Attack Of New Zaibach Part 7: The Truth.
By Rathorc Lemenger!!
(Authors note 1: Please don't sue me for any and all copyrighted characters. All other characters that are not in the original story line belong to me.)
(Authors Note 2: This is a note to all people that this part of the Escaflowne involves a fair amount of sex. So that means that depending on where you are in the world at large, then your not aloud to read this with out parental consent.)
That night, Joseph's standing by the punch bowl with Tamera, drinking punch and water, while waiting for Merle to arrive. While they're waiting, they're talking and listening to the music that's playing through the air while paople around them are dancing, talking, and laughing.
"Daddy?" Tamera asked, taking a drink of water from her cup.
"Yes Tamera?" Joseph asked, looking down at his daughter with a small smile playing on his lips.
"What is it like to be married?" she asked, taking another drink of water.
"Well. It's one of the most wonderful things that could happen to you. But you'll understand when you get older,
Tamera." he answered, drinking some punch.
Just then, Merle comes walking over, wearing a long red dress and a smile. When she reaches the two of them,
she taps Joseph on the shoulder to get his attention.
"Hmm?" asked Joseph turning around, and he recieves a rather large, long, passionant kiss on the lips from Merle.
"Hello there, my dear husband." said Merle, smiling as she pulls away. She then bends down in front of Tamera with a gentle smile on her face. "Hello there, Tamera."
"Hi mommy." said Tamera, as she places her cup up on the table. She then runs over to Merle and throws her arms around her neck, all the while they're both laughing. Merle then stands up with Tamera in her arms.
Just then, King Max and Queen Tabitha come walking over to the new family. King Max reaches out and shakes Joseph's hand, he then gives Merle and Tamera each a hug to congradulate them. Queen Tabitha gives Joseph,
Merle, and Tamera each a hug.
"Oh Tamera. How would you like your own room for the rest of your stay here?" asked Queen Tabitha, looking down at Tamera.
"Really?" asked Tamera, sounding surprised and a look to go along with it while she glances from one to the other.
"Can I really?"
"So long as your father agree's with it." said King Max, as he and the others turn to look at Joseph.
"Can't see why not. Besides, I was hoping to have the room for both me and Merle tonight." answers Joseph,
scuffing Tamera's hair and gives Merle a quick wink.
"Joseph. Not in front of the child." said Merle, giving him a dirty look. "Save it for later."
"Your right." said Joseph, looking over at Merle laughing. "Better cover your ears, Merle."
"Thankyou daddy." cried Tamera, as she climbs down from Merle. She then runs over to Joseph and jumps into his arms, hugging him. "Your the best."
"I know that Tamera." said Joseph, smiling at his daughter. He then looks at the others as the smile gets bigger.
"Shall we go and dance now?"
"Now that is not such a bad idea." said King Max, nodding his head in agreement with a smile. He then turns to his wife. "Come, Tabitha. Let's go, dance, socialise and be merry as Joseph likes to say."
"C'mon Tamera." said Joseph, as Joseph put Tamera down, then takes her hand in his while Merle takes his arm in hers. He then makes his way to the dance floor with his two favorite women. "Let's all go and dance."
When they get to where the dancing is, the five of them start to dance and join in the fun.
***********************
Later that night, Joseph walks into his room that he's now sharing with Merle, shutting the door behind him. All of a sudden, he hears a happy sigh, which causes him look up and see's Merle standing there wearing the dress from the party.
"So Joseph." said Merle, smiling as she walks over to Joseph with a seductive smile and gives him the most passionate kiss that she ever gave him. After a full minute of kissing him, Merle breaks off the kiss and runs a finger down his chest. "How about a little fun?"
"Oh yeah." agreed Joseph, smiling as he reaches behind Merle and starts to undo her dress. "Now is about the right time to seal the marraige to each other."
Through out the night, all that can be heard is the passion of the newly-wed couple.
***************************
The next day, Joseph and Merle walk into the dinning room. As Joseph looks around, he see's bags under Van's,
Hitomi's, Allen's and Millerna's eyes. When Merle and Joseph reach the table, they catch Tamera's attention.
"Mommy. Daddy. Your here." shrieks Tamera, getting out of her chair and running over.
"Where else would we be Tamera?" asked Joseph, throwing out his arms and catches Tamera. After giving Tamera a quick hug, Joseph pretends to finally notice Hitomi and the others. "What's wrong with you four? You all look terrible."
"Of course we would be Joseph." answers Hitomi as she munches away on some bacon. "We were up all night because of the two of you."
"We have a legitimate excuse though." said Joseph, walking over to his and Merle's chairs. He then puts Tamera down and pulls out a chair out for Merle, Which she accepts with great enthuesiasm. "We're happily married."
"At least you had fun." said Van, almost nodding off to sleep. "Buy the banging that we all heard."
"I didn't hear anything." said Tamera, as she sits back down into her chair.
"Yeah, you were too busy snoring to hear a thing." said Hitomi, giving Tamera a quick wink, which causes the little girl to burst out into giggles.
"Where's King Maximillian and Queen Tabitha at?" asked Joseph, looking around the dining room. "I figured that they'd be here as well."
"They dropped by and told us to start eating once the two of you showed up." Hitomi said, as she continues eating.
"Sounds fine by me." said Joseph, sitting down and piles turkey and other meats onto his plate. After a minute,
both him and Merle start eating. "I'm famished."
A little while later, once Joseph finished eating, he stands and excuses himself, saying that he has a few things to get done.
**************************
That afternoon, while Joseph is running a systems check and fixing a couple of broken circuts under the dashboard, when he hears a slight knock on the canopy. He sits up straight and looks towards the source, only to find that Tamera is smiling and waving at him to open the cockpit. He just smiles and flips the switches on for the speakers/recievers, he then turns down the volume some.
"What can I do for you Tamera?" he asked, turning and looking back at Tamera.
"Well. Mommy told me to tell you that it's time for lunch." answered Tamera, grinning from ear to ear.
"That lunch idea sounds great to me." said Joseph, lifting the canopy up and jumping into the air. He then floats down with his arms crossed and lands on the ground. "Let's go get us some food."
"Okey daddy. Let's go." said Tamera, jumping off the ladder and walks beside Joseph, as they head back into the main building, hand in hand.
When they get to the dining room, they're greeted by various wonderful smells as well as sights. That's when Joseph finally notices that everyone is dressed in there best clothes, including Tamera. After a couple of seconds everyone turns and looks at Joseph.
"What in Zeus's name is going on here?" asked Joseph, looking around at everyone with a raised eyebrow.
"We're celebrating of course." said Merle, stepping forward and hands Joseph a cup of wine.
"Need I ask why?" Joseph asked, taking a sip of wine. "Or should I even bother?"
"It's been exactly a year and a half since you arrived and joined up with us." answered Van, coming forward and patting Joseph on the shoulder.
"It's been that long?" Joseph asked, and recives nods in return. "Doesn't feel like it."
Joseph then happens to look down and see's that he's not dressed for the occasion. He then looks at the others and excuses himself so he can go get changed.
************************
"Please remind me never to bend over so far for so long ever again." said Joseph, flopping down on the bed,
laying on his stomach and his head on the pillow.
"What's wrong Joseph?" Merle asked, walking over to the bed and sitting beside Joseph.
"My backs sore as anything." Joseph mumbled, bringing his arms up and laying his head on them.
"Take off your shirt, Joseph." said Merle, moving out of the way.
"What for?" he asked, sitting up and taking his shirt off like Merle instructed. "I'm really not in the mood for any more 'fun'"
"Your backs hurting you right? Now lay back down on your stomach."said Merle, smiling and cracking her knuckles with great enthusiasm.
"Yeah. But what's you point Merle?" asked Joseph, laying back down.
"I'm going to do to you what I used to do for lord Van." said Merle, smiling even more as she sits back down on the bed. She then puts her hands on Joseph's back and begins to massage all the kinks and sores out of the muscles, in both his back and shoulders. "How does that feel?"
"Oh man. Oh yeah. Feels wonderfully perfact." said Joseph, letting out moans as Merle keeps kneeding at his muscles.
"What were you doing Joseph?" asked Merle, after five minutes. She then brings her head down near Joseph's.
"Your body is all tensed up."
"I was fixing up some of the loose wires in the Harold." said Joseph, getting up and stretching. He then starts to get changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt in front of a mirror. "You know. Your pretty good at doing massage's,
Merle."
"You think so?" asked Merle, walking over and placing her arms around Joseph's waist and her head on his left shoulder so that they're looking at each other in the mirror.
"I know so." said Joseph, smiling. He then turns around and looks into Merle's eyes. "You know that I would never lie to you intentionally."
"Hmm. I know that you wouldn't do that." said Merle, she then gives Joseph a brief kiss on the lips and pinches his ass. She then starts to get changed for bed.
"I'll be right back Merle." said Joseph, as he finishes getting changed and walks to the door.
"Where are you off to?" she asked, without looking over in Joseph's direction.
"Gotta go check on Tamera and tuck her into bed." said Joseph, opening the door and walks out, shutting the door behind him.
Just as Joseph gets halfway to Tamera's room, he hears Tamera scream for him. From the sound of her scream, he guesses that she's either in trouble, hurt or both.
"I'm on my way Tamera. Daddies a comin'." Joseph yells as he zooms towards Tamera's room. at a high speed,
using his powers to give him the extra speed.
When he gets to her room, he finds that the door has been locked from the inside. Joseph points down at the door knob and shoots a bolt of energy from his finger. When the bolt of energy hits the edge of the door, the door explodes inwards with a loud crack and a splintering of wood.
"Tamera. Where are you?" he calls out, upon entering the room he looks around and see's Tamera's limp form laying face down in the middle of the floor, surrounded by a pool of her own blood. "Oh god no. Tamera."
Joseph quickly runs over and carefully lifts Tamera's head up and places it on his lap. He then checks her over and finds three large stab wounds in her small chest from what appears to be a double bladed knife.
"What's going on? What's happening??" asks Hitomi, as her and Van rush into the room. Upon seeing Tamera's head on Joseph's lap, and the two of them are surrounded by Tamera's blood, they stop in thier tracks.
"Go get Millerna, now Hitomi. Oh god." cries Joseph, as tears start to stream down his face. "Please don't die on me Tamera. Your not going to die on my watch."
Joseph feels Tamera's arm for a pulse and finds a very faint one, as Hitomi rushes out of the room and down the hall calling for a medic and Millerna. All of a sudden, Joseph's two pairs of wings erupt from his back and rips his shirt. He then picks up Tamera's body up and carries her to the bed.
"What are you going to do Joseph?" asks Van, rushing over to Joseph's side.
"I'm going to save her. That's what." said Joseph, floating over to Tamera's bed and places her in it
"But how?" asked Van, trying to seperate the two of them. "She's too far gone for you to do anything."
Joseph just shoves Van out of the way so hard that he flies into the wall with a solid thud, all the while covered in a bright white light. He floats back over and places a hand on his daughters brow. After about three seconds, the glow moves from Joseph's hand and into Tamera's body.
"Please don't leave me, Tamera." Joseph cries in a low voice, as Tamera's wounds start to heal and fade and her heart beat gets stronger. "I need you. No, I love you."
Just then, Merle, Hitomi, Millerna, Allen, King Max and Queen Tabitha come rushing into the room and stop as they see that both Joseph and Tamera are glowing in a almost blinding white light. A minute later, Tamera's eyes flutter open and she looks up at her father.
"Daddy?" asks Tamera, as the glow fades and she sits up in her bed. "What's going on?"
"Good. Your back with me again." Joseph answers, looking at his child before collapsing into a large heap on the floor. A second later, the three stab wounds that were on Tamera's chest appear on Joseph's chest.
"Daddy. No." cried Tamera, as she jumps out of bed and runs to Joseph's side. "Please don't go."
********************
Joseph looks around to see that he's standing in a darkened room. All of a sudden the door at the other end of the room opens. A bright light is shining through the door causing Joseph to block his eye and blink, as a shadowed figure steps out of the door way and enters the room. After a couple of seconds of standing there, the figure starts to look around.
"Joseph? Is there a Joseph here?" the figure asks, with a stern, almost feminine, voice.
"That would be me. If you don't mind, could you shut that door, please? it's hurting my eyes." said Joseph, as he's trying to get a good look at the figure with little succes. "And who in the world are you?"
"Sorry." the figure answers, as it shuts the door. "and as to who I am," answers the shadowed form, as a ball of white light appears in it's hand to reveal that it's a humanoid with golden red hair that seems to be made out of fire,
blue skin that looks like it was made out of the sky, and a aura that bleeds authority. The person seems to be dressed in a flowing silver and gold robe. All of a sudden, a pair of large, white dove-like wings appear from behind the person's back. "I shall be your test. You may call me Saint Hugo. Prepare yourself."
All of a sudden, Hugo spreads his/her wings and leaps up into the air. After a second of floating at the apex of the jump, Hugo lunges down at Joseph while throwing the energy ball at Joseph (which is followed by three more.
When he see's the balls of energy flying at him, Joseph quickly jumps out of the way as the balls explode onto the 'ground' behind him, cursing all the while and changing into his battleform.
"Aha." said Hugo, as he/she switches directions and follows Joseph with a small smile on his/ her face. "I sensed that you were special in some way."
"Well pal, you ain't seen nothing yet." said Joseph, taking to the air himself and charging at his opponent head on. "This is going to be an interesting test."
Just as Joseph finishes saying this, both him and Hugo meet in a head-on collision in mid-air. After a couple of seconds of hanging there and exchanging blows, both fighters start to fall towards the 'ground' while throwing punches, energy blasts and slashing at each other. They finally seperate from each other just as they're with-in seven feet of the ground and swoop back up into the air for another charge at each other. They then charge at each other five more times until they reach the height of thier last swoop, they both stop in mid-air. As they reach a fair distance from each other, Hugo starts to fling energy balls at Joseph, while Joseph puts up a fair sized energy barrier in front of himself, just as he feels a famliar presence lending him much needed courage, energy and hope and love from behind him, that flings the balls back at Hugo. From behind his energy shield, Joseph glares at his oppenant just as Hugo stops flinging the balls.
"Are you done yet, pal?" Joseph asked, glaring at Hugo as he starts to gather up energy into his hands for his patented Kamatchimos strike. After a couple of seconds of building up energy, Joseph smiles at Hugo. "Or do we just keep on dancing?"
"You are good." answered Hugo, as he/she nods his/her head in quiet knowledge as the balls of energy fly past him/her. After a couple of seconds, Hugo floats down and land while looking at and watching Joseph. "You have just past the test."
"You mean that we're done?" asked Joseph, as he floats down and lands, all the while changing back into his human form and dissapating the energy blast. "You mean that actually past this test?"
"Of course." said Hugo, smirking ever so slightly. "You now have to make a hard choice."
"Which is what, exactly?" asked Joseph, as he finishes up his shifting while watching Hugo.
"The choice is either to go to heaven and live in peace and harmony forever," said Hugo, as a single door opens behind him/her and to the left. "Or to go back to you mortal body and live in a world that maybe deadly to you while living with pain and sorrow, along with your loved ones." All of a sudden a second door opens behind Hugo and to his/her right.
"That's obvously a no-brainer for me." said Joseph, smirking ever so slightly as he walks to the door to the right, he then stops and looks at Hugo as the smile gets bigger. "I'm going to my family and friends. I want to put thier needs and wants before mine. Now I don't know what you angels think. Quite frankly, I don't give a flying hoot about it.
I want to be with them, more then I want to go to heaven. But when I finally do die, I'm not going to heaven without them by my side."
"I understand." said Hugo, nodding his/her head in agreement. "It is more important to be with family and friends,
who care for you and you for them. That is what heaven is all about. Good luck. You will always have the assistance of us angels by your side."
"Thanks." said Joseph, smiling as he walks walks through the door and heads back to his body.
*********************************
On the outside world, everyone is running towards Joseph's body as Tamera is kneeling beside him, with her head on his chest, crying. All of a sudden, Joseph starts to glow a deep red as the three wounds start to heal. A couple of seconds later, a wave of energy erupts from Joseph and sends everyone hurtling against the nearest walls to them, effectively knocking them out cold. This is followed by another wave of energy that erupts from Joseph's body, and goes zooming across the room, and gets sucked into everyones bodies, which are slowly changing as the candle light flutters out.
"Uhn. Did anyone catch the plate on that A-bomb?" asked Joseph, as he slowly sits up. He then looks around and see's everyones bodies changing. "What the hell is going on here?"
*********************************
"Come on, sweety." said Joseph, kneeling down beside Tamera, gently tapping her on the cheek. "Time to wake up."
A couple of seconds later, Tamera's eyes flutter open and she looks up at her father. Around her the others are moaning as they slowly come around.
"What happened daddy?" asked Tamera, as she slowly sits up. She then throws her arms (which are seemingly covered in what appears to be shadows) around Joseph's neck. "Daddy. Your okey."
"Something awfully strange happened." said Joseph with a gentle smile, as he picks Tamera up from the ground and being careful of her newly aquired extra appendages. "Yet, oddily unusual."
A couple of seconds later, there's a loud gasp from where Hitomi came from. This is followed by a shriek from the other women.
"Calm down people." said Joseph, looking into the shadows, with a slight smirk on his face. He then walks over to Tamera's mirror with his daughter in his arms.
"What's happening daddy?" asked Tamera, as she looks around to where the others are but to no avail, for she only see's shadows.
"Look Tamera. You'll understand what I'm talking about." said Joseph, reaching the mirror and nodding towards it.
Tamera then does as her father said. To her utter amasement, she finds that it's not her that's in his arms, but that of anthropomorphic crow with some of her features. She then starts to cry and buries her face into Joseph's chest.
"What happened to me daddy?" asked Tamera, between sobs. "Why did I become a monster for?"
"Your not a monster, Tamera. Your the same little girl you always were just in a different package." Joseph answers,
with a gentle smile. He then turns away from the mirror and looks into the shadows and see's eye shine from the others as they look at him. "For some reason yet unknown to even me, some of my energy got thrown out from me and got sucked into everyone's bodies. In normal terms, you all effectively got a small peice of me, my energy and my battle-form in you."
"What does that mean daddy?" asked Tamera, in a squeeky and raw voice from crying as she looks up at him.
"That means that you now got you own battle-forms, Tamera." said Joseph, gently running his hands through the thick feathers on Tamera's head. "Yours is of a crow or raven. Merle, yours it seems, is a tiger (I always knew you were vicious). Allen, yours is that of a horse. Van, yours is naturelly, a falcon. Hitomi, your a owl. King Maximillian is a lion. Queen Tabitha is a fox. While Millerna has that of a Gryphon."
Joseph then shifts into his battle-form and recieves gasps from everyone except from Merle.
"Don't ask about mine. Because I don't really know what it is." said Joseph in a deep voice and a chuckle. "All I can really tell you is that it's strong. Not to mention the creepiest of all the battle-forms."
"How do we go back to our normal forms though Joseph." asks Merle, stepping into the light to reveal her shredded night gown is hanging off of her, revealing alot of her two rather hairy breasts.
"Umm. Before I tell you Merle. You might want to put a blanket around you." said Joseph, putting one hand in front of his mouth to make sure no one see's him laughing. "In fact, all you ladies might want to do the same."
"Eeep." all four women say at the same time as they look down. They then run over to Tamera's bed with what remains of thier tattered clothes and each one crabs a part of the sheet, then puts it around them.
"You know." said Joseph, looking over to where Van is standing in the shadows with a raised eyebrow. "Normally I'd say some stupid comment about how they can feel the breeze. Buuut, I'm not going to touch that subject right now. Now, about the switching between the forms."
"Yeah, might as well get it over with, Joe." Hitomi calls over from the bed, blinking as she tilts her feathered head slightly to the right. "And while your at it. You might as well tell your little companion to calm down some. Either that or take a cold shower."
"I'll pretend that I didn't just hear that comment (and I thought I was sick). All I'll say is this: touche." said Joseph,
turning away from the women. "Like I was saying. All you really have to do is picture what you looked like before the transformation, it's that easy."
"Seems easy enough for you." said King Maximillian, with a slight snarl. "But it's not for the rest of us."
Everyone closes thier eyes and start to concentrate. The only one who seems to be having the trouble doing that is Tamera, who's trying to shift in Joseph's arm.
"What's wrong, Tamera?" asked Joseph, looking down at his daughter as he's shifting back to his human form while she's squirming around.
"I'm having trouble doing what you said to do, daddy." said Tamera, opening her eyes and looking into Joseph's eyes with sorrow in hers.
"Here. Let me help." said Joseph, placing a hand on Tamera's forehead. After a couple of seconds, Tamera's back to her normal human self, except for the torn and blood stained shirt. "There we go. back to the little girl that I know and love."
"Thank you daddy." said Tamera, looking down at her human body. Then she looks at Joseph and throws her arms around Joseph's neck and hugs him. "Your the best."
"No problem." said Joseph, he then turns and looks at the others. "Is everyone back to normal?"
"Yes. The women are back to normal, Joseph." said the now normal Merle, looking at the other now-human women with a smirk on her face.
"What about you three? you back to your human selves??" asked Joseph, looking at Van and the others.
"As human as we were before, Joseph." said King Maximillian, as he comes out of the shadows, trying to hold his torn and shredded pants and shirt together. "How did it happen? How did we do that??"
"Well. I don't honestly know, King Maximillian. But there's one thing for certain." said Joseph, putting Tamera down on the ground and sending her to get changed.
"Which is?" asked the king, raising an eyebrow.
"The women. Looks like they're getting cold." said Joseph, stepping out of the way and blushing. "And if they don't go get changed now, then I'll be the one who's going to be embarressed for looking at them while they were in the partial nude."
Just as he says that, there's four gusts of wind and the door slams shut behind the women. The men just smile at Joseph and walk over to the door. They then open the door and leave Joseph and Tamera in the room alone.
"Hey Tamera." said Joseph, turns slightly into Tamera's direction.
"Yes daddy?" asked Tamera, walking over to Joseph and wearing a new night gown, placing a hand on her fathers arm.
"I want you to come and stay in mine and your mothers room for tonight." said Joseph, looking down at his daughter with a small smile on his face. He then glances around the room. "It's better that your with me tonight."
"Okey daddy." answers Tamera, as she gently places her hand into Joseph's.
After a couple of seconds, the two of them go walking out of the room and down the hall to Joseph's and Merle's room hand in hand.
*************************************
The next morning, Joseph hears a slight ruffle of fabric being rubbed against something else from over by the mirror. After a couple of seconds, he hears it again and opens his eyes to see Tamera standing in front of the mirror,
in her crow battle-form and with her wings spread out behind her while she has the nightgown covering her chest.
"Merle. Wake up." Joseph whispers into his wife's left ear. "You'll want to see this."
"Hmm?" asks Merle, blinking her eyes open. She then looks into Tamera's direction. "How sweet."
"Having fun with your new body, Tamera?" Joseph calls over to Tamera, smiling.
"What?" asks Tamera, spinning around and see's her adopted parents watching her. "Sorry if I woke you up daddy."
"No problem Tamera. You might as get used to having two forms instead of one. After all, I'm used to mine." he answered, getting out of bed. "How do you feel in you new body, today?"
"It feels so... strange. Yet so ..." said Tamera, looking back into the mirror and tilting her head to the left. All the while she's thinking up the right word.
"Let me guess: It feels so right. Right?" asked Joseph, walking over and placing a hand on Tamera's feather covered shoulder. "I know how you feel. I felt the same way when I first got mine."
"Really daddy?" asked Tamera, turning around and facing Joseph.
"Yes really. Now I want you to promise me something, Tamera." said Joseph, kneeling down in front of his daughter.
"What?" she asked, trying to smile as best she can with the beak.
"I want you to promise me," said Joseph, looking into her eyes. "that you will only use this form as a last ditch effort in case of emergencies."
"Yes daddy." said Tamera, nodding. "I promise to do as you say."
"That's my little girl." said Joseph, ruffling Tamera's feathers as he gets up. "Now change into your human form and get changed."
********************************
A little later, Joseph, Merle and Tamera walk into the dinning room to find that the only things in there is the food.
The three of them go walking over to the table, Joseph is glancing around the whole time.
"That's odd." said Joseph, sitting down at the table with his wife and daughter. "I wonder where the others are."
"They could be still in bed, daddy." said Tamera, as she starts to gather food up onto her plate to eat.
A few minutes later, the three of them hear a yawn from the door to the dining room. Joseph turns to find King Maximillian standing there in his battle-form.
"Pardon me your majesty. But you may want to look down at yourself," said Joseph, turning back around. "before someone see's you."
"Hmm?" asked King Maximillian, as he looks down at himself. "Oh my. Your right Joseph, thankyou."
"No problem, King Maximillian." said Joseph, as he continues to eat. "Must have been a rough night for you and your wife. Must have also been entertaining."
King Maximillian just walks further into the room, while changing into his human form, to let the others stumble into the room, as if in a daze.
"I don't know about you guy's." said Hitomi, flopping down in her chair and rubbing her eyes. "But me and Van could hardly sleep a wink last night."
"That's strange." said Joseph, looking at the others. "Me, Merle, and Tamera had a peaceful nights sleep, last night.
Especially Tamera, since she was the most effected by what happened. Besides, you should be glad that you don't have a zoo running around inside you."
"Joseph's right." said Queen Tabitha, nodding in agreement. "Out of all of us, he has got it the worst."
"I'm happy, though." said Tamera, taking a sip of water from her cup.
"Why's that?" asked Hitomi, looking over at Tamera.
"Well." said Tamera, taking another sip of water and then grinning. "It's because I'm a birdie and I always wanted to fly."
"And you always have your head up in the clouds." said Joseph, taking a sip of wine and gets a stern look from Tamera. "I'm glad for that, though. It shows perservernce and a good imagination."
*************************************
That afternoon, Tamera comes rushing into the room and over to Joseph and hugs him, while he's writing things down on a large roll of paper.
"Daddy." said Tamera, gently tugging on Joseph's arm after releasing him from the hug.
"Yes Tamera? what can I do for you??" Joseph asks, looking down at Tamera.
"I was wondering if you could show me how to use my wings?" Tamera asks, giving Joseph a sweet smile, knowing full well how that smile affects him.
"You know something, Tamera?" asked Joseph, getting up after a couple of seconds thought and lifts Tamera up and carries her out of the room.
"What daddy?" she asked, looking at him.
"That's not a bad idea you have." he said, glancing at her and smiles. "In fact, that's such a great idea that I wish I had thought of it."
"Thankyou daddy." said Tamera, giving her father a hug around the neck almost choking him.
A few minutes later, Joseph and Tamera are standing in the courtyard with the others.
"You won't believe this but, Tamera just had a great idea." Joseph said, as he puts Tamera down on the ground.
"Well. What is it?" asked Hitomi, smiling as she tries to coax it out of him..
"Well, a few minutes ago, she had asked me if I could show her 'how to use her wings.'" said Joseph, with a smile on his lips. "Now if you ask me, she brought up a good point. Maybe I should train you all on how to use your second forms."
"Sounds like a plan to me." said Van, shrugging.
"All that we have to do is figure out where we can do the workout." said Joseph, looking from one person to the other. "Any suggestion?"
"What about the field that the Crusade is in?" suggested Allen, looking at Joseph, then turns to King Maximillian.
"Sounds like a good enough spot." said King Maximillian, shrugging as he looks from Allen to Joseph. "Shall we go?"
"Okey then." said Joseph, nodding his head. "It's decided, we'll use the field beside the crusade. You all had better get ready and make sure that you use your most expandable clothes. For those of you who have wings though, you might want to cut some holes into them with fabric hanging down over the holes so you don't have to worry about having to change clothes all the time."
"Good point, Joseph." said Queen Tabitha, nodding her head. "But we don't have any clothes like that."
"What about old traveling clothes?" asked Joseph, looking at Queen Tabitha with a slightly cocked eyebrow.
"Well, I know that I have some old traveling clothes that I could use." said Millerna, as the others nod thier heads in agreement as they realise that they all have some old clothes that they could use with out worry.
"Okey then, it's agreed then." said Joseph, looking over the group. "We'll all get changed into the old clothes and meet back out here in about half an hour."
About half an hour later, when the group is gathered, King Max calls for a couple of horse and carriages as Joseph climbs onto the cyclone with both Merle and Tamera climbing into the side car. A little while later, they finally get to where the Crusade is and climb out to stand in the field. King Max then dismisses the carriages back to the city after telling them to come back for them in a couple of hours.
"Well now that we're all gathered here, Joseph. What do we do now?" asked the queen, as she watches Joseph.
"After all, your the one who has the most experience in this."
"Hold on, your majesty." said Joseph, he then turns to look at Allen. "Are any of your men on the ship, Allen?"
"They're all in the city, Joseph. So we don't have to worry about any of them bothering us." said Allen, looking at Joseph, while nodding his head.
"Good." said Joseph, as he turns to look at the group. "As to your question, queen Tabitha. We now should all shift into our second forms before we do anything else."
By the time Joseph says that, Tamera is all ready in her battle-form and fluttering her wings as the others shift into thiers. Once he knows that they're all in thier battle-forms, Joseph shifts into his as he's nodding his head while a sly grin plays on his face.
"Well, let's get started shall we?" said Joseph, in his deep scrachy voice as he looks from one person to the other.
"Umm, Joseph?" Millerna asked, as she looks down at herself before looking over at him. She then flutters her wings.
"Yes Millerna?" Joseph asks, looking over at her while twirling his six arms around.
"Why is it that your wings seem to be alot bigger then ours for?" Millerna asked, glancing at the others in the group before glancing down at herself. She then looks back at Joseph. "In fact, the whole of your battleform seems to be more larger then ours. How can you explain that?"
"I don't actually know the answer to that, Millerna." said Joseph, as he glances at the others before looking down at himself. "Actually, I think that your right. But the only thing that comes to mind is that where as you all have either one pair of arms and one pair of wings, you would be smaller built then me. Where as I have three pairs of arms and two pairs of wings, I'd of course have to be larger built then you all, Millerna."
"Can I learn how to fly now, daddy?" Tamera asks, looking up at her father with a slight twinkle in her eyes.
"I can't see why not, Tamera." said Joseph, smiling down at his daughter and winks at her causing her to burst out into giggles.
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That night, when the group gets back to the castle, Joseph carries a sleeping Tamera into thier bedroom with Merle walking in behind him, yawning.
"It looks like Tamera had fun." said Merle, bringing her hand away from her mouth. "Otherwise, she wouldn't be asleep."
"Tell me about it." said Joseph, as he puts Tamera into her bed as Merle starts to get changed into her nightgown.
"But I'm a little surprised at how well she did in the usuage of her wings. Did you see the look on Allen's face when Millerna crashed into him though?"
"Yeah, I seen it, Joseph." said Merle, yawning again. "But what I'm more surprised about is how fast I am when I'm in my battleform."
"You sure as hell surprised me, that's for sure." said Joseph, walking up behind his wife while giving her a goofy grin before giving her a kiss on the neck. "But for now, I just want to sleep."
"Do you hear me argueing with you?" said Merle, smiling at her husband's reflection in the mirror. "Because I'm not going to."
"Want to have some fun tomorrow when Tamera goes out and plays?" asked Joseph, while kissing Merle on the neck over and over again. "I'll even give you a massage, if your stiff. If you want that is."
"We'll see." said Merle, after letting out a soft moan. "O god that feels so good."
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Three months later, during supper. Merle turns and looks at Joseph.
"Hey honey. I need to tell you something." she said, with a slightly worried look on her face.
"What's wrong, Merle?" Joseph asks, turning and see's the worried look. "Are you okey??"
"Well. you better be prepared for what I'm about to tell you." she said, looking down at her plate.
"Oookey." said Joseph, looking at everyone and is met by silence.
"I'm pregnant." she said, looking over at Joseph with a smile after gathering up her courage.
"You mean that your...? With who...?? When did it...??? Who's is....???? Oh man." said Joseph in a flurry of words as he jumps up and runs over to his wife, and kisses her.
"Well. I do know one thing." Merle said, after Joseph kisses her. "I know that your the father. I've been suspecting that something like this for the last two months."
"I'm so happy at the moment, that I can't find the words that will fit right." said Joseph, looking down at Merle.
"Yeah." said Tamera, running over to her parents and hugging her parents. "I'm going to have a new brother or sister."
End of Part 7: The truth.
By Rathorc Lemenger!!
To Be Continued in: Part 8: The Run.
