> The Key to evolution (Remake)
>  by Fluffyyeti
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Reading the Past part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Reading the Past


Part One



The sun descended down to the west of the Castle Libertà. The last of the suns rays reflected off of the black marbled towers before everything was granted the gift of the star-filled night sky. In the tallest tower that stood in the center of Libertà, candles can be seen flickering in the room of its ruler and caretaker. The only sound that could be heard in the room was the constant scratching of a quill as a human man that looked to be in his thirties fumbled with his notes. The candlelight reflected off his well-polished black armor revealing a craftsmanship that only the titans could match. Every piece of it had a copper outlining, and had an artistic view of copper vines with crimson leaves that crawled all over his chest plate and shoulder guards. His face was gentle while his sea-blue eyes glimmered with experience; short dark-brown hair and goatee finished up the face of the one and only head of the new Peradovic family.  

He sighed in announce before he crumpled up his note and threw it into the trash with the other failures. For the past four hours this man has worked tirelessly; but enough was enough.

This is bullshit! I can battle any rival Elemental, create an empire, and manage a large family. But for the life of me I can't write one stupid speech for the meeting.

He stood up and stretched his limbs; his back gave a grotesque pop only to be followed by a sigh of relief.

"Oh ya, that's just what I needed. I'm getting to old for this crap."   

The door to his room squeaked open as a supposed threat slithered closer to her prey. If the young man wasn't preoccupied with his stretching he might have noticed the somewhat silent giggling that was heading towards him. Without warning her serpent tail rapped around the mans waist comfortably as she climbs the back of her victim.

"Gotcha daddy!"

Her father looked over his shoulder at his playful daughter. She was a tiny gorgon; she had neck length sky-blue hair, and her body was covered with dark-green scales except for her light-blue eyelids. As far as clothing went she wore a pink sashes around chest and hips. He chuckled deeply as he looked into his daughters adorable pink orbs.

"Hey Fate its good to see you squirt; I'm going to guessing that your brothers and sisters are back? Did you all have fun while you were out making flower crowns?"

Fate nodded vigorously as she showed him the blue flowered head dress she had created. "Yes we had a lot of fun! You should have seen all the flowers; they were so beautiful." Her smile left her as she slumped down a bit. "Well Martial and Devon did nothing more than shout at each other."

Hearing that his two idiot sons were fighting again was no big surprise; however he told them that if they didn't have fun in the fields with the rest of the family they would both be susceptible to all kinds of weird punishments when they returned. 

Oh well, guess those two get to clean the soldiers bathrooms again. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when I hand them toothbrushes. 

A old scruffy voice entered the room. "My lord Davis its time to go."

Davis looked to the door to see his messy feathered second in command. The old black Griffon had a look that demanded respect for the scars on his face and beak showed that he was no stranger to battle. Sadly though besides his experience with a blade he tended to have that old Griffon smell no matter where he was. Davis usually joked with him about how his stink would kill the enemy before his blade did.

Fate whimpered at the thought of her dad leaving her. "Daddy why do you have to leave! I don't want you to go."

Davis reached back and brushed his hand through the tiny gorgons hair which calmed her down a little. Davis looked at his old friend while picking up his bronze helmet that was in the shape of the head of the Egyptian god Anubis.   

"Boris I'm putting you in charge while I'm gone. Oh, and make sure that my sons get sent to clean the soldiers bathrooms again. Use tooth brushes this time, that should get them thinking."

Boris grunted a little as a small smirk graced his beak. "Those boys are lucky I don't make them use their tongues. But don't worry sir I will look after everything while your at the meeting. It will only be a few days how hard can it be?" 

As Davis walked out of his office he gave Boris a smirk. "Really Boris? Even after everything we have been through you should know better than to say something like that. You will be surprised as to how hard it can be to rule this land. Speaking of which when times get tough I have some headache medicine in the third drawer in my desk. Trust me your going to need it eventually."

Davis and Boris walked up flights of stairs while talking about different military procedures and civilian problems. Davis even brought up the topic of soap which was quickly shot down by Boris. They made it to the portal room which resided at the top of the tower. Three huge stone archways stand in the center of the dark room. 

Fate crawled from her adoptive fathers right shoulder blade to his chest while giving him a good bye hug. Davis swore his armor was just a little tighter than usual thanks to Fates constricting hug. 

Holy crap I'm going to need to be careful when she's all grown up.  I'm seriously thinking that I will need some good health insurance for myself and whoever takes to her fancy. She will literally love us both to death!

Davis gave his daughter a loving pat on the back while his daughter started to cry into his chest. "Fate stop your crying love." Fate looked up, boy was she upset. Her eyes flowed, her nose leaked, and she started to get the usual tiny hiccups she got when upset. Davis grabbed his handkerchief and brought it to her little nose. Fate blew into the handkerchief, only to have Davis give his handkerchief a look that said -ewww-. Davis quickly pocketed the handkerchief to allow himself a free hand.

"I will be back soon Fate don't you worry. Besides I have an important job for you while I'm gone ok?" Fate just nods as Davis wipes her tears away. 

"Ok what I need you to do is look for my journal, and show it to your brothers and sisters. I think its time you learned how I got here."

"But daddy you always said that I shouldn't see that because I'm not old enough?" Davis snorted. 

"Yes your right, there are things in there that I would rather you not know. But I already came to the conclusion that your growing up and you will find out sooner or later. Besides I'm hoping that the lessons I learned growing up will teach you a thing or two. Especially your knucklehead brothers. Just make sure to give it to your sister Mira, I'm more than certain that she will want to read it to everyone."

Fates eyes sparkled with renewed excitement, a smile graced her gentle face while she imagined hearing of his many adventures. 

"Ok dad as long as you don't mind."

Davis chucked, "You know I've noticed that you act almost like an old friend of mine. She is one of the kindest ponies I have ever met. But she still can't compare to how adorable you have grown up to be."

Fate covered her face with her sky-blue hair in shyness. "Thank you daddy. I love you and I will see you soon right?"

Davis nods.

Fate gave her human father one last hug as she uncoiled herself from his waist. She now coiled herself on the floor looking up at him; Fate knew something was amiss but decided to shrug it off as nothing. She gave a few sniffles before she slithered her way out the door.

The old Griffon walked over to Davis while wearing a confused expression. "Davis is their something wrong? Why would you give the little one your journal? You always told me that you would tell them yourself when your children got older?" 

Davis's eyes turned hard and serious as he looked at Boris. "Boris I have heard disturbing news; it looks like Kaino will be at the meeting representing as one of the Skaven kings royal guards."

Boris stared at his king with a look of disgust plastered on his beak, "Is that cheese munching rat bastard stupid enough to bring someone like Kaino with him? Most of the kingdoms on Eve want him dead! Do they want everyone to turn against them? This is sheer madness!"

While he placed a reassuring hand on his old Griffon friend, Davis for the first time in what seemed like ages was afraid; no terrified of what might transpire.

"Boris If the Skaven decide to appear while I'm gone you know what to do right?"

Boris nodded, "I will make sure that the citizens and your children are in the secure bunker, do not worry sir I will protect everyone with my life. All you need to worry about is not getting recognized by Celestia and Kano. I'm suddenly feeling like the four guards I have ready for you wont be enough; will you permit me to send more."

The human king shook his head as he turned his attention to the archways. "No Boris I want all my available soldiers here. If anything happens to me-."

Boris unleashed a irritated roar. "Now you listen to me boy!" 

Davis was shocked at his friends reaction.

"I didn't survive this long to hear you squeal about how you might not come back! We survived through our times as slaves and we will survive this! You are my king and I wont tolerate anyone else taking the throne. I know that you gave your kids the journal because you decided you might not survive; that is understandable. However being precautious and being down right cowardly are two completely different things. Now dammit, grow some balls and tell me you'll be back and let  that be the end of it." Boris breathed heavily as his eyes watered up.

Davis nodded and sighed while he placed his bronze Anubis helmet on. With his helmet in place he was now fully unrecognizable. Thanks to the helmets enchantment Davis's voice was transformed into a really deep and powerful tone.  

"Alright you old bastard; I believe you've said enough. Just hold the fort for me until I get back alright? Oh, and don't forget about my boys. You know the toothbrushes?"

Boris laughed while whipping his eyes. "No sir I will definitely not forget to do that. Are you kidding? That's going to be my entertainment for the week."  

Knowing that his family was in good claws Davis walked over to the middle stone archway while pulling a knife from his belt. He stabbed the tip of his finger to get a small trickle of blood to flow. He sheathed his knife while taking his wounded finger and smearing a small steady line of his blood onto the archway. Davis concentrated on the blood smear with a hard focus; he had to imagine his destination for this to work right. Almost instantaneously a blinding light flashed into his eyes causing him to shield his face. The light died down after a few seconds passed; only to reveal that the archway now had what looked like a spinning vortex made up of glowing water inside it. Davis looked at Boris one last time before he stepped into the portal and disappeared.  

Boris shook his head as he watched the portal dissolve into nothing.

Good luck my old friend; I hope you throw that bastard Kaino into a world of hurt. Now then, time to give those two brats some ruff love! I wonder where they would be right now?  


Inside Libertà's orphanage


Fate had made her way inside the orphanage while holding onto an old book that was the same size as her chest. Fate wore a goofy smile as she slithered as fast as her tail allowed. Her book worm of a sisters room was just around the corner when she heard an all to familiar confrontation happening from a room down the hall.

"Devon I swear if you took my homework again because your to lazy I'm going to bury you!" The growling from her brother Martial filled the hallway.

Fate rolled her eyes and decided to ignore her brothers; only to have the door to Martial's room swing open. Martial had thrown Devon out of his room. A reddish-brown coated diamond dog walked closer to his smaller silver coated diamond dog. Devon stood up and dusted himself off while giving Martial a sly smirk.

"Now brother really, do you think that I would steal your homework after the last score you got?" Devon snorted "I would have more luck letting Fate do my homework for me than to take your D plus workmanship."

"Um, excuse me but I'm not stupid." Fate looked at Deven with disapproval. 

"See what you get for being an idiot!" Martial pointed at Devon while he laughed. 

Devon noticing that she was behind which caused him to cringe a bit. "Oh, sorry Fate. I never said that you were stupid I only meant that Martial here is the dullest hammer in the box."

Before Martial could get close to beat the tar out of him the door to Mira's room swung open revealing a perturbed pink unicorn mare with a white mane and a scroll cutie mark. "Ok, what in Celestial's giant flank is going on out here? Can't a mare read in peace!"

Fate looked happy to see her older sister, but Devon and Martial looked like they just got hit on the nose with a rolled up newspaper. "Really guys do you need to make such a ruckus? Do me a favor if your going to be immature you can take your posterior's out of this vicinity!"

Martial looked at Mira with confusion. "Wait, move our what to where?"

Devon chucked as he pointed his thump at his clueless brother. "Cream of the crop this one is."

Mira looked like she was going to spew fire out of her eyes at her childish brothers. "Your butts, rumps, derrières, tails, seats, tushes and in the case of our father ASSES! Vicinity means somewhere other than here; do you get it now or do you want me to keep proving how uneducated you both are!"

Martial clutched his side as he fell to the floor laughing. "We actually got her to say ass!"

The silver coated pup pounded his fists into the floor as he joined Martial in laughter. "You know I'm so glad I have such an educated sister that knows all the names of a persons backside. I'm sure that will come in handy when you get a job cleaning toilets for a living!"

"Really now that's actually funny considering where you two are going." A stern voice bellowed from where Fate was sitting. 

Mira gained a wicked grin as she looked to see Boris as he walked towards them. "Oh look who's in trouble, try not to have to much fun Devon."

Devon flinched for a second before a cocky grin spread upon his muzzle, "Well smell who it is! Old saggy feathers planning to catch me again? Good luck with that old fart."

Martial rolled his eyes, "Really Devon your going to run again? He has already caught you 46 times; do you really think that he wont catch you now?" 

Devon stood up and stretched his legs preparing for the chase that was soon to follow. "Martial you can clean my share of the bathrooms; trust me I don't mind at all.

Boris stretched his wings and limbs as he eyed the hot headed youngster. "Oh I'm going to enjoy this. Martial you get to clean the military bathrooms in the west wing." Boris pulls out a pink tooth brush and tosses it the young pup.

When Martial caught the tooth brush his eyes widened and his jaw dropped, "This is some kind of joke right! You can't expect me to -."

Boris stopped him with a raise of his claw. "Your fathers idea, not mine. Your more than welcome to use my method if you would like."

Devon and Martial faces turned pale as they remembered all the horrors they had to endure from Boris's other methods. Martial shook his head. "No I'm good with this I'm not sure what your method is but I feel safer with my dads punishment instead."

On the sidelines Fate and Mira looked at each other and giggled at their brothers expense.

Devon gets into a running position. "Alright you old bird you ready to lose?"

Boris shakes his head as he smirks at the overconfident teen. "The rules have changed boy. If you get caught this round before sunrise you will have to use my method to clean the bathrooms understand."

"Then its a good thing I'm not going to get caught isn't it."

"Alright boy on the count of three." Boris raised three talons as he counted down. "One" Devon shook himself to loosen his body. "Two" Mira was shaking her head already knowing the outcome. "Three run you little brat!"

Devon bolted out of the hallway and out a side window at top speed leaving everyone else starring at his after image. Mira looked at Boris, "Are you not you know" Mira pointed in the direction that Devon went, "supposed to chase after him?"

Boris bore a huge smile on his scared beak, "Really now, I'm getting to old for this game to be a match in speed with a young diamond dog. I've played this one smart, he will get tired soon and when he does I will join the chase."

Martial scrunched his brow in thought, "But if your not chasing him why would he waste his energy? He could just hide somewhere."

Boris smile leaves his face as he looked at Martial, "Did I ever say it was just going to be me chasing him? Besides you have your own duty to take care of. Come with me I will show you to your destination."

Off in the distance they heard Devon as he yelled in distress, "Boris you Flank face this is cheating! Get your guards off my tail!"

Boris chuckled as he imagined the utter chaos that has befallen the pup.

"Boris where is father? Did he already leave for that meeting of his?" Mira smiled as she looked at Boris with interest. Martial showed signs of curiosity as his ears perked up. 

"Yes Mira, the king has left but he sends his love and promises to return home to you all. I wouldn't worry your father is made of tough stuff he wont go down easy."

Mira now carried a look of anger as she growled at Boris. "Who said anything about worrying? He told us it was no big deal; that it was an important meeting that he would be safe at. What are you hiding you old bird?"

Boris quickly walked over to a window and looked at the moon. "Oh look how the moon is in the middle of the sky; it must be later then I thought. We better get Martial here to finish his chore or he will never get to sleep. Goodnight youngsters." 

Before Mira could ask another question Boris grabbed Martial and escorted him to the bathrooms. It took Mira a few minutes to cool off before she realized her gorgon sister was watching her. Mira smiled at Fate before she yawned and headed back inside her room.

"Um Mira?"

Mira looked back at Fate. "Yes Fate what is it?"

"Dad was wondering if you would read this to me and everyone else if that's ok with you." Fate held up the journal to Mira.

Mira gained a look of confusion, "What do you have there? What did dad want me to read to everyone?" Mira looked closer before she gasped in surprise.

"No way! You mean to tell me he wants me to read his journal?" Fate nodded.

"Oh, gimme, gimme, gimme! We need to start this right away!" Fate surrendered the journal to her sisters pink magical aura as it yanked it from her.

"But what about our brothers?"

"What about them? They snooze they lose! They kept me from reading my book earlier; I sure as hell am not going to give them the chance to ruin another reading session." 
> Reading the Past part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Reading the Past 


Part 2


"But what about our brothers?"

"What about them? They snooze they lose! They kept me from reading my book earlier; I sure as hell am not going to give them the chance to ruin another reading session." 

The little gorgon gave Mira an annoyed look while she crossed her arms. "Mira, Dad said that you were supposed to read that to all of us. Now you put that book on the desk and read something else until Devon and Martial get back. Or if you don't I will tell father about how you decided to keep it to yourself and not share it with the rest of us; then it will be you who is cleaning the bathrooms."

The pink unicorn stepped back a little in nervousness. "Oh alright, I promise I wont read it without those scatter brains."

Content with her response Fate returned to smiling. "Thank you big sis; besides dad wanted this to teach our brothers a few lessons."

Mira looked to her sister in confusion. "Wait so dad was hoping for this" - she waved the journal into Fates face -  "to teach them something when he is so stuck on teaching us in person? Something doesn't feel right Fate; I mean why give this to us now?"

Fates eyes closed as a tear fell down her cheek. "I've been very bad."

Her sisters face softened at Fates tears. "That's impossible, Fate I don't think father would do this because of you being bad."  

Fate shook her head. "No Mira, I'm bad because I stayed and listened to dad and Boris argue before I left."

Now that had done it, Mira had her full attention on Fate. "Fate this is important what did they say!"

Fate wiped her eyes before answering. "I didn't hear everything except for the name Kaino; Boris went off about how dad was being a coward and that he should just say that he would come back. Mira what is going on, who is this Kaino?"

Mira usually had nerves of steel but once she heard the name Kaino those nerves became nothing more then Jello. Memories flooded back to her as she remembered the terrifying air Elemental. Out of all her siblings she was the only one with a past that withheld that thing. Mira had dropped to the floor with her hoofs over her head as she cried out in distress.

"Father you idiot! If he's going to be there why did you even go!" Tears now flowed down Miras face "No this is not happening! I need to find Boris now!" Mira bolted out the door leaving an after image like her brother Devon.

Fate still not understanding what had just happened just stared at her after-image as it dissolved.

Maybe I shouldn't say that name around her again.


Western Bathrooms


Boris stood and watched Martial while he scrubbed the white toilet.

"Hey now, don't be lazy; you forgot to scrub inside the bowl." Boris hadn't had this much fun in ages; in other words he hadn't had this much fun since last week when Devon put itch powder all over Martial while he was sleeping.

Off in the distance Boris can still hear Devon and his constant barrage of curse words. "You bird brained, dragon scat, bat shit crazy old fool! Get these guys off me and come after me yourself you coward!"

Even while Devon created all those names for him it didn't budge Boris one bit. In fact it brought an even wider grin on his face.

This bat shit crazy old fool still out smarted you pup. Hope your tongue is ready for a workout.  

Before Boris could utter another word he was tackled by a pink blur.

"What in the hell!" Yelled the old Griffon as he landed on his back with a pink unicorn standing over him; Boris looked up to see Mira glaring down at him. Mira had a look that could probably kill. Her delicate white mane was now shambled; her eyes were red from the tears of frustration.

Oh, this can't be good. 

"Where is he?" Mira was not playing around she was livid to the point of bursting.

"Mira you have to calm down; he will be fine I promise. You know where he's at; he's doing his job in keeping everyone here safe." 

"Don't feed me that skat!" the pink ponies tail straightened out as she yelled. Martial now peeked out of the bathroom stall to see what all the fuss was about.

"Kaino is at that meeting; and your going to send Dad the help he needs right now!"

The old Griffon was taken aback. "How did you get that information?"

"That doesn't matter, you're going to send him reinforcements asap! I am not going to lose him to!"

Boris slowly placed his claw on the mares shoulder. "Mira listen to me and listen good. I can't do anything for him now. I already told him to take more guards but he insisted on leaving them here to protect you." Mira was frustration simmered down a little "Your father has made this choice, he chose to protect you and his family over himself."

"You think that's going to make me feel better? Kaino will try to kill him like he always does! Dad is no match for him and deep down you know it to!"

The comforting smile Boris carried had now evaporated. His eyes turned stern. "So you don't believe in your father? You don't believe he will come back alive? You forget he has faced that creature more than once and he has always survived."

"Yes but at what cost! He almost died every time; Father is no Celestia he can't take on Kaino alone!" Mira had brought back the water works.

"Your right he is most definitely no Celestia; but that doesn't mean he has no chance of success. Please for your fathers sake put some faith in him. Kaino is dangerous but take heart that your father is smarter then he is. I believe he will come back to us soon. Besides Kaino might not even be there; from what I heard that was just a rumor so don't get your hooves in a knot." Boris crawled himself away from Mira before he got up and dusted himself off.

"Now I think that your Dad had a job for you as well Mira. Please go see to it before the King returns; I promise to send the boys along as soon as they are done." Boris looked over in Martials direction. 

"You better be scrubbing in there or I will have you doing this till your Dad returns!" The sound of a scrubbing toothbrush filled the restroom again; except this time it was a lot faster than before.

Mira still shook from the argument. "So its possible that he isn't even there?"

Boris raised an eyebrow as he looked at Mira. "Really Mira, your the educated one of the bunch. Do you really think that any king, Skaven or otherwise would be stupid enough to have Kaino represent their house and kingdom?"  

Mira looked as if a weight had been lifted from her; a smile even graced her face as she wiped her tears away. "Your right Boris; I shouldn't have reacted the way I did and for that I apologize."

Boris was deep in thought as he brought a talon to his beak. "Now that I think about it; since you did attack me." - Boris handed her a purple toothbrush - "I think its time you learned from your charming brothers example; your magic isn't allowed so use your teeth."

Mira stared at the tooth brush as if it was going to bite her. Deep chuckling filled the air as Martial poked his head out of the stall to look at his sister with a smug grin. "Devon called it."

"Oh, shut up Martial!" Mira was now pinker in the face as she headed to an empty stall with the purple tooth brush in her teeth. 

While her teeth were clenched Mira was able to grunt out a few words. "This is disgusting!"

Boris laughed heartily. "My dear, you and Martial are having it easy just wait till Devon gets caught; you both will see a new kind of hell."

"Let me go you serpent bitch! Ouch, ok I give I give." Devons shouts could barely be heard as the female gorgon tightened her grip.

"Ah, looks like Kana has captured the pup. If you two will excuse me your brothers tongue is needed for the bathrooms at the east wing. Keep up the work while I'm gone or better yet would you like to join your brother?"

The two siblings waved an arm in front of there faces as if they were trying to wave off some kind of stink. 

"Nope I'm good Martial how about you?" Mira sweated nervously at the thought of being made to do the same thing.

"No thanks Mira, I'm perfectly happy with my job right now thank you." Martial had the same facial expression as his sister.

Boris pouted. "When your done in there you can return to your rooms; however if I find out that its not clean in there I will drag you back to finish the job. That time you wont be using tooth brushes understand?"

"We understand." They both shouted simultaneously while carrying huge forced grins. Boris left the room to have fun with his new catch; leaving the shaken siblings to their work.


Back at the Orphanage 


Mira entered her room and flopped onto her bed with a massive sigh of relief. "That was absolutely the most degrading and disgusting thing I have ever done."

"What happened sis did Boris make you help out?"

"Ya, trust me it was jus..." Mira bolted up from her bed to see that her sister was sitting at her desk.

"Geez Fate, you frightened me!" Mira yelled as she attempted to wipe the sleep from her eyes.

Fate just pouted as she hid her face behind her hair. "Sorry Mira, I just wanted to wait here till you got back so we could start reading."

Her sister just shook her head. "No I'm sorry Fate I shouldn't have yelled like that. Its just that well ..." - Mira brought her hoof to her forehead as she thought of the easiest way to put it - "your just so quiet. I mean seriously, sometimes I feel like strapping a bell to your neck so I know your coming."

Fate giggled at her sisters jest. "So Mira, do you know when our brothers will be back?"

"Martial should be back any minute; but Devon I don't think we will see him for a while." Fate gave Mira a confused look.

"What do you mean Devon wont show for a while? Is he ok? Did Boris make him do something weird again?"

Mira cringed at the recent memory of watching from a distance as Devon cleaned the restroom floor with his tongue, "You could say something like that Fate?" Mira forced a grin to make things seem less awkward as they already were.

"Ok its official; I will not be pissing Boris off anytime soon." Martial croaked as he entered the room. From the look of him it seemed that he was on the verge of losing whatever dinner he had earlier. His tongue lopped onto the side of his mouth while his ears were flat against his skull; his paws held his stomach in a desperate attempt at calm it.  

"So where is Devon? Did you talk to him Martial?" Mira had a look of uncertainty as she was afraid to know what befell her brother.

"He will be here soon; that's what I think anyways. He's scrubbing the crap off of his tongue; literally."

Mira cringed and smashed her face into her pillow in a feeble attempt to drown out whatever else he had to say. "Ewww, that's so nasty! Why does Boris push the punishments that far? I understand that Devon made a mistake by fighting with you again but just . . . " Mira couldn't finish her sentence as her face turned green while she ran out of the room like a bat out of hell.

"So what happened?" Fate looked at Martial cutely.

Still clutching his stomach Martial winked at his sister. "Nothing for you to bother yourself with sis; trust me its better to stay in the dark on this one." Martial returned to gazing at the floor while rubbing his stomach.

Fate grabbed Davis's journal off of the Desk to show Martial. She beamed at him with excitement. "Look at what dad left us brother!"     

Martial looked up with a groggy expression. "Fate not to be a stick in the mud but its getting late; I'm going to go hit the hay and try to get rid of this feeling. You should do the same thing little sis; I don't want you waking up all cranky."

Martial turned to the door only to have his little gorgon sister cling to his back yelling, "Wait!"

Martial looked over his shoulder at his sis with a raised eyebrow. "What is it Fate; I'm tired and the pillow is calling."

When the last word left his mouth he got journal slapped right in the sniffer. "Ouch, Fate are you crazy!"

Once Fate gained the attention she wanted she held the journal in his eyesight. That did exactly what she hoped for; Martial didn't budge an inch. "Holy . . . is that Dads journal Fate? How did you get it?

"Dads letting me borrow it till he gets back. He wants Mira to read it to us so that we can learn about his past. I bet it will be romantic." Fate's eyes fluttered and shined with envy.

Without missing a beat her brother was there to snuff out that flame just as quickly as it had come. "Romance, really Fate? Does Dad strike you as the sort that would sweep a female off her feet, hooves, or tail?" 

Fates turned her head to the side while her eyes squinted and she gave a little, "hmph."

"No if I know dad its going to be a story about hard work and determination, you know stuff like that." Martial turned his snout up as he carried a look of confidence.

"Your both probably right." Fate and Martial turn to see Mira carrying a very degraded looking grey coated pup. Devon hanged in her magical aura completely still except for some momentary twitching. She placed him onto her bed and exhaled a sigh of relief; glad to be rid of the weight.

"Plus we all know Dads past wasn't sunshine and daises." The other siblings excluding Devon nodded in agreement.

"Why is Devon twitching?"

"Well Fate, Devon seems to have gone into a state of shock after he finished cleaning himself up." Mira looked from her sister to Devon with a face of pity. "To be honest; this time I really feel sorry for him." After she said that one of Devon's legs twitched.

Fate raised her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side in thought. "Really? I never thought a little bit of work would've almost killed him?" Fate shrugged and smiled at Mira. "I can't wait to hear about Dad and his adventures. But I guess we should wait till Devon wakes up."

Mira gave Fate a dumbfounded look. "Are you serious? I'm not waiting another second."

Mira glared commandingly at Fate to prevent her from interrupting her. "No, we will not wait for him. Look, you told me to wait till we had everyone here and everyone is here; even if Devon is slightly in a coma I'm not waiting."

Martial looked up confused. "Coma?"

"It means knocked out." Mira huffed as she glanced annoyingly at her slightly uneducated brother.

"Why didn't you just say that he was knocked out?" 

"Because it was simpler; now no more questions!" snapped Mira as her right eye twitched. Martial and Fate leaned back from there positions as if to dodge their sisters aggression. 

After the pink mare took a few well needed breaths to calm down. "Everyone make yourself comfortable because this is going to be a long read." 

Mira nudged Devons twitching form to the side while Fate and Martial got comfortable on the floor in front of her. Mira smiled at the fact that she finally go to reveal the secrets that have been kept from her. Mira used her unicorn magic to levitate the journal in front of her. "Everyone ready?"

Without waiting for a reply she flipped the journal open only for a small note to fall from it. Fate picked up the note and read aloud.

To my wonderful children,

I must warn you before you read this that I am slightly different from how I was back then. I beg that you wont think differently of me. Sadly I have a confession to make; I wasn't respectable or the gentleman sort. I was unfortunately more like Devon; I was overconfident, air headed, and I horrifyingly had the libido of a Minotaur during mating season. Ya, I know you didn't want to read that but its the truth; your old man was/is a perv. But besides that I learned many lessons through the years that tamed and molded me into the man I am today. So please be prepared for whats in store. 

This is my story.
.
.
.
(silence)

Fate was teary eyed and mumbling. "What did I just read? I didn't want to know about dads libido."

Mira carried a look of shock and awe as she contemplated what she just heard.

Martial rolled on the floor laughing while he clutched his stomach. "Oh man, it hurts! My stomach hurts! My old man was a horny hound."

Mira sighed as she took the note from her sobbing sister. "Well I should have figured as much; this is real life after all. It sure is a weird way to begin a story." 
	
	





 
> Journal Entry 1 (Arrival)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Journal Entry One


Arrival


After the group finally shook off the mental images that they had been unwantedly graced with, they prepared to dive headfirst into their father’s past. Unfortunately, Fate looked to have grown seriously uncertain about wanting to even know anything else about her dad. She shifted in her seat as she looked at Mira.

"Mira I don't feel excited anymore. Why did Dad feel the need to warn us about his" - Fate shivered - "Libido."

Mira shrugged as she thought about a reasonable response. "Fate, I think he did that because he wanted us to know the truth. Do you believe it would have been nicer of him to let us dive headfirst into this Journal and come to find out that he was part of an orgy or something?"

A groggy slur from Devon surprised the bunch. "Someone say something about an orgy? Ladies! The object of your desire has arrived!" Devon sat up with his arms high in the air and wearing a look of confidence.

Mira rolled her eyes as she looked at her brother with disgust. "Oh, of course that would wake you up from your stupor."

The look of excitement contorted to a look of disgust when he noticed Mira. "Eww, you mean you’re part of my harem? That is so wrong!" Devon looked around the room frantically. "Wait, where's my harem!"

Mira chuckled heartily. "Looks like you bored them and they went to go find a real pack leader."

"Oh, she burned you good." Martial laughed as he pointed at his now red faced brother. "Hey Mira, what does stupor mean?"

Mira wrapped her aura around a dictionary on her desk and threw it at Martial. "Look it up yourself; I'm not your walking dictionary!"

"Might as well be for all the times you've corrected him." Devon retorted.

Mira ignored here flank face of a brother and continued her conversation with her mortified sister.

"Fate, stop thinking about an orgy or you'll make yourself sick." Mira rubbed Fate’s head with her hoof. "Come on Fate, this will be interesting to look into at least; I promise you won’t be disappointed. If I see a part that I feel won’t be appropriate for you I will just ask you to leave. Deal?"

Fate nodded her head in agreement; but she held a look as if someone slapped her with a rotting fish fillet. Her face was greener than usual, but she held strong to hear Davis's tale.

Without waiting another minute Mira reopened the journal and attempted to read the outrageously messy handwriting.

You ever get that strange feeling before you wake up? You know the one I'm talking about; that feeling where you know something is wrong. You would usually expect to see your friends or family preparing to prank you by sticking your hand in a pot of warm water, making you wet yourself; or someone filling one of your hands with shaving cream so you would wake up looking like some messed up version of Saint Nick. But no, I didn't get that cozy waking experience. I woke up with myself being surrounded by burnt forest vegetation and vermin carcasses; not to mention that I was covered in ash and standing there with my pride just flapping in the gentle breeze. Yep you guessed it, I was surrounded by dead furry creatures while I was naked. To say the least I've had better days.





Inside the memory


Davis looked around his surrounding in shock, still trying to absorb what was happening. As he tip-toed across what was believed to be a charred wolf, his brain was constantly working on a way to rationalize everything.

Ok drugs are out of the equation since I don't touch that shit. Maybe that drink I shared with Aunt Loraine did something to me; but that still doesn't explain how I came here.

Davis paced in frustration as his brain tried to pull ideas from thin air. The naked human stopped for a split second as a look of absolute fear crossed his face.

There is no way that aliens would be involved; right? No, that's not possible, everyone knows aliens don’t exist. Why can't I remember anything? I was laying down in bed and . . ." Davis scrunched his eyes shut as he tried desperately to force himself to remember. Sadly the only thing he conjured up was a seriously painful headache.

 This is stupid, what the hell! 

Shaking off his mental rant Davis finally realized that he was naked.

Oh, that's just bloody perfect! Now I need to make some sort of covering for my junk since it doesn't look like there's a town nearby. What the hell am I supposed to use for material, tree bark? Ok, well its either that I make my own pants or I steal from someone else. Whatever its survival of the fittest.

While Davis turned to run into the forest that was still green and alive he heard what sounded like bushes being ruffled. Davis turned and looked behind him to see that a good distance away thin pine trees and various bushes were moving as something or someone headed straight for him. Davis sensed that it was maybe a hiker or somebody along those lines. Knowing that he would soon be clothed brought a smile to his face.

Well what do you know, my luck is changing for the better after all. I better hide myself if I’m going to catch them off guard.  

As quick as humanly possible, Davis hid behind a large dead tree trunk. Lucky for him, his hiding spot had shrubs that hid him from all angles of sight. It wasn't long before the rustling stopped and a pair of voices could be heard on the other side of his hiding spot. One voice sounded deep while the other was stuffy like when you clamp your nose shut.

The deep voiced individual huffed and puffed from what seemed to be a strenuous hike. "Where is that creature supposed to be? I know it landed here since the land is scorched; Boss said he would be here! I'm too tired to deal with this crap right now; why is it that almost every job I get stuck with there are always complications?"

"Shut up and keep tracking! Do you want to go back and tell our boss that you didn't find him? By all means, please do; I would love to have a new and less bitchy partner!" The stuffy nosed voice retorted back causing his partner to humph in annoyance.

"I swear, when this is all over, I'm going to hang you by your own entrails you filthy rat!" That only caused the stuffy one to chuckle heartily.

"Oh, I will hold you to that, partner; for your sake I hope you’re a light sleeper." That shifted the atmosphere in his favor since his partner seemed to have gotten the hint. "Now again, start tracking for that creature. The sooner we get done the sooner you get to -- what was it? Hang me by my entrails? Oh, I can't wait to see you try it."

"Whatever.  Out of my way, you trash-eating bastard."

Davis now shivered with fear. He now knew that whoever these guys were he was no match for them, and that they weren't leaving fast enough for him to get comfortable.

So much for defenseless hikers, whoever they are they most definitely came armed if they’re hunting for me. This is not good! Who the hell are these guys? Are they mafia, or maybe even just some random gang? Great I'm naked and I'm being hunted? Ok, don't jump to conclusions: They may not even be after me. I might just be at the wrong place at the wrong time. I'll chance a look here to see who I'm dealing with.

Davis parted one of the bushes that hid him to take a quick glance at the supposed hunters, and what he saw made him intake his breath sharply. In Davis's eyesight he noticed what looked like a werewolf and some kind of rat hybrid. The werewolf was huge: He was Davis's height but he was built sturdier than a bricked-up shit house. He had short grey fur with blackened tips, while his wardrobe was nothing more than a pair of ripped-up black shorts and the skull of some kind of saber-toothed cat planted on his right shoulder.

His partner on the other hand was a four-foot-tall Frankenstein horror. He was a skinny pale-white furred rat humanoid; that much was easy to figure out. His pink eyes had a bloodthirsty gleam to them; his chest piece looked like scraps of rusted metal clumsily tied together. Unlike his partner, he carried a wolf skull on his left shoulder. The face he was graced with was something a blind mother could have loved. His scar covered muzzle was something of a freakish repair job. It looked like his muzzle was half flesh and half dark-brown rubber: almost like someone took a massive swing at him and cleaved off a nice chunk of his nose and whiskers.

Oh hell no, fate; you are not screwing me this hard, are you? You know, why can't it be something less intimidating like Marvin the Martian! But no, you had to send me a steroid-infused mutt and some mad scientist’s pet rat!   

Davis retreated back into his hiding spot as he tried to keep quiet. Several minutes went by and the creatures still hadn't left; the wait was starting to grind on the nerves of the naked human. The werewolf walked around in a circle, constantly sniffing the surrounding area. The rat was starting to get more annoyed at his partner for taking so long.

"Vergo, hurry the hell up! For all we know he could be miles from us, since you’re taking your sweet time sniffing him out!"

The Werewolf Vergo looked at his partner in confusion. "I don't understand; all I smell is this blasted ash! The ash is overpowering all other smells; it’s impossible to track him by scent, Nergul!"

Nergul sighed in distress. "I asked for a professional tracker and I get you. Get out of my way; I will look for his tracks without your useless talent."

The rat started to walk around the burnt site until he saw that a trail of ash had been scuffed together with fresh dirt. Unfortunately for Davis, that trail of dirt just happened to lead straight to where he was hiding. Nergul silently chuckled and raised his clawed hand up, waving his partner over.

Um, I don't like this at all. Why did it get quiet all of a sudden? The only reason for them to go silent is if they left or if they found  -- oh, this isn't good.  

Davis glanced behind him only to see the ugly mug of Nergul smiling at him through the bushes.

"Hello, son of Adam."

That was enough to make Davis jump out of his skin and hightail it away from the creatures. Nergul lunged at the naked human; Davis could have sworn that Nergul sliced off the tips of a few hairs on his neck with that deadly swing. After Nergul missed his mark, he landed on his knees and growled malevolently as he got up, only to see the naked humans ass cheeks as they disappeared into the brush.

"Vergo, what are you doing! You’re just going to let him escape?

Vergo came out from where Davis was hiding only a few seconds ago. "Sorry about that I couldn't tell which way he went."

Nergul snarled and glared at his partner. Slowly but steadily he advanced towards the bewildered wolf. Vergo growled and returned Nergul’s glare in a sad attempt to scare his now-fuming partner. "Nergul you’re wasting time; we need to get that human!"

Nergul was showing his true colors now. He snarled and hissed as drool started to fall from between both his real and fake sharp teeth. "Oh, I know exactly what I'm doing Vergo; I'm removing a weak link from the alliance. You wanted a chance to gut me? Well here it is pup. Don't miss, because I won’t."

Reality finally reached the tiny brain of the muscle bound dog. "Nergul I was only joking with you; you should have known that."

The rat gained a cruel smile after his partners last reply. "Funny, I wasn't."



Deeper into the Forest


Davis was running full speed, not given a chance to look back and see if his pursuers were hot on his trail. He had been running for at least fifteen minutes straight, and his feet were starting to tear up and bleed from all the sharp thorns and rocks that littered the forest floor.

I need to stop for a breather:;I can't go on like this. There has to be some kind of shelter or at least a place to hide somewhere around here. 

Davis went behind a large oak tree to look back and see if he was followed.

"Ya, that's right! Just try to keep up, mutants!" Davis said with a smug grin. Putting his arrogance aside Davis noticed a large cave off to his right.

Yes sir, that will do nicely. As far as I'm concerned, that's as good as a Four Seasons hotel.

Davis reached the mouth of the cave and collapsed with right his hand on his chest.

You know what, this isn't so bad. I think I can stay here awhile and recover. But seriously, what the hell did those things want with me? I haven't done anything wrong - a goofy smile came to his lips - Ok, well, lately I haven't done anything wrong. At least nothing that should have me in this situation. Whatever, I will deal with it later.

Before he even closed his eyes to have the sandman put him to sleep, he heard a deep rumbling sound; it was very close. While Davis laid on his back, he looked deeper into the cave only to notice that he wasn't alone. Deep in the cave, staring back at him, was some other creature from either myth or of science gone horribly wrong. It was a giant golden haired male lion that possessed the black wings of a bat and, if that wasn't bad enough, it also had the tail of a scorpion that swung side to side like a cat’s tail does when it’s getting ready to pounce on a defenseless mouse.

The eyes Davis had could easily rival the size of dinner plates. With all that had been happening, he had only one thing to say: "Ok, that's bullshit."