him was a dragon, not like the wyverns of this world whose wings usually linked up with their front limbs, rather she had four legs and a large pair of wings on her back, which were blue colored and the tips were pale, while the membrane of her wings were pale as well. The rest of her body was yellow colored, more golden yellow based on what he was seeing, while the underside of her body was pale and the ridges on her back, following her spine, were either bronze or brass colored, yet the three tiers of yellow didn't clash all that much, rather they seemed to work well together. Her face had also undergone a change, because it was a dragon's muzzle and was full of sharp looking teeth, not to mention the curved brown horns he had caught a glimpse of when he first laid eyes on her trying to contain her true form, and she was far larger than most of the monsters he had seen, save for Zorah Magdaros anyway.
Grogar stood there for a moment as he studied her body, finding small spikes on her arms and legs that were likely used to defend herself from attacking monsters, though given that someone was always nearby when she was attacked, at least in the New World, she couldn't use them, her claws, her tail, or even her fangs to deal with the monster that had decided to attack her.
"Well, um... this is my true form." the dragon said, though Grogar could tell that she was still coming to terms with the fact that her secret had been revealed earlier, that she wasn't who she had been pretending to be, even though it seemed like she did a good job of pretending to be Sherry and working as a Handler, all while he was sure this was her true secret, one that was far more important than the last one, "My name is Ava'jiiva... the few humans who know of my existence call me the 'Deceiving Dragon', on account of my special shapeshifting powers and my intelligence... neither of which have been all that useful, given how everything keeps attacking me... but you can call me 'Ava', if you want."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, the real you, Ava'jiiva," Grogar replied, where he found that his thoughts about her were right, she was an Elder Dragon based on the power that was slumbering in her body, and she couldn't use it without revealing her existence to the Commission, even though she had revealed herself to someone in the past, though as he said that he took a seat on one of the nearby wooden stumps, "So tell me, what brings you to the New World? I mean, you don't look as old as all of the other Elder Dragons we've seen, even though Zorah Magdaros seems to be the oldest one. Also, why would you take Sherry's place on the Fifth Fleet?"
"I... well, the truth is that I was curious as to why so many Elder Dragons made the journey to this very island." Ava stated, though as she said that she also sat down, as there was no reason to be on her claws while they chatted, despite the fact that Grogar was sure she had some sort of form she could wear that wasn't someone in Astera, given that she seemed to be a hundred or so years old, "we know the Elder Crossing has been going on for a long time, with the Commission having spent forty years trying to solve this mystery, and after seeing so many of the other Elder Dragons journeying to this place I just decided to follow them. Of course, knowing how the Guild would react to seeing how the Guild reacted to all of the other Elder Dragons, I decided to take a more stealthy approach and found that they were gathering Hunters, Handlers, Felynes, Engineers, Researchers, Scholars, and everything else we've seen in Astera, which started me down the path that, in the end, brought me to the New World. You see, I had to find a position that would allow me to board the fleet and, in due time, bring me to my end goal of figuring out why the other Elder Dragons were so interested in this place, and I came to the decision to become a Handler, so I could be out of the way and learn what I wanted to... you beat me to the punch, however, figuring out why the other Elder Dragons journeyed to the New World."
"And that, in turn, was when you encountered Sherry and took her place?" Grogar inquired, showing that he was listening to what she was saying with a level of interest that was different from those she must have met in the past, though that made sense in his mind, that she came to the decision and ran into Sherry at some point in time.
"Um... yes and no." Ava replied, where she found that Grogar raised an eyebrow, most in the sense that he was interested in why she would say something like that and not accusing her of lying or something, though she also found that most of the monsters were leaving them alone, which she was thankful for, "After determining which role I wanted to take, I found a roster of Handlers that had been approved for this venture, though at the time most of them had been there ahead of their partners and Sherry, as it turned out, was the only one who hadn't arrived yet. After learning that useful piece of information I spent some time in one of my disguises and asked around, figuring out what sort of vessel she used to travel from place to place, and once I knew what to expect I headed out to see if I could find it. I ended up finding Sherry's vessel, a carriage to be exact, with a busted wheel far from the city that the fleet was launched from, so I observed her for a time, to get her mannerisms and speech down as best as I could, before making off with some of her essential gear during one of the nights I watched her. I know, it makes me seem like a bad person... or bad Elder Dragon, given my nature... but just before we left I passed on two notes, one to tell people about the carriage and one to be delivered to Sherry, an apology for taking her place in the Fifth Fleet... I just, well..."
"Wasn't expecting her to actually show up?" Grogar finished, though while he knew that many would see her as malicious, given that she prevented Sherry from joining the fleet and purposefully left her out there, with a broken carriage, without sending anyone to help until the fleet had left for the New World, he saw her as a scholar who would do anything to figure out whatever was currently bothering her, "So, are you going to apologize to Sherry and help the Commission? I mean, just because we solved the mystery of why the Elder Dragons journey to the New World doesn't mean we've figured out what is drawing them here in the first place."
"You mean, after all of that, you want to work with me?" Ava asked, surprised by the fact that, despite everything she did to get to the New World, Grogar felt like having her on his side as he braved whatever remaining dangers this world had to throw at him, which were lower than before thanks to his new power, "I'd love to stay, but depending on what happens I might fly off and leave."
Grogar knew that she was referring to Sherry and her reaction to all of this, given that the cat was out of the bag, though he had a feeling many of the Researchers and Scholars would want her to stay in Astera, just to learn more about her and all that she knew, and he nodded his understanding. Ava stared at him for a few moments, clearly taking her time to think about the situation she was now in, did she stay or did she flee and hope Grogar would forget about her, before she just lowered her head and nodded, which he was happy to see. With that done the two of them took off once more, heading back towards Astera without wasting time, and sure enough Grogar ground that everyone was getting ready to celebrate their victory over Zorah Magdaros, all while an area had been set aside for Nergigante, who seemed to be pleased with all the hard work she had done. Such a thing made Grogar wonder if she had found and took out the molten Elder Dragon while he was talking with Ava, meaning they would have missed the fiery explosion that would have followed the end of Zorah Magdaros' life, though after thinking about that he landed outside Astera and folded in his wings as Ava landed not a few steps behind him.
As he expected her presence caused many of the Hunters and members of the Commission to come running, though he thought Shepard and Sherry approaching him while the others remained at the ready, all while Nergigante tilted her head to stare at them as she waited for some food to arrive.
"Commander Shepard, Sherry, allow me to introduce Ava'jiiva, the Elder Dragon who was impersonating you, Sherry, for a long time," Grogar said, gesturing to the beast that was behind him for a moment, who sat there and bowed her head for a few seconds, showing them that she wasn't a threat, even though they knew better because she was an Elder Dragon, so he focused on another aspect the pair needed to know, "She was curious about the Elder Crossing, just like the Guild was, and sneaking aboard one of the fleets as one of it's members seemed to be the best bet for her, so she wasn't attacked by the Hunters... she's like a Researcher, only she's an Elder Dragon, and we could use her aid in figuring out the other half of the equation we've discovered."
"What do you mean by 'other half'?" Sherry asked, which made sense because she hadn't been there to witness or hear the truth behind the Elder Crossing, something he was going to have to fix in the near future, while at the same time he could see that Shepard understood what he was saying.
"We know that the aging Elder Dragons are coming here to die, so their bioenergy can be absorbed by the New World and keep the ecosystem alive," Ava replied, confirming what Grogar had said about her, she was more interested in this event than fighting, like the rest of her powerful brethren, while avoiding the glare Nergigante gave her from her position, as this was far more important in her eyes, "but what we don't know is whether or not this is natural. What I mean is this: is this some sort of new change washed over the Elder Dragons of this world, and would happen to me when I'm old enough, or is there something on this island that's drawing them in?"
"And to do that we'll need to continue searching the New World, now that it's no longer in danger of being destroyed by the threat of Zorah's death," Shepard stated, confirming that he knew what Grogar and Ava were talking about, while also knowing that Sherry was going to have to learn all of this on her own, to catch up to her partner, before he held up a hand to stop them from talking about the subject, "For now, however, go have some fun... we all deserve some fun and a little rest after what happened in the Everstream... our work can wait until tomorrow."
As Grogar nodded Ava braced herself and apologized to Sherry, while not really going into the details of how she watched the downed carriage before making off with a few of her things to impersonate her, which caused the lady to sigh as she considered her options on the matter. In the end Sherry accepted it, though she wasn't about to let Ava off easy for all the time she lost, as she claimed that the Elder Dragon had to repay her in some manner, and then some, to square her debt to her, where Grogar was sure part of it meant solve the Elder Crossing. The interesting part was the 'and then some', as it told him that she must be looking for something or someone and was planning on using the Elder Dragon to figure out the information she was interested in, and once that was done she departed to join the others. Ava, following that, activated her power and reduced her size as she changed form, becoming a young girl none of them had seen before, a young adult to be exact, and she wore a shrine maiden robe, the top white with the lower half red, before she frowned as she quickly realized she would have to change it at some point... and she also had a small pair of horns on her head and her tail was out, showing that she wasn't afraid anymore.
With that done, and there was no more talking to be done, they joined the rest of their friends and comrades in the feast that had been prepared for them, as it was time to rest and relax a little before worrying about the future, and Grogar was sure that they would be able to face whatever dangers the future threw at them.
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huh, in a way, she is a Zyuman, as is Grogar now...for reference
,
11168185 I'm... not exactly sure what to say to that, nor how relevant it is to Ava's powers.
11168235
Zyumans, like the first four of the Zyuohgers, can take on a human form, though small elements, like tails, still exist of their actual forms. the only members of the Zyuohgers who r not Zyumans r Zyuoh Eagle and Zyuoh The World, but they do have Zyuman powers, from a few Zyumans each as a matter of fact. in addition, they can call on enhanced powers in their morphed forms, based on the kind of Zyuman powers they possess. the shark girl for example, she can grow a dorsal fin and literally swim through the earth when her powers r fully unleashed...
11168242 I see. Truth be told, this is the first time I've heard of the series in question, so I had a hard time seeing the connection between them and Ava'jiiva.
11168251
im not entirely surprised, its a Japanese Tokutsatsu, a Super Sentai, what has been adapted into Power Rangers for a long time now. this particular series has never been adapted, and it gets more than a little crazy but...well, tracking it down in fully subbed episodes in a nightmare anymore...
11168254 Interesting... just don't expect Grogar, Sherry, Ava, and the others to pull off a set of poses, like what the Zyuoh, Ginyu Force, or the Power Rangers do.
11168265
of course not, that would be foolish, and only works in Toku, it is a drama after all...
11168283 Well, we did have the Ginyu Force at one point, and they were in an action series... just throwing that point out there, that's all.