"This is incredible!" Feynor murmured again as he held the diary, reading it through for who knows how many times since he got his hands on it.

  "I'm gd you like it, eldest brother!" Leinor sighed, walking next to him and grabbing his shoulders before he walked into a tree. "But please, concentrate on the road, okay? You can read it any time when we get back."

  "You don't understand; this helps us to understand the old kingdom, how it was governed, and the daily life of the ruling family!"

  "What is so great about that?" Niji looked back, who was now leading them toward the other tribe of chimpanzees.

  "Everything! There is a paragraph that describes her dilemma on a new taxation system, and by just her ideas, we could redo our taxation ws, benefiting the whole country!"

  "Tax?" Niji grimaced at the weird words.

  "Don't listen to him." Ren said, "He is to become Emperor. His mind is full of boring stuff."

  "I never knew humans talked this way about their rulers. When I was growing up, they groveled before theirs..." Niji shook his head, remembering what he knew about humans.

  "I'm privileged." Ren giggled, "I'm marrying into the royal family; Feynor is my older brother by family ties, so I can be informal as much as I want."

  "You are weird. All of you." Niji murmured as he suddenly stopped, raising his hand, and the others ceased chatting. Soon, other tall chimps showed up in the trees before them, one by one, surrounding the group.

  "What is one of you doing on our turf… especially with humans in tow? If Bonecrusher learns about this, you will die a painful death!" one of them scoffed, coming down, standing about ten meters away from them, leaning on a thick, wooden rod, around three meters long.

  "Bonecrusher?" Ren raised her eyebrows, holding back her ugh, unlike Isha, who found it even more funny. "Was that the previous leader we killed?"

  "Oh? So, he is dead?" The newcomer chimpanzee asked, looking surprised.

  "Yes, and all of the others too." Niji nodded.

  "And now you are a human pet yet again, are you not? Oh, how we came full circle!" The other chimp ughed mockingly, looking at Niji.

  "Olup-" Niji tried to remain civil, but to no avail.

  "If you came for protection, forget it. Now I'm considering absorbing you all! You must be weak, and I think humans won't risk it for our kind, ahaha…." He licked his lips, scanning over the others.

  "He is not here for protection." Ren walked up, standing next to Niji, still smiling, "We are here to make you join us."

  "Join? You? Did the pipsqueak really say that?" Olup ughed again, turning back towards the others, grinning, and soon the forest was filled with loud monkey screeching.

  "This guy…" Ren murmured, grinding her teeth while Leinor came up and pressed his hands on her shoulder.

  Soon, Ren felt his energies flood her body, spinning in a revolution, going back to him, then back again, just as they had against Boursat, only now it was seamless, quick, and with minimal backsh on their bodies.

  "You know me best…." Ren whispered, gently stroking Leinor's fingers on her shoulders while closing her eyes.

  "Kick him in the balls. That will shut him up." He whispered to her.

  "Ahaha… this is why I love you~!" She nodded, and when she opened her eyes, she bsted out with a thunderous roar, surprising everyone.

  The most surprised was Olup, who raised his stick, but Ren's kick quickly shattered it into a million pieces, making him stumble backward from the shock. Purple-colored electricity danced in the air around her, and after the sudden strike, Olup wanted to find his footing, but Ren was way quicker, striking him in the nether regions. The next moment, every other, still ughing monkey shut their mouth in an instant, shuddering as a resounding crack echoed through the air. Their leader, Olup, was now lying on the ground, eyes rolling back into his skull, foaming from the mouth, twitching.

  "As we said." Ren stepped on his limp body with her tiny feet, looking up at the other apes. "We came to make you join us. Of course, you could refuse! We understand if you are hesitant, but know that… the second time will be when you come to the US and ask US to let YOU join! The terms at that moment may be harsher than what we can offer now. Also… please, think before speaking!" She spat onto the ground, "I'm not the best when it comes to temper." Then she ughed innocently, in a cute voice, pying with her silvery hair. "Let's go!" She nodded as she turned around, while Niji just looked at her, trying to read what she was up to. "You have a few days to decide!" Ren waved her hand as they disappeared, and none of the chimps tried to stop them.

  "Don't worry; they will come to us." Shaman appeared as soon as they were a few hundred meters away from the other tribe.

  "So you did follow us," Anya scoffed, looking at him with snted eyes and watching the old chimpanzee appear from nowhere.

  "I was curious about how you would deal with them. I like her approach." He smiled, pointing at Ren. "Also… I invited an old friend."

  Soon, another ape walked out from the trees, towering over three meters tall, full of muscle, with a white coat of fur, while his eyes were naturally blood-red in color. The giant goril's aura was overpowering, and Anya's pupils immediately shrank to a pinhole while stepping forward as the others also got ready to fight. This one... was strong.

  "Rex! His name is Kang, the old chief of the Whitestripes." Shaman ughed as the goril slowly held back his dominating presence.

  "You look pretty strong!" Ren stepped forward, grinning. "The feeling you gave me was stronger than my father's aura."

  "You afraid, human the little?" The goril asked, with a deep, heavily accented voice, as if someone was not used to speaking their nguage.

  "Not really. You cked malice when you appeared." Ren tilted her head to the right while answering.

  "Small one interest. You're right, old chimp, need more, but... Not convinced." Kang hummed, looking at the group.

  "He is saying you still need to prove yourself to them." Shaman transted.

  "I guess you already have something for us?" Anya asked, coming up to her daughter's side.

  "Yes, human. My tribe sick." Kang spoke again, "Women give birth dead, no young. Males make babies; no babies born alive. We want cure. Want help."

  "I checked them out a few times; the whole thing started around… forty or fifty years ago." Shaman expined, "At first, it was occasional, nothing strange. But it got worse; younglings fell ill then died, bleeding out while sleeping, and by now, the women's only bore stillborns..."

  "Is it contagious?" Leinor furrowed his brows at once.

  "Seems not, as the old chief looks fine," Feynor added.

  "The adults have zero symptoms. Nothing is wrong with them; they are healthy." Shaman expined further, "Their vitality is there; they CAN make babies. Anytime."

  "Youngs only. Children sick. They die soon. Lost grandkid. Lot. Help, and we join." Kang said, his voice concealing his helplessness, but Ren could see it all.

  "We need to check it out, fast," Ren said with a serious look on her face, looking up at the giant goril, whose eyes now reflected a sad and tired expression, clearly numb to burying his offspring.

  "You already have ideas?" Shaman asked as they started to follow Kang.

  "Some useless things only." Ren mumbled, still watching Kang's body, "It's not an illness."

  "It's not?" they asked simultaneously.

  "Curse." Kang continued, "Shaman says curse."

  "I don't believe in curses," Ren murmured, squinting.

  "You will." Shaman smiled with a strange expression. "They live in an old city, which was a holy city back then, a spiritual home of many, following the… what was it called…."

  "Twin Path of Life," Feynor added.

  "What's that?" Poli asked curiously while Ren put on an even more severe look, clearly thinking about something.

  "It was written in the diary of the st Empress. It was their main religion when this was still a human empire. Their names…" Feynor started to flip through the book.

  "Alfina and Oynega," Ren answered for him in a cold voice.

  "Ah, yes… yes, here it is. Have you read it?"

  "I… only recognized some words, that's all." She sighed, rubbing her temples. "Continue, please. What did it say in the diary?"

  "Let me check." Feynor continued, "Ah, yes, here it is. There are a dozen pages of rambling about some holy days and celebrations… It says it was an ancient religion. The true gods, Alfina and Oynega, are the ones who govern life and death. The twins represent giving birth, bringing new life to the nd, and dying, removing the old to make way for the new. The woman, Alfina, gives birth to human souls while the man Oynega embraces those who come to the end of their lives, taking the souls away."

  "They are both girls. Kind of. Were. Arghh... Whatever!" Ren snorted, shaking her head, "They are hermaphrodites; it's just one of them acts more feminine, the other likes to dress as a man. Weirdest duo... like... ever."

  "Really?" Isha ughed. "Damn, the freaks!"

  "Huh… I have not read that part yet!" Feynor flipped through the pages, but Ren just continued, feeling her spine tingle.

  "They were born joined but separated ter when they rose to godhood, as the legends say. Still, even after separation, they are closely linked with their minds and also in an... incestuous retionship. They love being connected, as they have been throughout their mortal lives. So yeah, kind of a freak show with human standards. They have a different outlook on things like morality or what is good and bad... Especially considering their powers are dependent on it."

  "You always liked to read…." Anya giggled, stroking her head with a smile of remembrance. "I remember you asked us to hoard all of the history books we could find… now I see why, you little rascal, ahaha!"

  "Yeah, I… picked up some things." She smiled wryly, "Anyway, what does this have to do with our big, white, muscly friend and his tribe?"

  "As I said, it's a curse." Shaman nodded, "Something happened deep underground. It was fine through the centuries, but an earthquake occurred around… Hm... About sixty years ago. Something under the ruins has awoken, and now his presence curses them."

  "Why not just leave?" Leinor asked Kang directly.

  "We no can. Some left. Still bear dead. No healthy. No change. Desperate..."

  "So it is a curse, and we must stop the source before we can start lifting it." Shaman said resolutely, "And in the meantime, collect some resources that are only found there, of course."

  "Yeah… of course." Isha rolled her eyes, knowing why Shaman was so eager to help, but Kang didn't mind it as long as they did help.

  "Curse… huh?" Ren murmured, "Let me see those ruins first… I got curious all of a sudden…." She whispered, taking a deep breath and speeding up, prompting the others, especially Kang, to speed up as well and reach the goril's vilge more quickly.