When the Elder heard of a large group of strangers in town, all wearing clothing more in common with with Meguru was wearing, she felt hope.
They had found Senkoukura-sama in the D-Zone and had summoned it with the hopes of ending Ri-On's reign of terror. The amount of damage those fools were doing was too large to be ignored, to say nothing of the young lives lost.
Except Senkoukura-sama hadn't shown up. Meguru had gone looking and found nothing.
Perhaps they merely landed in the wrong area?
She waited until morning, and then sent Meguru to find out whether this group of strangers was indeed from Earth.
Kiseki shared a look with her friends and the adults. It looked like their suspicions that the summons had been deliberate was spot on.
Within an hour after breakfast, the group found themselves before the Elder.
"So a prophet. Now it makes sense," said Reborn, with a rather dark look.
Fon had a similarly irritated expression.
"What's so bad about prophets?" asked Kiseki.
"The woman who tricked us into that curse had a similar ability. Though it claimed her life and it was passed onto her daughter, the fact she did nothing to warn us about the fact we were about to be cursed left some rather sour feelings about anything that reminds us of her. She was a rather poor example for a Sky," explained Fon.
They had felt the beginnings of Harmony, but it had died after they found out she knew what was going to happen and said nothing.
Kiseki made sure to hug the both of them, hearing that.
"I'm not sure Sora can be the savior of a city. And I would rather find out for myself whether or not Ri-On needs to have their operations permanently ended. Just because a few people who have been sent caused problems doesn't mean that it's their main goal," said Kiseki.
"How can you say something like that! Do you have any idea what they've done?" said Meguru angrily.
Kiseki's hard amber stare shut her up.
"I know that I'm not about to believe public opinion and hearsay to determine what should and shouldn't be done. Just because you may have had a bad experience with whatever mission they sent you on doesn't mean that they are entirely evil," she said flatly.
"Question. If you knew that Ri-On was sending people here before now, why haven't you returned home already?" asked Colonello, eyeing the girl. "I'm sure your family is worried about you."
She flushed.
"Like I would trust those snakes!" she said.
"Just like I have my reasons for not trusting something that could potentially turn into a total mess purely on hearsay. We'll agree to help you for now, but we would rather have all the facts before we do any large scale operations," said Kiseki giving Meguru a look.
The Elder sighed. While they did have a problem with Ri-On, or at least some of the people they sent over, she could at least agree the girl's reasoning for not willing to fully commit was at least sound. She had no reason to trust them, especially after they dragged her and even small children over without even asking or giving a warning. Though she was curious as to how the adults were pulled through as well.
"May I ask where Senkoukura-sama is now?" asked the Elder.
Kiseki pulled out a box, and released Sora.
"What on earth is that?" asked Meguru shocked.
"And that right there is all the proof we need that you are a civilian," said Fon dryly. "That right there is what is known as a dragon box, or 'D-Box' for short. It's used to store dragons and bring them onto Earth, though there's a list of requirements to even get one."
"What?!"
Sora licked Kiseki on the cheek.
"You really think Ri-On was alone in making Dragon Drive? They got help from some less than reputable backers, and those people were quick to have one of the top minds find a way to bring dragons to Earth. Odds are that even if we did end the civilian problem, those people would only come in and claim the technology for themselves. They might even make a permanent gateway between the worlds so that you can come and go freely," said Kiseki dryly.
Meguru did not like the sound of that.
"This is grave news."
"Not really. Odds are that a certain group will take over policing the gateway if and when it's made. They're pretty big on being neutral entities no one wants to cross," said Reborn dryly.
"What sort of people is this group made of?"
"Well they're terrifying enough that just the mere thought of them coming down on you is enough to keep the bloodier families in line. They're the ones you don't want on your ass because of breaking the known rules. No one really knows what they are, just that crossing them is the stupidest idea in existence," said Colonello without hesitation. "If a gateway is made, they'd likely be the first considered to control it because they aren't easily bribed or influenced and are more about maintaining order."
Which was little comfort to the two civilians, but that was simply the nature of things. No way in hell was the mafia going to ignore a resource like a world of dragons when just even a taste of the D-Boxes has the bigger players scrambling to get their hands on them.
Unknown to the adults, the fact their curse was cut off without any real ill effects would send even bigger ripples and make the possibility that the Vindice would become involved a near certainty...along with the 'god' that cursed them into toddler form to begin with.
"How many dragons does your group have? And how did the children and adults come with you? I was under the assumption that Dragon Drive only allowed teenagers in," asked the Elder.
Kiseki openly snorted at that.
"More like it was mostly teenagers who found appeal in a battle royal with dragons. Dragon Drive doesn't have age restrictions, though in I-Pin and Lambo's case they were part of another group that was a lot more lax on the age requirements provided that they were strong enough to handle it. The adults though... it's too complicated to go into. There was a condition they had that was averted through the machines and they just happened to be with us when we were summoned. It took them a few weeks before they were in any condition for us to move after that summoning," said Kiseki. "As for dragons... I honestly have no idea. I never bothered to properly count how many we had."
"I think a general idea of our main dragons should suffice," said Reborn. He was rather pleased with how well Kiseki was handling this situation.
Clearly the Primo's bloodline ran stronger in her than it ever had in Iemitsu.
"Well there's Sora, Uri, Stormheart, Gyudon and Hibird. So five at least, though Stormheart and Gyudon are in storage form at the moment."
The Elder sighed.
"I see. So you bonded with the Yin Senkoukura-sama, as opposed to the Yang."
"Which means the male half will be summoned very soon, if the female is here," said Meguru.
She didn't seem to like Kiseki very much, though if the looks she kept casting Hayato and Kyouya was any indication, she found them very appealing.
"I'm surprised none of you have mentioned returning to Earth," commented the Elder.
"Out of our group, the only one with any real desire to return is Colonello. Most of us don't really have something to tie us to Earth to begin with," said Kiseki blithely. "And even he is a toss-up."
There was clearly a story behind that, but the look Reborn shot the Elder with a light shake of his head kept her from pressing what it was at the moment. It was likely the man would explain later.
"Well that could have gone worse," said Colonello.
"Agreed. At least they weren't willing to push the idea of Kiseki-hime into fighting an entire group for people she has only just met because of Sora."
Colonello suddenly made a face.
"Ugh. I swear that is one of the most ridiculous names I've ever heard for a girl. It's not cute at all," said Colonello.
"Iemitsu is an idiot. He would have named her 'Tsunayoshi' if she had been born a boy. Imagine her being called 'tuna' her entire life," said Reborn dryly.
"Still, Kiseki isn't really a good name for the Principessa," said Colonello.
"What about Ryuu-hime?" said Fon, amused by the deliberate change of subject.
"Way too much of a description, rather than a name," said Colonello. He had an idea. It wasn't very original, but it still sounded better than calling her Kiseki all the time.
Kiseki knocked on the door.
"We're going to explore the city properly. Any of you care to join us?"
Colonello grinned.
"Count me in, Mira-chan," he said.
Kiseki paused.
"Mira-chan?" she repeated.
"It sounds way better than 'Kiseki' or 'Ryuu-hime'. Short, and perfect for a cute girl like you," said Colonello winking, causing her to blush a bright red.
Reborn smirked.
"Mira, short for 'miracle', I take it?" said Reborn.
Colonello nodded.
"I think it suits her," said Fon, getting in on the light teasing. The fact her blush had yet to dissipate didn't hurt either.
"Then it's settled. From now on we're calling you Mira-chan," said Colonello grinning.
She squeaked before leaving the room. Colonello wasn't the only one who laughed at her sudden shyness.
"Now there's the Mira-chan we all know," said Fon grinning. Reborn smirked.
He was going to abuse this as long as he could, because that blush was adorable.
Much to her surprise, it hadn't taken long for Hayato and Kyouya to join in on the teasing, or for the nickname to become permanent. Though Hayato had a habit of calling her "Mira-hime".
(It didn't take more than an hour for Meguru to figure out that their 'leader' was in fact a girl as well. One of only two in a group that was primarily boys.)
In Italy...
Verde was at his wits end. Not only had Reborn gone missing, but from what he found out Colonello and Fon had disappeared as well! The thing that baffled them all the most was the fact that they vanished without a trace...leaving only pacifiers that were slowly turning clear behind where they had been using the machines.
The second the Vindice found out about the pacifiers being removed and the bodies of the Arcobaleno disappearing without a trace, they were on Verde within hours.
He had just gotten the mafia's version of police off his ass about the damn boxes! He was not about to deal with them on his case to find out where the three disappeared to!
As if that wasn't annoying enough, Lal Mirch, Skull and Viper had shown up the moment they heard the news to find out if he knew anything. Or at least knew what was going on with the pacifiers.
Sometimes he really hated being the genius of the group. He really did.
"You want us to what?" said Lal, balking.
"Get in the machine. According to Reborn and Fon, the D-Zone automatically filters us in our adult bodies rather than our cursed ones. You can move around as if you weren't cursed in there," said Verde, pushing up his glasses. He looked to Skull and Viper. "If you keep your partners in your laps, they show up as well for some reason."
"Hell, I'm in! I've been wanting to ride a dragon since I heard about this game!" said Skull. Sadly he was too 'young' to get one through the civilian route, and he was too terrified Verde would do something to him while he was in it to approach the man.
With Skull sitting next to Lal Mirch, the hood came down like normal. Skull had Oodako in his lap, inside the specially made backpack he convinced Verde to make specifically for the purpose of transporting his octopus with him.
"Entering D-Zone in three. Two. One. Initialization commencing," said Verde.
"What are you doing?" asked Viper.
"It's a habit, alright?" said Verde crossly. He had not gotten much sleep lately.
For a moment, nothing happened and the two were in D-Zone, according to the screen. Then a weird sound began to emanate from the digital display and a strange symbol that Verde recognized as part of the Tri-Ni-Sette appeared.
A familiar blinding flash of light erupted from the machine, and the sound of two small items falling to the floor was all that was heard.
Once they could see, they found Lal Mirch and Skull missing...and their pacifiers on the ground.
Verde and Viper stared.
"What the hell?!"
"What in blazes just happened?!" said Viper in shock. Their usual apathetic persona dropped the second they saw the pacifiers on the ground and the two missing.
Verde was scanning all over the D-Zone for the two...nothing. Then he tried another tactic, and his eyes widened.
"They're in Rikyuu."
"What?"
"Somehow the machine transported them to Rikyuu, without their pacifiers."
"What is Rikyuu?"
"The civilians in Ri-On stumbled onto a parallel Earth, except this was full of dragons. Once they figured out how to stabilize the breech they started sending people over... you can guess the rest."
"They want to take over the place, find something that would allow them total control over dragons, or just want to exploit some unknown resource," said Viper.
"The only reason I know of it is because I kept picking up on their breeches."
"So that's how you ended up the head of the D-Box project," said Viper. They had always wondered what exactly had gotten the attention of Verde and the more technologically advanced mafioso.
"If they were transported to Rikyuu without their pacifiers...then it's possible..."
"Then it's possible we might be free of this damn curse," finished Viper, already considering the possibilities of such a thing.
The two shared a look.
"I'll start putting my lab into the special storage boxes," said Verde with glee.
"I'll put my affairs in order..." said Viper, equally quick on the draw.
Being displaced in another world was a small price to pay to be free of this curse.