~~Any similarities with other types of work or existing people or things is pure coincidence.  I do not own any existing organization, company, etc., in the real world.  The story and characters are mine and no one has the right to use them without my permission.

About the world.

In the 1960s, the world witnessed an event that will last for years to come: the revelation that mythological creatures were more than just a myth.  They have existed for thousands of years, but the humans at that time were not very accepting of them.  Some feared their bodies: the tails, the horns, the eyes, the wings, the scales, whatever that did not resemble a human being.  Others used them for their own agendas: warriors hunted down any creature they encountered believing that killing one would bring them glory, religious leaders used them to preach about their gods and pointed them as creatures of demons or mistakes, merchants used their body parts as merchandise that humans would buy as accessories or ingredients for their drugs or potions.  Others turned them into slaves, some would work in hard labor, others would serve in the armies of empires, others would be used for pleasure.  They may have non-human qualities, but they also have human ones.

Yet, not everyone was against them: some took pity of them and gave them refuge against discrimination.  Others believed that they were people, living beings with a consciousness.  Others believed that all life deserved to live free amongst them.  Others believed them to be celestial beings from the heavens, a blessing to this world that should be protected.  Others simply believed that it was the right thing to do.  After all, once they see their eyes, they could see something more than a monster, they could see someone.  This were the few, the ones who let their reason govern their aggressiveness and desire, the ones who believed that they could co-exist with them, the ones that could see that they were not so different.

They were right in this, humans are as magnificent as they are horrible, and they were no different.  Some were criminals, killing and stealing the poor; the weak; the defenseless.  Others used the trust of the kind and the just for their own desires.  Others ruled with an iron fist, with corruption, with lies while their subjects died of hunger and disease.  Then, there were the ones who believed that they should co-exist with the humans.  Some wanted to live in peace with their families and friends.  Others believed that they deserved the same right to live in the same world as the humans, because of a higher power.  Others simply didn't see the problem for both races to live together in harmony and peace.

Unfortunately, no progress was made around this time and they decided to disappear, away from human civilizations.  They moved into areas that humans could not reach by normal means, some moved into the top of mountains, others moved into dangerous areas that humans did not dared to explore, others moved to the bottom of the ocean.  Over time, they became a memory, then they became a legend, then they became a folklore, then they became a legend.  In the end, they turned nothing more than fairy tale that they told to children before they went to sleep.  These mythological beings never forgot about them, since they were everywhere.  Especially since, certain beings were all female.  So they waited, waited for the moment where they could finally come out of their caves, their mountains and the sea to once again roam the Earth.

The time was coming.  In the 1920's, explorers discovered the hidden places of these beings, which was a big surprise to them.  They though the humans would flee in terror or attack them, instead they were filled with awe and wonder, especially since some records of them were exaggerated.  For example, the harpy wasn't grotesque at all, their arms were wings and their legs were those of a bird, but the rest was human looking.  The legs of a Lamia were fused into a long snake tail and their eyes were those of a snake, but everything else was human.  They conversed with them, they eat with them, they played with them, and some even fell in love with them.  The explorers that went back to their own countries, gave the news to their colleagues.  They were ridiculed, telling them liars or delusional people, but these did not escaped to the government.  They listened to them, read their documents, watch their drawings, and made a decision.  They would wait for the perfect time to reveal this to society, believing that they were not ready.  This lasted for 40 years, once the Bill of Rights was passed, they decided that it was time to reveal them, and they were more than happy for it.

A few disagree with them, mostly religious people, but most of them were more than happy for them to live with them.  They did not knew how to call them, if they should say monster or lamia, or harpy, or mermaid, it was all to confusing.  So it was decided to call them, the Inter-species, since they were both human and animal combined.  The blending into the human society was not as hard as some believed, especially after the Bill of Rights was passed.  They are everywhere now, from cities, to towns, to neighborhoods.  They have made their families, some with their fellow inter-species, others with humans.  Some where against the idea of a human and inter-specie making a family, because they were of different species and it may only produce inter-species, but this was proven wrong.  There's a 50% chance that the offspring would be human or inter-specie, because the DNA of the inter-specie was part human.  Humans would also see them in whatever they would do, they were in jobs, they were in schools, they were in homes, they were even in sports.  Unfortunately, humans and inter-species could not participate together, due to the inter-species having an unfair advantage over the humans, so they decided to make them separate.  They were still part of the humans sport organizations, but others had to be developed.  The humans have a voice in political matters as the inter-species, some of the inter-species were actually mayors, even presidents.

The year is 2013 and both the humans and inter-species have lived in relative peace and harmony.  As much as it is possible, there are still fights and crimes, riches and poverty, but all of this would have existed even without the inter-species in the world.  The inter-species have blended so well, that for the humans is like looking anybody else.  It could be said that, the world was never the same, yet it feels as if it is.

~~Prologue: The Rise and Fall.
 
We see a girl, a very peculiar girl.  Why is she so peculiar?  She's a Lamia, one of the races of the Inter-species.  We see her with her family, her human father Rick Anderson and her Lamia mother Laila Anderson.  Her father was an average man, not too tall not too small, but his hair was completely black and of fair skin.  Her mother was a Lamia with brown hair and scales, but her eyes were as blue as the sea and her skin was light.  Their daughter was born with these qualities, hair and scales as black as night and her eyes as blue and deep as the sea with her fair white skin.  The tail of a Lamia was the size of an average person, increasing their height by the double, if they could actually stand on the tip of their tails.  Her mother decided to name her Lea, because she believed it was a beautiful name, and her husband agreed with her.  She loved her family dearly, that should be expected, since she was shown nothing but love and care throughout her childhood.  Her parents weren't rich, they lived in a poor neighborhood in California, but they were decent people that didn't get into any problem.  They lived in a small apartment with two bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom and a kitchen, just the essential with their personal belongings.  This changed when she was in elementary school at the young age of 9.
 
Instead of playing with dolls, playing house or talking about singers or models, she started to show interest in sports, like soccer, football, baseball, and so on.  Show interest in action movies and video games.  Her interest in clothing also changed, she started to dislike what she considered “girly” clothes.  Instead, she wanted something more practical, for example: pants, t-shirts, sports hats, of course certain items had to be made for inter-species people, especially since she had a tail instead of legs.  There were small things, which one would think that it would go away in time as she grew older, but what really grab their attention was the fact that she paid more attention to girls instead of boys, and not as simple friends.  Her mother was especially worried about it, since Lamias were a race of only female, so they considered marrying a man very important.  This feeling has been changing over time, but some still hold to this idea.  Of course, they though that she would change, because she was young and there were still time for her to get bored of it all.  Unfortunately, this did not passed by for some of her classmates.  Some started to call her weird because she was acting like a boy, others would call her a freak because she was interested in girls and not in boys.  Some would go as far as start bullying her, throwing her stuff and pushing her.  They wouldn't go too far with her, since she could use her tail to trap them or strike them with it, so they did most of this behind her back.  Lea talked to her teachers about it, but it didn't seem to do much effect on them, they simply tried to put more caution in their actions so they aren't caught.  When that didn't worked, she talked to her parents about it.
“Mom, Dad I got to tell you something” Says Lea as she approaches her parents in their living room.  They were both in bed, close to each other.
“What is it sweetie?” Laila puts down her book, giving her full attention to Lea.  She could clearly see that Lea was distressed.
“I don't want to go to school.” This caught the attention of Rick; he was watching a game on the television.
“Why? Did something happen?” Worry was evident in his voice.
“There are some kids in school that are bothering me.  They call me names like “freak”; “weirdo” and they push me too.”
“Have you told your teachers about this?”
“I did, but they still keep doing those mean things to me and I don't know what to do.”
They had an idea why this was happening and more than expected this happening to her.  They simply did not know how they could tell her that maybe is because of the things she does and the way she dresses.  Laila was the first to tell her about it, since Rick was thinking of a way to say it.
“Well, maybe they don't like the things that you do.”
“What things?”
“You know, playing sports, talking about video games, stuff like that.”
“But I like doing those things, I see other kids do that.”
“But those are boys’ things, not girl things.  You should be playing with dolls and the like.”
“Those things are boring, I don't like that.” Her parents could see in Lea’s face that she considered it something awful.
“You’re a girl sweetie; those are things that you should like.”
Instead of trying to help their own daughter, which they want to, it seems to have turned more into a scolding and argument without any one realizing it.
“I don't understand why I have to do things that I don't like just because they don't like it?” After hearing that question, her father started to realize that something is about to start if no one stops this conversation.
“Honey, maybe we should leave this conversation for another time.” Laila was not in the same page.
“We shouldn't wait any longer, things could only get worse and it might be too late by then.”
“Why are you blaming me for it?  I never did anything to them, they started first.” says Lea as her eyes start to water up, because for her it seems unfair that they are saying this as if it was her fault that they are bullying her.
“Is not what you're doing, is the way you act.” Rick was trying to avoid an argument, without realizing, that he was getting into it.
“What do you mean?” Asks Lea, as far as she knew, she's just being her and nothing else.
“You act like a boy, that's simply not something a girl should be doing.” Answers Laila.
“But I'm not acting, I'm just been me, nothing else.  Don't you love me?” Tears were flowing down Lea’s cheeks.
“Of course we love you; this is just a phase that you're going through, not who you are.  You're too young to know these things.” Ricks’ response made it sound as if he was blowing it off.
“You're lying, you just saying that, if you love me, then you wouldn't be saying it was my fault that this is happening to me, you wouldn't be telling me to do something I don't want to do.  You wouldn't be telling me to change who I am.”
“Lea, don't call you parents liars, show some respect.” Laila says, not liking how their daughter was talking to them.
“But–”
“Listen to your mother Lea, now go to your room and tomorrow morning we are going to your school and talk with your teachers about those kids bothering you, and that's final.” With that, Rick put an end to the argument, hoping to have some peace for the rest of the day.  This was final for Lea; she just could not understand why they would say such a thing, why they would blame her for it, why they would want her to change.  With that, Lea started going back to her room, but not before she left something that would hurt them more than anything.
“I hate you!!” Screamed Lea to her parents, and went sliding to her room as quickly as her tail could take her and slamming the door as hard as she could.
Her parents were in shock, listening to their own daughter scream those words to them.  They believe it was the right thing to do; they wanted her to stop acting like a boy and more like she was supposed to.  Yet, they could not shake the sadness that was growing inside of them.  This was just the beginning, of how they lost their daughter slowly but surely.
 
After that, they went to Lea's school and talked to the teachers about the problems that their daughter was having in school.  Lea didn't care if they told them anything or not, she didn't believe that they were trying to help her, she believed that they blame her for it.  Days passed and everything seemed the same to Rick and Laila, but they knew it wasn't the case.  Lea started to close off from them more and more, she didn't smiled the way she used to do when she was younger, she didn't seem to feel happy anymore.  One day in school, the kids that were bullying her seemed to have come to a decision to simply ambush her.  It was a group of 3 human boys who decided that it would be fun to attack a Lamia, which they though would make them famous in school.  They come up with the idea to grab her tail, which is mostly the only dangerous thing about them.  When Lea was alone in the corner of the playground, they come out of nowhere and 2 of them grabbed her tail, while their other friend started approaching her from the front.  He started to taunt her and push her around, Lea tried to defend herself, but her tail was hold in place.  Without her tail, she decided to use the only other weapon that she had: her fists.  All the time that she spends playing in sports, she seems to have grown a strong arm, because Lea simply knocked him easily with a straight punch to the face.  With that, the other 2 decided to simply leave their friend behind and ran away.  This came to the attention of the teacher later on, when she found out about Lea knocking down a student, and called her parents.  Her parents had a talk with her about it, but she didn't care anymore, she knew they weren't with her anymore and this kept going on and on.  The other kids in the school were afraid of her after that, which it didn't bother her anyway, she just decided to consider everyone her enemy and prefer to be left alone.
 
This kept all the way to high school, she was now 14 years old, second year in high school, and she hasn't change one bit.  This was worrying her parents, because they though that it would go away, but they are starting to realize that, it may not be the case anymore.  Either way, they always kept the hope that it would change one day.  She still looked kind of boyish, except she left her hair grown all the way to back-length.  She's been getting into fights back in elementary school, with kids trying to look cool by fighting a Lamia, but this time seemed to be more frequent, for the same reason as before.  The difference is that this also included other Inter-species, like Centaurs, Harpies and many others.  Centaurs were half-human, half-horse, making them taller than a normal human.  They are powerful beings, able to lift a normal person with a single arm, but a big and strong body like that, tends to need large amounts of food.  They also produce lots of heat for a normal being, so they prefer places that are cold.  In legend, they were considered to be wise teachers in hunting and combat, but they were also considered barbarians that should be killed.  Some of these stories have exaggerated, since they were pretty normal beings, some good in nature, others more evil and corrupt.  The male Centaur was left alone, but their females were another story.  The female Centaur was believed to be incredibly beautiful, making many nobles wanting to have one as either their trophy or slave.  Over time, these desires disappeared, and are now normal citizens.  Unfortunately for Lea, she had to deal with them, and talking was never a choice.  Her attackers didn't seem to learn from the others anyways, they still believe that the most dangerous thing was her tail, which is true, but now Lea would also use her fists.  She could pretty much knock anyone down with a single punch.  She had no friends, didn't need any nor wanted any friends and everyone knew that she was a lesbian, which Lea didn't care if they knew or not.  Until she met Ciara, a pretty white human blonde with gray eyes and a good pair of D-cups.  They were at lunch, Lea was eating alone in a bench as far away from the others as possible, but Ciara was looking right at her.  Ciara was interested in her because of her reputation as one of the toughest student in the whole school, and she wanted to get some of that fame for her.  She wasn't a lesbian to be precise, but it didn't matter as long as she got what she wanted.  That day, she decided to wear the most provocative dress she could get.  A red seamless tank, which show a well amount of cleavage, with a small black jacket on top, a black aphrodite denim short and small black boots.  She also put some earrings and red lipstick, to help her look even sexier.  Now that she was prepared, she walked straight to Lea, and sat on the table with her legs crossed, to the right of Lea.
“Well, hello there.” Ciara talks to her with the most seductive voice she could use, especially since she knew she was quite the good look.
“Hey.”  Lea was wearing a white t-shirt with a light blue shirt over it and black pants.  She was doing nothing more than eating her lunch, a small cheeseburger with a soda and some fries, but now there was someone ruining her lunch by not leaving her alone.  She wasn't looking at her, hoping that she would get the message to leave her alone, real fast.
“What's your name?”  Ciara actually knew her name, the whole school knew about her, but Lea never met her in person.
“Depends on who wants to know.”  Lea was hoping that was the line to say “go away”.
“Someone that is very interested in a tough girl like you.” Ciara has heard that Lea was a loner, pretty much keeping anyone far away from her, but she was expecting that.  The moment Lea laid eyes on her, she would get her, and it’s just a matter of time.  Lea was getting tired of whatever this girl was doing, so she started to turn to her right.
“Listen, can you just–” The words died in her mouth the moments she laid eyes on her, on her breasts to be precise.  Lea has seen her fair share of beautiful girls, but these one was on the top of her list, and she was talking to her.  Lea let go of the french fry she was about to eat without noticing.
“Like the view?” Ciara was quite glad that she got a nice reaction from “the toughest student in the whole school”.
“Very...I mean...they’re good, but I've seen better.”  Lea says, trying to sound cool.  Lea doesn't want to lose her image as tough, which tended to lead to less fights in school and on the way home.
“I'm sure you have, after all, what girl can resist such a strong woman like yourself?” Ciara knew Lea was just acting tough, she could see her cheeks turning to a slight red, showing the effect that she had over Lea.
“One who hasn't seen these muscles?” With that said Lea pulled her right sleeve and flexed her arm, revealing that all those years of playing sports and fighting have giving her quite the muscles.  Ciara did not waste such an opportunity like this and started to examine the arm.  She could see the strength behind those arms.
“Now that's quite the arm, can I touch it?” Ciara was actually surprised to see it, Lea truly lives to the reputation of “the strongest in the school”, and it seems that she was about to get what she wanted.
“Go ahead.” With that, Ciara grabbed her arm and started to examine it.  She could feel the tough muscles of her arm, but the skin felt smooth, which is surprising because Lea doesn't care about cosmetics.
“Such muscles, I wonder if it’s the same with your abs?” Ciara was been careful not to upset Lea, but she was actually curious as well.  Ciara is having a hard time to believe that Lea was going to fall right into her hands.
“Why don't you find out for yourself?” Lea asks in a smooth voice, since she was enjoying the exploration, Ciara's hands felt soft and were touching her in a nice way.  With that said, Lea lifted her shirt, just enough for her abdomen to show.
“I would like that.” Ciara responds with a sexy voice and gets closer to Lea.  Ciara starts exploring her abs, which they didn't disappoint either.  Packs were already forming, but now that Ciara took a good look, Lea's chest was pretty close to B-cups, but they were nicely shaped.  Lea was the good image of strength and beauty, and it was all going to be for Ciara very soon, she could feel it.  Ciara would have continued, but the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.  Both of them groaned in annoyance, Ciara because she could no finish her business and Lea because it had to end so quickly for her.  Lea didn't even finish her lunch, but that seems to be the least of her worries at the moments.  “Maybe we can continue this some other time?” Asks Lea, who was obviously flirting, and her tail coils around Ciara's waist and pulls her close to her body.  Then, Ciara puts her arms around her neck and says:
“Of course.” Ciara knows that she has gotten Lea in her grasp.
 
This marked the beginning of their relationship, and all of the school knew about it very shortly.  Everyone knew that Ciara was with Lea, but most of them knew Ciara was with her mostly for interest.  The only reason Ciara would be with Lea is because of her reputation, or infamy depending on who's answering, and nothing else.  Lea's parents never find out about it, simply because Lea did not talk to them as much as they wanted, and she kept this a secret for a whole year.  Ciara and Lea would go on dates every once in a while, going to eat somewhere and walking around.  Not all of them were as peaceful as they wanted, some students from the school would pick a fight with Lea, and Lea was not the type to run away.  Every single time, Lea would come out on top, no matter how many they brought with them.  Unfortunately, one of those days, Rick was on his way home when he saw Lea with Ciara.  Rick could see that they weren't simply friends, since they were holding hands and very close to each other.  Rick didn't call for her; instead he went back to the house and told Laila all about what he saw.  They decided to talk to their daughter about it, since their fears were coming true, Lea started to date other girls instead of a boy.  When Lea got back home, her parents were waiting for her to start their conversation.
“Lea, we need to talk.” Says Rick, with a voice that it means something serious is going on.
“Okay, what is it?” Asks Lea, wondering what's with the serious attitude.
“Let's talk in the living room.” With that, Rick and Lea went to the living room, which it wasn't that big.  They had an old TV in there and a large sofa with a lamp on its right side.  Lea saw her mother already sitting on the sofa and Laila had the same serious face like Rick.
“Sit down sweetie.” Say Laila, patting the middle of the sofa, indicating where to sit.  Lea took a seat and Rick sat on the other side of the sofa.  Once they were all sitting down, the conversation started, and they didn't beat around the bush.
“Lea, your father saw you with someone on the streets, who is she?”  Asks Laila, hoping that Lea would not say what she did not want to hear.
“A friend from school.”  Lea was lying, because she knows that if she told the truth, it would go badly.
“Is that so?  How come you never told us about her?”  Rick asks, knowing that it was a lie.  After all, he saw them together in the streets.
“It never came up.”  Lea knew it was a bad excuse, but it was the best she could come up with.
“Lea, tell the truth, I saw you two together and it wasn't just as friends.”
“If you saw already, then why are you asking?” Lea’s parents didn’t like the sound of defiance in her voice.
“Just tell the truth Lea, who was she?” Laila did not like her daughter's attitude with them.  Laila was expecting it, since it's been the same for years, but she still didn't like it.
“Okay, fine, she's my girlfriend, happy now?” Answers Lea, already getting tired of this and knowing where it was going.
“Lea, that's no way to talk to your parents, and what are you doing with a girl?  You should be dating boys, not girl, what's going on with you?”  Laila was about to panic, realizing that her worst fear was happening.  Their daughter was actually a lesbian.
“There's nothing wrong with me, this is exactly why I didn't told you anything about it, because I knew that you would react this way.”  Lea decided to get up from the sofa, feeling like they were surrounding her to attack her from every direction.
“This is simply something that you shouldn't be doing Lea, is just not right.”
“Why is it not right, mom?  What's so wrong about it?  Why can't you accept that this is who I am?” The anger could be heard in Lea's voice.  The conversation was already turning into an argument quickly, and not going the way the couple wanted.
“Because not everyone would accept that, people are going to attack you because of it.” Worry could be heard in Laila’s voice.  After all, she just wanted to keep her daughter safe.
“Why do I have to change just because some people don't like the way I am?  Why should I even care?  That's their problem, not mine.”
“Because that's how society is Lea, there's a certain way that you must act in it.”
“Then who would I be, mom?  How could I live in a place that doesn't let me be who I am?”
“What about children, Lea?  Two girls can't make a family, have you thought about that?” Laila was getting frustrated; she didn't know how to get her daughter to understand her reasoning.
“Yes we could, mom.  There are other ways to make one, like adoption and the sorts.” Lea was just getting angrier as the conversation kept going.  Lea didn't know why they didn't want to let it go?  Why was it so hard for them to understand? “Why are you so worried about it anyways?”
“We just want you to be happy Lea, nothing else.” Rick was trying to calm the both of them, since he noticed that it was getting out of control.
“Then why don't you just leave me alone and just accept me for who I am?”
“Because you're acting like a dyke trying be a man, Lea!” Laila would have kept going, but she realized what she said in frustration and panic.  Lea heard it, from her own mother, so she did the only thing that a person at that age would do in a moment like this: She slides out of the apartment.
“Lea, wait!” Rick tried to catch her, but she was faster than him.  Laila could only stand in the living, with horror on her face, realizing that she might have driven her daughter away from her.
“What have I done?” That was the only thing she could say at the moment, and no one could answer for her.
 
Lea was sliding as fast and far as her tail could take her.  Lea wasn't going anywhere in particular, she simply did not wanted to be near her parents.  Without realizing it, Lea reached the commercial area of the city.  Lea was fighting not to cry on the streets, and she was thankful that she was good at it, or it would be humiliating to cry on the streets.  Lea slides by restaurants, pawn shops, cafes, all sorts of stores in the area.  She saw, not only humans, but also Centaurs walking around, Harpies flying or walking, Arachnes were actually walking on the buildings.  She figured that, she would go back, since she had nowhere else to go.  Lea just needed a moment alone to calm down, go back to her room, and that's it.  She didn't even felt that place as her home, her parents didn't wanted to accept her for who she was, they wanted to turn her in whatever they wanted and she just did not felt like letting them.  For Lea, she didn't felt anything wrong with her, maybe other Lamias were with their boyfriends and such, but she just couldn't do that.  She simply didn't felt that kind of interest in them, girls were another matter altogether.  While sliding around the area, Lea didn't realize that certain people were following her around.  They were some high school students that wanted to take her down, because she defeated some of their friends, but they were waiting for the perfect moment to attack.  The moment came when Lea decided to walk through an alley, thinking that maybe a change of view would help and it was quicker through the alley.  When Lea slides in, they appeared behind her, and their footsteps were heard in the narrow space.  Lea quickly turned around and realized there were four of them; one of them was actually a Centaur.
“Are you Lea Anderson?” Asks the Centaur, Lea realized that he might be the leader of the group.
“Depends on who's asking.” Lea was not in any mood to deal with people that she considered idiots, she considered them idiots for the simple fact that they are trying to start a fight with her.
“Someone that got his friends beat up by some dyke bitch.”  Lea had her fair share of people like him, always coming from left and right with the same reason, they want revenge for their stupid friends who got the bright idea to fight her for no reason.
“I'm not in the mood to talk, why don't you just come over here and we finish this, horse shit.”  Lea was ready and she was actually thankful for it, she needed to let off some steam.  The Centaur knew of her reputation, but that insult gets to him and decided to charge at her.
 
On the other side of the block, two people were walking on the side walk.  One of them was a Mexican human in his 60's with short black hair; there were signs of getting some white hair, brown skin and dark brown eyes.  The other person was a male Werewolf with dark blond hair, the same color as his pointy ears and tail, green eyes and fair white skin color.  He was on his 40's, but he seemed to still have some life in him.
 
They story of the Werewolves, is that they were cursed humans who would turn into werewolves in the full moon.  The truth was that, they already had the ears, the tail, the fangs and the eyes.  They would only come at night, because in ancient times, they were prosecuted.  It was mere coincidence that a passerby saw a werewolf in the full moon, and so, the story was born.  Now in days, they were looked as another citizen of a nation.
 
They were going back to their office after finishing some business.
“We have to keep looking for more people to join the gym, Coach.  The new ones may have helped, but it's not enough if we want to get better equipment for the gym.” Says the Werewolf in a serious tone, he was wearing a business suit.
“I understand your concern, Alfred, but it's hard to find people to join a sport that is actually brutal.  They show promise, but they haven't built up enough recognition to fight in higher level matches.” The coach answers with a Mexican accent.  He was wearing a business suit too.  When the coach finished answering, they started hearing clopping sounds on the alley to their right.  They turn just in time to see a Lamia dodging a stomp from a Centaur, quickly raising herself off the ground with her tail and launching a right uppercut straight to the chin of the Centaur.  It connected so well, that they could hear it all the way to the end of the alley, but what surprised them the most is that the Centaur actually lifted his front hooves from the ground.  Then, he started to fall to his right side, which is unbelievable in itself.  They both knew that a Centaur was actually very strong and heavy, but the Lamia was actually strong enough to lift him off and to knock him out with a single punch.  The Lamia was actually Lea, who for her, it wasn't such a big deal about it.  She's been fighting for years and this was no difference for her.  Alfred and the coach were frozen in their places, uncertain if what they saw was true or not.
“Coach, is this actually true?  Did she just knockdown a Centaur with a single punch?” Alfred didn't know if the coach heard or not, he was still baffled by the event.  The coach was not paying attention; he was just watching the Lamia that defeated the Centaur.
“That kind of strength is the kind that a champion actually has.  If what I'm thinking is true, then she has the strength to become a world champion.  I just got to put her in the ring.”  The problem was to actually talk to her and convince her to join his gym.  Then he saw Lea approach the fallen Centaur, the coach knew exactly what Lea was going to do, she was going to simply keep punching him.  The coach started walking quickly to her and grabbed her shoulder just in time to stop her launching another punch to an unconscious Centaur.  “Hold it right there, chica.  If you keep punching him, you might just kill him.” Lea didn't hear him get close to her, since the Centaur's friends were running away from the scene, their feet echoing in the alley.
“What do you want, old man?  You better make it quick, am not in the mood right now to deal with you.” Lea says with edge in her voice, as if she was ready to attack him, and pulls her shoulder free from his grip, which makes her let go of the Centaur, falling limply to the ground.  The coach quickly started grabbing her arms, rubbing the muscles with his thumbs, then the abdomen.  Lea slides out of his reach quickly and screams in anger.  “What the fuck are you doing!?”
“Sorry about that, I was doing a little checkup.” The coach discovered that Lea has well developed muscles in her.  “No wonder she could take out that Centaur, she simply had the muscles for it.  She might be the answer to our problems.”
“For what?  Who are you anyways?” Asks Lea, wondering what the old man wanted from her.
“My name is Alonso Rodriguez, I'm a boxing coach at my boxing gym and this is Alfred, the manager.  You have quite the muscles, chica.  You could do quite well as a professional boxer.” Alonso wasn't known for been subtle, never been a person who liked beating around the bush.
“Boxing?  Never seen a match and not interested in getting into it.  By the way, my name is not “chica”, is Lea.”
“I can tell you this Lea, with enough training and determination, you could reach world fame, you could become rich, and you could become someone.  I can see it; all you have to do is come with me to the gym.” Alonso says in a calm tone, but he was actually desperate, people like Lea are difficult to find and she just happened to be nearby.  When Lea heard fame and money, she actually started thinking about it.  Lea was barely making it through high school and if she can get enough money, she could leave her parents forever and get Ciara to live with her.  Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of distant sirens; Lea figured someone might have seen the fight and decided to call the police.
“All right, I'm in; I have nothing better to do anyways.”
“Follow me then, the gym isn't that far from here.” Alonso didn't show it, but he was actually happy to know that he got the attention of a potential champion.
 
So they left to the gym, and as Alonso said, it wasn't very far from the alley.  It was an average looking gym, a two story building with the sign saying “Alonso's Gym”, very simple and short.  The building itself wasn't too big, but it wasn't small either.  What did they use the second floor for?  Lea doesn't know and doesn't care either.  On the inside the walls were painted white, with pictures hanging on the wall of boxers, some with belts on them.  They had what a normal boxing gym would have, punching bags on the left, heavy bags on the right corner, a ring in the middle, helmets, etc., but they looked old and pretty much used.  There were people of different races and species in there, there were other Lamias like Lea, male and female humans, Centaurs, Arachnes, many different kinds.  Lea personally didn't care much, but then some of the other people started looking at her, which she didn't like much.
“Hey coach, is that a new member?” Says one of the Lamias in there, she was an African-American woman with dark brown hair in a stacked-bob hairstyle, very dark brown skin and violet eyes.  She would stand at 5ft and 7in in human height.  She was wearing a gym uniform with the name of the gym on the back and front.
“It's not final yet, but she's considering giving it a try.”
“You should really join; it's actually fun in here.  Oh yeah, I haven't introduced myself.” The Lamia puts a sheepish smile as she notices her mistake.  “My name is Salena Smith.” Says Salena with a smile and she extends her hand for a handshake.
“Lea.” Lea answers with a flat tone of voice, she simply wasn’t interested in making friends.  Lea doesn't even shake her hand, but that doesn't seem to put down her cheerfulness.
“That's rude from your part, Lea.” Lea finds the source of the voice, who was a Lamia that was working on a punching bag.  She's a Mexican-American woman who had light brown hair picked up in a bun, but Lea could see some curls in her hair, green eyes and brown skin complexion.  She was actually a little small, standing around 5ft and 4in in human height, wearing the same uniform.
“It's alright Alinda, maybe she's just shy.” Salena tries to calm down the little Lamia.  “Lea, this is Alinda.  Alinda, this is Lea.”  Lea and Alinda don't seem to care, since they simply stared at each other.
“A pleasure.” Alinda responds with a sarcastic tone.  Lea didn't answer.  In a small moment, a tall Lamia enters inside the gym and sees the group.
“What's going on, lads?” It was easy to hear the Irish accent on the Lamias’ voice.  Everyone turn to her and Salena approaches her.
“Good timing, Lea this is Hilda, Hilda this is Lea.” Salena introduces Lea, still with that cheerfulness.  Lea wonders if it ever stops or if she's in some kind of drug.  Hilda was an Irish-American woman, who had red, short spiky hair in a bobbed style, ice-blue eyes with a fair white complexion.  She would stand at 6ft in human height, taller than the rest of them, also with the same uniform.
“Pleasure to meet ya, lass.” Says Hilda with a smile, but Lea doesn't respond.  “Oh, seems we have a shy one.” With that said, she starts to pat Lea's back quite hard, keeping that smile on her face.  “No problem, she might loosen up once she gets to know us.”
“All right you three, time for chit-chat is over, get back to training.”  They all hear someone in the gym.  They turn to see a Minotaur with shave hair in his head, horns at least 2 ft. each, brown eyes and brown fur.  He easily stands at 6ft and he was wearing a gym uniform.  He had the actual face of a bull, with hooves instead of legs.  “You got matches coming up and you need to be ready for them.”
“Sorry about that Fergus.”  Salena did not sound reprimanded at the least, turning to return to her workout.  “Let's talk more some another time.” Alonso and Alfred were on the side the whole time, and Alfred didn't like the attitude of Lea.
“Coach, are you sure we should let her join?  She might cause some problems here.”  Worry could be heard in Alfred's voice.
“Don't worry Alfred, she might be hard to handle, but maybe with enough time, she might get friendlier.  She might have some problems in her life that caused this attitude.” Alonso tries to assure his manager.
“I hope you're right coach.”
 
This is how Lea's career as a boxer started and how she met the other boxers in the gym.  Lea returned home later on, she didn't talk to her parents, even though they wanted her to say something.  She simply arrived and went straight to her room.  Lea told Ciara about the boxing gym and that she was going to stay there.  Ciara was pleased with the news and pretty much supported the idea, especially if Lea became famous enough to get rich.  Lea didn't want to tell her parents, so she had to pay for the membership on her own.  Fortunately, she had a small job that got her just enough to pay the membership.  Lea debuted at the age of 16 and started to climb up the ladder quickly, with all her victories been a knockout.  She was easily making herself known and started winning a large amount of money.  She was well known to have tremendous punching power and endurance.  Her relationship with Ciara was also well known in the media, they were pretty much close to each other and Ciara was always in one of her matches.  At the age of 18, she not only finished high school, which she barely did, but she also became the WBA Middleweight Champion.  What no one expected is that this marked the beginning of the end for Lea as a boxer.  After Lea became the champion, she eventually left her parents and never looked back, taking Ciara along with her.  She bought quite a house, 2 stories with 4 bedrooms, a large living room, kitchen, 2 bathrooms, front yard and a garage in her home state of California.  She even got 2 cars, one for herself and one for Ciara, but what was considered the biggest waste, was the parties that she threw in her house.  It was actually known in the news, so Alonso knew about it and tried to have a talk with her.  They were at the gym, in Alonso's office.
“Lea, what the hell is going on with you?  Just because you're the champion doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want.” Alonso was furious about the publicity that she was getting because of her foolishness.
“Listen old man, you're not the boss of me.  After all, I'm the one who's fighting in the ring, not you.” Lea says nonchalantly.  Over the years, she never seemed to get close to anyone, she mostly focused on herself and that was it for her.
“Don't get cocky with me Lea, I knew that you would become a champion, I knew you would succeed.  Hell, I was glad of what you have accomplished, but I never expected you to become this kind of person.”
“Listen old man, I really don't give a fuck about you, and I really don't have to listen to you.” Lea says as she starts to rise from her seat.
“Are you leaving the gym?  You think anyone would work with you, knowing that you simply throw parties and waste your time with your girl, instead of training?” Alonso can't imagine anyone smart enough to hire someone like her.
“Listen, I can do anything, because I'm the champion.  Consider this the end of our partnership old man.  Good luck, you're going to need it.” With that, Lea slides out of the office and laughs.  Once out of the office, Lea realized that everyone in the gym was staring at her, they didn't hear the entire conversation, but they had an idea on what happened.  Lea didn't care; she simply kept sliding on her way out.  She saw the faces of the first members that she met; Salena had a sad expression on her face.  Salena thought that they could become friends after a while, but that never happened.  Alinda had a frown on her face, she never liked Lea and she was loyal to the coach, so she was furious of the way she talked to him.  Hilda actually had a neutral face, which was hard for Lea to read her thoughts.  Both way, they weren’t her friends and she was done with them.  News traveled fast of Lea leaving Alonso's gym, and it reached the ears of someone else.  A week later, Lea received a visit to her house and she answers a knock on the door.  Outside there was a human on his early 20's with short-straight auburn hair, black eyes and with a white skin complexion.  He stood at 5ft and 11in, and he was wearing a business suit.
“Hello Ms. Anderson, can I have a moment of your time?” The stranger asks with a professional tone.
“Depends, what do you want?” Lea was obviously suspicious of him.
“My name is Tony Moore, from Moore's Gym.  I came here to propose a business deal with you, may I come in?”
“Sure.”  Lea lets Tony into the living room.  When they sit, Ciara enters the room as well.
“Hey baby, have you seen my– Oh, who is he?” Ciara has never seen this stranger, so she was checking him.  Trying to see if he was trouble or not.  Ciara hasn't changed much throughout the years.  She still had her good looks, but now wears more expensive dresses than before.  Tony was enjoying her looks.
“My name is Tony Moore and I am here to propose an offer to Ms. Anderson.”
“I'm listening.” Lea actually had plans for today and she wanted to get this over with.
“I have heard that you stopped working with Alonso Rodriguez, I can understand why, he looked the obnoxious type.  So I was wondering if, maybe, you would be interested in working for my gym.”
“How much do you charge?” Quickly asks Lea, not wanting to spend too much of her money on someone who would get on her nerves.
“Whatever Mr. Rodriguez charged you, I would make it even cheaper, and the advantage on working with me, is that I wouldn't be bothering you with useless training that your previous coach made you go through.  What do you say?” Lea actually needed to find another gym quickly, especially since she doesn't want to do all the paperwork to schedule matches with her.  Lea simply wanted to have some fun, and didn't really care about the details.
“You got yourself a deal.” Lea was happy to have a manager that wouldn't bother her much.
“Glad to be doing business with you.” Says Tony with a smile on his face, and they seal the deal with a handshake.
 
This was the man that would lead Lea to her ruin, along with Ciara.  Tony never told her what time to train; he simply said that he would call her when necessary.  This was good for Lea, since she wanted to enjoy her fame and considered unnecessary to train, because she considered herself invincible.  The next month, she threw another one of her parties, but this time it was at a bar in the city.  Lea got so drunk in there, that the party started to get rowdy and started to pick fights with other customers.  The police came to put a stop to it, and the news quickly got there in time to see Lea been arrested.  When they got to her, they started to ask questions quickly.
“Ms. Anderson, what do you think the WBA would think of this event?  Do you have any comments?” Says a reporter and puts her microphone close to Lea.
“I don't give a shit what those motherfuckers think about this.  I am the champion after all, I can do this kind of shit, am I right?” Lea was obviously drunk and was not thinking clearly.  Lea paid for bail that night, but it wasn't going to solve everything.  The WBA heard the news about it and didn't let it go this time.  Lea received a letter from the WBA, with the news that she has been suspended for a whole year, without the chance to appeal for it and lost the WBA Middleweight Championship belt.  This was a problem for Lea, without matches, there was no money and without money, she couldn't pay for anything.  Lea quickly realized that it was a problem, and so did Ciara.  The next day, Tony arrived at the house and rings the bell.  The one, who answered this time, was Ciara.
“Ah, hello there, is Ms. Anderson home?” Lea was actually the least of his problems at the moment.
“She went outside for a while, can I help you?” Ciara asks, still suspicious of him, while blocking the door.
“Actually, I would like to discuss something with you.” This brought the attention of Ciara.
“About what?”
“About Lea's suspension and what we could do about it.” Ciara had the feeling that it was something more than that, and let him in.  They both seat in the living room and Tony started talking.  “Let's just jump to the point; Lea's career looks bad as it is.  I'm not confident that the WBA would lift the suspension any time soon, so at this rate, she might sink.” Ciara could see that Tony was serious.
“Aren't you a coach or something?  You have a gym; you should know this kind of things.”
“Actually, I have no such thing.  I just made it up to get Lea to agree to it.”
“Then, what are you?” Ciara was wondering if Tony was going to be problems or not.
“I am simply a man looking for the opportunity to make big money, and that opportunity is showing up.  Now, I have a proposition for you.” This got Ciara's curiosity.
“And that is?”
“You are very close to Ms. Anderson, so I am sure that you have access to her bank accounts and such, correct?” Ciara quickly realized what Tony was getting to.
“You're actually asking me to steal from Lea, aren't you?” Surprisingly, Ciara wasn't shocked about it, she answered with a calm tone in her voice.
“Let's face it, she's going down really fast and I think it's time to abandon ship.  What do you say?” This was a bet for Tony, he could get rich if Ciara agreed to help him, but he could get in real trouble if she refused.  Ciara didn't have much to think about, Ciara never hated Lea, but she didn't like her either.  For her Lea was just a tool that she wanted to get her hands on to become famous and now rich.  Now that things are starting to fall apart for Lea, Ciara decided that it is time to move on.
“All right.”
 
The next day, Ciara left to pick up Tony and headed straight to the bank.  Once there, Ciara ordered to close all the accounts that Lea had and took the money.  It was easy because it was a joint account, Lea wanted to give whatever Ciara wanted, because she could and because she was with her.  After that, they decided to split it evenly and each would go their separate ways.  By the time Lea got home, she noticed that Ciara's belongings are gone, her clothing, her jewelry, everything.  Lea quickly realized that she left because of her suspension and the loss of her championship belt.  Then, it hit her quickly, what about her bank account?  Lea quickly called the bank to ask about her balance, just to find out that her accounts are closed.  This put her in a dangerous situation, Lea never thought of opening a savings account, she didn't considered it necessary to open one.  Now she's starting to regret it, and without money to pay her house and the rest of her possessions, she decided to call bankrupt.  News about the event quickly spread out throughout the nation, even in her hometown everyone knew about it.  With this, no gym would hire her to work with them, due to her criminal record and public display.  The shame and humiliation put her in a depression; Lea couldn't even show her face in public, so she decided to change her look.  Lea cut her hair to neck-length and started to disguise herself, putting on some jeans, a blue t-shirt and a black sweater with a hood.  After that, no one knew where Lea went and disappeared for 2 years.  Some believed that she committed suicide because of her loss of money and depression, others believed that she left the country to never return, many ideas were coming out.  Eventually, Lea became old news and the people started forget about her completely.  After all, there are better things to talk about than a fallen champion.

~~Important message.

For those that have been following my story, or are just discovering my story.  Let me inform you that my story has been published on Smashwords.  Thank you for your support and for following my story.  I'll leave some links to the page on this chapter.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/416419

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IVCV75G

P.S. Copy and paste the links in your search bar.  I don't know why they don't link to the websites.