Nightmare

"Yeah, I'll help her get caught by Raye's men. The only problem is how she will get out. I know Raye won't let Eunica go especially that hybrids are fighting back."

Eunica looks at Lucio, "Or I can tell him it's my vacation. He'll let me go that way."

"When was the last time you went home, and where did you go home?" Rio asks.

Eunica sits up and brushed the dirt on her shirt off, "Uh... last year? The house was in a river outside the city. The house was shabby and dark, no electricity..."

"Raye's house is located in the middle of the city, in the metropolis. It's a mansion now, Eunica." Luke replied.

Jin sighs, of course, he has a lot of money. Why would he let his family continue to live by a lake without electricity? Is this the reason why he sold the hybrids? No, he's a righteous man. He can live as a poor person than hurt others. But why? What's the reason why Raye gave up his values?

Eunica smiles, "Really? A mansion!" she stands up, making everyone in the room feel shocked, "My siblings are living comfortably! Mother doesn't have to wash other people's clothes and clean dirt!"

Everyone stared at her, "Eunica... he's killing your kind," Lucio whispered, he can't believe she'll feel happy about Raye's riches.

"Yeah!" Eunica let out without thinking, "Uh..." her smile slowly fades, "Oh... yeah. He does."

Jin sighs, "Eunica," he called, "he's not the same father you remember."

Iaz and Lucio look at each other, both of them are thinking the same thing. Letting Eunica meet Raye will turn out bad. She will either stay with them or worse, even work with him. If this makes her feel happy, it'll turn out bad.

Maybe she hasn't fully understood what really is happening. Just simple words of description won't suffice to make her realize what is happening.

"Why don't we stay here for the night? I'm sure Phantre tribe will be happy to meet their new family member," Iaz said as his gaze from Lucio turns to the perplexed Eunica who just slowly nods her head in agreement.

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Jin stands beside Eunica and hugs her tight, "It's okay..." he whispered while patting her head.

"No, it's not. I was happy. I shouldn't be. My family's well-off because my father's capturing and killing hybrids," she said with a trembling voice, ready to cry out.

Rio stands up, "I'll have the people prepare a feast for Eunica," he said and left.

Luke looks at Eunica, "Don't cry, I know it's still shocking but don't worry. Everything will be fine," he said and forced a smile.

Eunica peeks at Luke while her head's in between Jin's arms, "Yeah," she said and hugs Jin back.

His warmth never ceases to calm her down. His scent, his heartbeat, and his body... everything just makes her feel complete, not lost, not scared, just complete.

As her hug tightens, her heartbeat's rushing faster, her throat turns dry and her body aches for something.

Jin, who was feeling normal, started feeling the heat coming from Eunica's body which made him feel hot, "Uh... Eunica..." he was about to let her go, but Eunica held on him tighter.

Lucio and Iaz who were talking on what to do felt the urge coming from Eunica.

"Hey!' Hey!" Lucio yelled as he stands up, Iaz's eye went wide when he learned that it was coming from Eunica.

"NO MATING HERE! NOT YET, EUNICA!" Lucio screamed, Iaz stands up and helped troubled Jin out of Eunica's arms.

Lucio pulled her away from Jin, "Tell me, is this the first time she acted this way?" he asks Jin as he carries the passed out Eunica on his arms.

"Uh..." Jin took a deep breath to calm his heart and cool his body down, "No."

"Alright, this has been becoming the tribe's problem for this season. New adults are acting with the urge even outside their shelters. It's... humiliating," Lucio sighed and put Eunica in a room.

Jin drinks a glass of water to calm him down, Eunica's urge seemed to be stronger than him. He never felt as hot as Eunica. Never lost conciousness with it and never felt out of control.

"Is something wrong with her?" Jin asks as Lucio comes out of the room.

Iaz laughs, "Jin..." he suddenly lost it and started laughing louder.

Lucio clicks his tongue as he slowly shakes his head, "Well, it seems no one's there to teach you this."

"What?" Jin wrinkled his brows as he squinted his eyes at Lucio and Iaz, something's not right.

Lucio called a guard outside, "Bring us something to drink! Our new adult here is lost!"

Iaz still can't stop laughing, he's turning red already and is coughing from laughing too much.

Lucio looks Jin while sitting across him with a teasing look.

The guards arranged a table between Jin and Lucio and Iaz and prepared wines and juices on the table.

"Listen, kid," Lucio started as he took a glass of wine while Jin drinks juice.

Iaz wipes his tearful eyes, "You gotta learn something," he said.

"Women hybrids..." Lucio smiled, "They're hungrier than men."

Jin almost chokes from what he heard.

"They experience the urge 10x stronger than men. It starts as if it's a normal thing but during the third or fourth time it kicks in, they just... throw themselves at men. I mean, to the guy they like."

Iaz nodded, "Like 'Come on, male! Let's have cubs!'" he said and started laughing again.

Jin's face went red as if feels like someone's boiling his face, he started sweating and feel like he's suffocating.

It's true, no other hybrid's there to teach him things. But he never knew Eunica can feel this since her animal DNA's been deleted.

"Wait," he stopped Lucio and Iaz from laughing, "How come she feels this way?"

Lucio and Iaz stare at him, "What do you mean?"

"Her DNA, it's deleted. She shouldn't feel any hybrid-related emotions."

Lucio's eyes went huge, "Yes, I saw it. They did delete her DNA," he said and took another glass of wine, "What is happening to her?"

"Maybe it's all coming back?" Iaz suggested.

Jin shakes his head, "No, it can't be. The scientist that performed such operation are the same people who created me."

With their intelligence and talent in science, it's impossible that they did a mistake.

"Wait, what DNA did they delete?" Lucio asks but he looks like he's still looking for another possibility.

"Uh... that... I don't know. What do you mean?"

"I don't know but, from what I know, Raye didn't know that my sister was a hybrid."

Iaz nodded his head, "I heard from Hyung, he said they manipulated little Eunica when she was still in her mother's womb. He said they put that DNA into her body to make her a hybrid since he thought Lara was a human."

"So... they might've deleted her Himalayan Cat DNA then?"

Iaz and Lucio slowly nodded with Jin's realization, "Seems like it."

"Then... she's still panther?" Jin asks.

"Yeah, I think so too. It's in her blood. Nothing can remove that," Iaz agrees.

They all went silent after realizing that information, Eunica's still and will always be a hybrid by birth not by science, unlike Jin.

"But the problem now is, what should we do?" Iaz breaks the boring silence and takes a look at his glass full of wine.

Jin just waits for Lucio's answer, from where he's standing, only these guys can create plans as of the moment, they know Raye more than he does. No, they know a different Raye.

"Her plan can work, but there's no guarantee that Raye will let her go or that she will help us go against Judge. She's happy with her family's status now," Lucio said in a cold tone, there's no pinch of positivity in his voice.

They trust Eunica, but as a girl who grew up as a human, with more remorse for humans, she can easily forget the hybrids.

"What if I go with her?" Jin asks. He wants to give her a chance.

Lucio and Iaz look at each other, Jin, a kid who grew up in a facility where hybrids get maltreated and didn't get the chance to explore his identity, and can't even control himself, this will be difficult.

Lucio slowly shakes his head, "We'll talk about this later, for now, let's have a feast."

Iaz nodded, "Yeah," he stood up, "Let her sleep for a while."

Jin, Lucio, and Iaz went out to see long tables full of fruits and other foods, as the sun sets, other hybrids started dancing and welcoming Jin.

Eunica, who's still sleeping, dreams of her mother.

She's stuck in a grave-like box in a dark room, she's banging it hard to let her go but, she saw her father standing near, with tears streaming down his face while holding an injection with red liquid.

"Mother!" she screamed and woke up, full of sweat, dripping from her forehead.

Luke suddenly arrives, "You okay?" he asks, he heard her cries as he was passing by the tribe leader's shelter, "Nightmare?"

Eunica looks at him, and as she realizes that she's awake, she took a deep breath, "Yeah."

Maybe it's because she found out what her father's been up to lately and that her mother has a family, that's why she dreamt of them.

But why was she stuck in a box? What was her father doing with an injection with red liquid?