Chapter 36- The Truth Revealed

"W-what do you mean, Dr. Julia?" Saya asked with wide, tear-filled eyes. She was seated on the small cot in the traveling medical unit. Joel had decided to have Julia follow the young queens as they fought, to help with transfusions and any serious injuries that might be sustained.

Dr. Julia sighed as her eyes narrowed and nearly bored a hole in the closed tent flap from their intensity. Hagi was supposed to have explained this and it deeply angered the doctor that this situation was now being dropped in her lap.

The aging doctor pinched the bridge of her nose, moving the glasses up a bit in order to do so. With a gentle, yet slightly angry voice, Julia responded, "It's just as I said, Saya, the young woman you saw is Mary Frances. She is Hagi's daughter."

Julia felt a bit of relief mixed with confusion as a familiar red head came through the tent flap. A bit of hope dared to spark inside her. This would likely be easier on her coming from a trusted family member. "Hello, Kai," she greeted with a small smile.

Saya was a bit upset at the brash character that had entered a medical tent without knocking to see if it was okay for him to enter. The man was probably in his late forties and had grey streaks mixed with what once may have been bright red. He was tall, but one could tell he was well-fed by the pooch in his stomach. Smile lines etched the corners of his mouth and crows feet were stretched at the corners of his brown eyes.

When Julia said the name aloud, it was like Saya had awakened from a trance. She rose to her feet as she gazed at the older man. She now recognized the young man underneath. This man was her brother. The oldest surviving chiropteran queen launched herself into the arms of the man that was once her older brother.

Strong arms wrapped around her tiny frame as she took in the warmth of his embrace. With a large pull of air, she breathed in the warm, familiar scent of the sea, summertime, and freshly made bento. This was her brother.

It felt amazing to finally hold his sister in his arms once again. His heart fluttered at the sound of his name being spoken softly by a voice he hadn't heard in 30 years. It suddenly felt overwhelming to the man that held everything together in the absence of his sister. Everything he'd been through, everything he'd faced, suddenly came out in a heavy cry.

The young woman didn't seem the least bit alarmed by her brother's emotions. Actually, she felt rather sympathetic to him. Somehow she just knew he had been through something terrible and that all would be explained soon. For now, she would allow her brother to mourn over the situation and when he finished, she would ask why.

Her eyes came to the closed flap of the tent and wondered why Hagi continued to stand outside the tent without even coming inside. He was always by her side, even if all he did was stand near a wall somewhere.

Her brows furrowed as she continued to comfort Kai. Why did she feel so hurt that this young woman could be Hagi's daughter? It wasn't really like he belonged to her anyway. She had always hoped that after the war was over and the promise fulfilled, Hagi would live out his days- finally free to make a life of his own. Hopefully, he'd have the life he had been denied all those years ago when he was brought to the Zoo to be a slave.

"Come to think of it," she thought, "why am I still alive? I made Hagi promise me that when this was all over…"

Her eyes widened and she let out a gasp. Burgundy eyes became wide and took on a far away look as she pushed herself away from Kai and nearly tripped over the bed in her hasty retreat. Kai's reaction time was slow, but not as slow as most men his age. He caught Saya in his arms as tears pooled in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. "H-Ha-gi," she whispered as the memory she had been missing filled her vision.

"Hagi," Kai shouted at the entry flap, "get your ass in here!"

The stoic figure entered the tent in his usual, stiff manner. He stood at the entry flap while Dr. Julia and Kai frantically laid her on the cot and began to work on her. "What is wrong with her?" Dr. Julia asked.

"She is only remembering," Hagi responded calmly.

While it felt like forever for Saya, the others in the tent watched on as she recalled those last moments at the Met. She blinked as the memory of that last kiss and then tears fell as the building collapsed on him. She had thought they'd have time later to discuss their feelings, but now… he was gone.

Finally, Saya's eyes began to shine again as she blinked rapidly, trying to stop the flow of tears that streamed down. Hagi was alive and well, standing there by the tent flap. What was missing now was an explanation. After a moment, Saya asked in a soft voice, "How long has she been alive?"

Already having done the math in her head, she hoped against hope that the answer would be that she was conceived before Saya's last awakening and had stopped aging. Deep in her broken heart, she knew that was not the case.

Julia glanced Hagi's way, but she knew he would not answer. Shaking her head slightly, she responded, "According to birth records, Mary Frances is 20 years of age."

Saya closed her eyes and took in a ragged breath, trying to still her emotions. He had told her that he loved her and then found someone else. She then asked, "Did her mother… did she look like… me?"

Kai gave a confused look to Dr. Julia and then back to Hagi. That was not a question he had expected and even more, he did not expect Hagi to respond.

The deep, soothing baritone voice answered the question, "Mary Reyes did not look like you, Saya."

Her eyes opened and then narrowed, glowing a bright red as she turned the rage filled glare to her chevalier. "So she is your daughter," Saya affirmed as she glared at him coldly."

Hagi did not respond as Saya rose from the cot and removed the needle from her arm, the unit of blood drained. As she exited the tent, she could feel him following her, as she silently requested.

The chevalier could feel the anger crackling around his queen as he followed obediently. The area around them was a peaceful wooded area with trees beginning to color with the beginning of autumn. Birdsong twittered around them as the sun sank in the sky, coloring everything in the same vibrant hues the trees would soon take on.

Two blood-red eyes turned to face him, practically burning his skin from the rage he felt coming from her. She had every right. He knew he couldn't explain himself. All signs pointed to his guilt and he had no way of proving otherwise. He silently took in a deep breath, awaiting his fate.

"Why?" she growled angrily as her eyes bored holes in his stoic posture.

"I have never betrayed you," he responded after a moment.

She scoffed and looked him up and down. "Then how is she here?" she pointed back to the camp. "Why is she alive if you never betrayed me for another woman?"

For a time, they stayed this way. He did not answer and her pain grew. It felt as if she had been impaled and the wound would not heal. Her lids fluttered as tears filled them and the red faded back into the usual burgundy before they became a dull brown. "I-I had thought we would have more time… It's why I di-didn't answer you… that night."

Her eyes met his as tears fell from her eyes, damping her lashes and cheeks. "I love you," she told him in a painfully soft voice. "Why, Hagi? Why couldn't you wait?"

He placed his hand on her cheek and met her sad eyes with an expression of sadness as well. "Saya, I do not have the knowledge in medicine that Dr. Julia does. I can only tell you that I know what I know. I have never betrayed you."

Hagi hoped against all hope that Saya would see the sincerity in his eyes and understand. Never had he hoped so desperately for something as he hoped right now.

But his hopes were dashed away as the well of tears in Saya's eyes ran dry. Those eyes burned again in anger as he could almost see her thoughts in her expression. Her hand came up and pushed his hand away from her face.

"You think lying to me will make this better?" she asked in a voice nearly an octave higher than her normal voice. Her heart shattered in her chest, not because of the betrayal alone, but because of the fact that he was lying about it to save himself. "Julia told me everything, Hagi… everything."

She began to advance on him as she accused, pushing him back, "She told me about the video surveillance at the hospital. About how you visited that unknown girl every other year- including the year that I awakened. That's why you weren't there when I woke up when my dad found me. You were even…" Tears threatened again as she realized he had been sleeping around for a long time. She tried to shake the sadness, but her broken heart demanded to reveal itself through tears.

Before Hagi realized she was talking about a separated incident, he spoke, "That was not Mary Frances' mother."

Saya's eyes went wide as she caught the meaning behind what he had just said. "There was more than one woman?!" Before she could think to stop herself, she launched herself at him and brought her right hand across his cheek with a heavy SMACK!

The force of the blow nearly turned the chevalier around. He could hear her shouting in French behind him as she took off, leaving him to nurse the hand-shaped bruise that was forming on his left cheek. It would fade soon, but their pain would not. Her words still rang through his thoughts as he finally allowed his stoic expression to slip into one of shock and pain. "Espèce de salaud, je vous hais!"*

It was only a moment before the hand print on Hagi's face faded from angry red to a light brown before turning a sickly yellow. By then, Mary Frances revealed herself from behind one of the trees. She had not been hiding, but had left camp to find a place to smoke and think. The wind had been to her advantage, blowing the smoke the opposite direction of Hagi and Saya.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to listen in, but you could've been more honest, you know," the princess said as she blew the last puff of smoke from her mouth.

The chevalier responded in his usual, cool manner, "I did not lie."

"Sure," she shot back sarcastically with a half smile plastered on her face. "Everyone just has kids that pop up out of nowhere while they still maintain their virginity. Don't you think it's time you fessed up?"

"Why should I lie?" he asked.

Her hand gently came up to touch the still pulsing surface of his cheek as it was healing. "If you don't want more marks like this one, you' better tell her who, what, when, where, and especially why you fucked her over."

Turning his gaze to the ground and pulling from her touch, he responded, "There is nothing to tell." His jaw worked as a thought came to his mind. "What if I did actually cheat on Saya? Dr. Julia said that the loss of the memory could be a symptom of psychological trauma."

No, that could not be. There would be some kind of flash-back or something to trigger even small pieces of the memory, but there had been nothing so far. All the evidence pointed to his guilt, but his mind and heart still screamed that he was innocent. For the first time in a long time, his head hurt.

"I must find Saya," he murmured as he began to take off, but the presence of the princess did not fade from him as he ran at top speed. When he turned his head, he saw her immediately on his heels.

She saw his eyes narrow at her, but that would not deter her. "You can't get away from me, Hagi. I am just as fast… and nearly as strong."

He knew of one way to shake her. With a small smirk, massive wings broke free from his shirt and jacket, tearing the fabric. He stopped to gather his strength and leapt to the skies, allowing the beat of his wings to carry him further from the ground. The smirk widened as he heard a loud cry of frustration from the ground.

When he took to the skies, she skidded to a stop where he had been standing. It was frustrating that all she could ever do was confront him. He never opened up, even a little and it made her defensive. What bothered her most was the fact that it had been proven many times over that he was her father.

Frustrated because she couldn't open herself to him… Frustrated because she finally opened her heart to the man she loved only to be on the other side of the planet from him. Frustrated because she hated that she had to be here and face her past… Mary Frances was fed up with all of it. With a loud growl, she cried out, "DAMN YOU!"

Her fists clenched until her nails dug into her palms, causing blood to pool and drip from her fists. An utterly strange tingling came over her body and caused the spot between her shoulder blades to ache. Her eyes began to burn and she could imagine they were glowing rings of red and blue.

"My body is transforming," she said aloud, not knowing exactly how she knew that. With a growl, she felt something release from her back and it surprisingly felt good. Sadly, she knew her t-shirt would not agree with that when she heard the fabric ripping.

"Wait! What… fabric ripping?" she thought as she opened her eyes and tried to see what was behind her. When her eyes looked over her shoulder, she was shocked. There, behind her, was a deep purple wing. She looked over the other shoulder to find she indeed had a matched set.

With a leap in the air and a small victory dance, Mary Frances began to shout, "Yes! Yes! YESSSS!" As she celebrated, another form came into the clearing, wearing a surprised expression.

Hibiki was in a daze as she came up to the now winged princess. Without thinking, her hand moved along the velvety surface of the massive right wing which quivered under her touch and caused the owner to whirl around and catch her by the neck.

It took a moment for Mary Frances to realize that this was no threat. Releasing Hibiki, she realized that her hand had become a claw that was similar to Hagi's. She brought the other up to inspect them and looked at them with wide eyes. Once she was able to tear her eyes from the new claws, she couldn't resist a comment. "I am one totally bad-ass princess!"

"I'll say," Hibiki responded. With a small smirk, she took a breath and let her head fall back a bit. With a small gust of wind, two massive blue wings came from Hibiki's back, her neck now had silver scales that extended down her arms and ended in silver and blue claws. Her eyes glowed brilliant blue as she spoke in an unearthly voice, "I can fully transform now, but I don't like to ruin my clothes and shoes."

"So, do you have to get naked to fully transform?" she asked with curiosity shining in her eyes.

A small chuckle came from the blue queen. "No, but you do have to wear something stretchy and lose your shoes."

Mary Frances nodded and wondered if she might be able to fully transform, too. Right now, the more pertinent question was on her mind, "So how do I learn to fly?"

Hibiki smirked and answered, "I have no idea. The chevalier that taught me how to transform does not have wings."

Mary Frances opened her eyes widely and thought aloud, "You mean there are some chiropterans that don't have wings?"

The queen shrugged her answer and responded, "That's what Nathan says. I knew Hagi had them, but I had no idea you had them."

"Neither did I… until now," she responded as she brought her wings forward and stoked the velvet surface. It surprised her that she could feel her hand against the wing. It brought a shiver down her spine and felt terribly sensitive. It made her wonder how Hagi fought with them. It would hurt tremendously to have one damaged.

"So what is it that brings you here?" Mary Frances finally asked after a thorough inspection of her new appendages.

I came here looking for Uncle Hagi and Aunt Saya. Have you seen them?" she asked as she pulled her power back and her features became that of a normal teenage girl.

"Hagi pissed Saya off when he refused to fess up about me," she sighed. Hibiki shook her head as Mary Frances continued, "She took off on foot and Hagi followed with his wings." She pointed in the direction they had taken off.

"Well, I guess I'll tell you before I take off to find them," she said. "Mr. David is starting to feel better now and should be released to go back to Okinawa tomorrow." She then took a breath and continued, "The Red Shield eliminated the last of the chiropterans today and should meet up with us in the morning. They did not find Argiano or Smith."

"I thought they were on a farm in Halle?"

"They were," she responded sadly. "When the Red Shield got there, the farm had been abandoned. There are no leads as to where they have moved to. It sucks because we know that wherever they are, you can bet there going to do the same thing there."

She nodded and then gave a small smile, remembering something more positive. "Well, at least you get to see Raoul again."

Hibiki nodded and smiled, but that smile did not make it to her eyes. Mary Frances noticed this, but decided to say nothing. She knew that all this fighting had put everyone on edge and it was possible that it was affecting Hibiki.

The truth was something the blue-eyed queen was not willing to address right now. The news was not good about her sweetheart. It had been reported by his commanding officer that the young man had gone AWOL and she had no way to contact him.

The rumor that was going around said that he was dead, but she wasn't willing to believe that. Her man was still alive.

~0~

Southern Scotland

"It may not be the best location for chiropteran production, but at least there is no way that we can be located here," the scientist informed. The creature behind the thick glass growled at the scientist, but knew that it could not get to the man.

"True," the Frenchman commented as he popped another candy into his mouth. "It's cold here, but there is no one here to interfere with the next stage of our plan." He turned his brown eyes to the young, brown haired man in the other chair, "Isn't that right, nephew?"

"Yes, Uncle Van," the young man responded.

"You have done an excellent job infiltrating the Red Shield and keeping us a step ahead of our enemy," Smith praised the young soldier. "It was a brilliant idea, coming to Scotland. It is one of the few places that the red queen Saya has not ever been before because of the war with Diva. It's likely that they will not think of searching for us here."

Argiano responded with a slick smile, "Yes, my nephew does take his cleverness from my side of the family. We should be able to create the candy here."

"Do you think that the candy will be ready in time for the release date?" the young man asked his uncle. "Christmas is only 4 months away."

The dim light that dangled above the three glinted off Argiano's glasses. He responded, "It will only take one of these candies to turn a human into a chiropteran." His smile fell slightly when he began the next sentence, "I wish it could have worked with the queen's DNA, but we'll have to settle for using the princess' DNA for this."

"Uncle," the youth asked, "why doesn't the queen's DNA work?"

"Excellent question," Argiano responded as he turned to Smith, waiting for his explanation.

"A queen's blood is directly descended from the original line of queens and, despite chevalier's fathering them, has not affected the bloodline at all. Their blood is very different from human blood and does not mix easily."

He then scratched his chin before he added, "It was Diva's singing that called to the chiropteran DNA that was in the food samples that humans tried. Because of this, humans were turned into chiropterans. Saya and Diva's daughters do not have this ability. We believe it was unique to Diva alone."

"So that is why you wanted the princesses. There blood is closer to that of a human," The young man reasoned.

"Precisely, Raoul," Argiano grinned.

* "You bastard, I hate you!"