Chapter 24

Normally things came easy when it came to acquiring information for Lory Takarada; however, since he was in the 'eye of the hurricane' so to speak, he was having to take the more difficult routes to find the information he needed to protect those that he had recently adopted to protect. He certainly didn't approve of the way several in their government were viewing the crypto-humans, and he most definitely was not going to stand on the sidelines and allow them to be slaughtered and experimented on as they had done to those that they had trapped in the labs.

He felt a deep sense of shame and grief because he hadn't been able to prevent what happened to Kyoko, and he sure as hell wasn't about to allow Maria to experience any of that now that he knew the truth. He was relieved that Maria, Kyoko, and Kuon were being protected by some very powerful and talented individuals; although, he wasn't thrilled at all with the news that there was a very big storm coming. He'd truly believed that humanity had moved past all of that ugly war nonsense when space exploration was introduced several hundred years ago. Humanity ceased being conquerors then, or so he thought. He shook his head at the thoughts in his mind. How can we be peaceful explorers if we can't even be tolerant of our own? And yes, he did see the crypto-humans as part of humanity. Most likely the eldest part of it too.

"Ah!" He startled when the stone in his pocket grew warm and surprised him. He removed the bluish-purple gem that was now glowing in amber, the color of his daughter's eyes. He quickly removed it and gently rubbed it.

"Hi Daddy." She greeted cheerily. Even if she didn't look very much like her old self, she was still beautiful and she seemed to be doing much better.

Lory smiled softly and sighed in relief. "Hello Princess. I haven't heard from you in a long time. How are you doing over there?"

She glanced down and pouted a little. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean not to contact you."

He chuckled softly. "It's okay. I know you've been busy with your training. How is that going?"

She grimaced. "I-I've learned a few new things." She answered vaguely, but he knew that it was necessary.

He nodded. "Can you talk about what you're learning or is that something that you aren't allowed to reveal?" He asked cautiously. He didn't want her revealing anything that could put her or the others in jeopardy.

She shook her head. "I can tell you a little. Um… I've been learning to control myself better."

He sighed inwardly in relief. "That's good. You needn't tell me more. We can talk about it when we meet again." He told her.

She looked as if she were going to cry. "I miss you…" She murmured sadly. "I promise I won't be much longer. Reino says that I'm almost done."

Lory shook his head lightly. "Don't worry about it, Sweetie. Take your time and learn your lessons well. I don't want you rushing something that needs time. Okay? You're safety is more important."

She nodded. "But I'm really not rushing. Everyone here has been working so hard to teach me quickly." She paused briefly. "Maria should be finished with her training soon, too. Yashiro-san told me that she's doing really well with fairy magic, and Itsumi brought her to see me the other day. She said that she picked up elf magic the first week she spent in Avalon."

Lory nodded. Ah… Isn't that where she was for a month? So wouldn't that mean that she picked it up in a day? Lory marveled. His girls were quite impressive indeed, as was Kuon. He was doing quite well himself, according to Kotetsu Uesugi.

Their communication didn't last for that much longer after that. Just the average 'I love you's', 'I miss you's', and the 'I promise it won't be much longer's'.

"Stop worrying about it. Your disguise spells and shifting abilities will conceal them." Kotetsu reminded Kuon as he examined the many new markings on his body he'd noticed after his latest training session.

"What are they?" He asked a little more worried than he needed to be.

Hiou laughed. "Devil Girl has more than you and she didn't react like that." He scoffed while eyeing the other male. "Their your Ranking Marks. At least that's what we call them. Elder Reino calls them the marks of true Royalty, depending on where they show." Hiou displayed the two on his wrists and the one around his neck that looked like a necklace of tattooed chains.

Kuon looked in the mirror at the thorny vines creeping up from beneath his trousers, over his torso, to his neck, on his arms, his chest, back and gradually beginning to climb to the right side of his face to his temple. He stared into the slitted, cat-like green eyes staring back at him and the familiar pale gold hair that he had tried to hide for so long and sighed. Now the outside fits the inside. He thought. Even though others would now truly think he was a monster or mutant, he could honestly say he felt more comfortable in this skin than his humanity.

"Looks like you're almost ready." Kotetsu commented in passing as Kuon shifted to his original appearance. "You're Godfather has been asking about you ever since he was contacted."

Kuon looked at him in surprise. "He knows?" He asked with furrowed brow and anxiety in his tone.

The elder chuckled. "Of course he knows. He's been asking about the three of you for weeks."

"Three of us?" Kuon asked in confusion.

Hiou sighed and shook his head. "In case you haven't figured it out yet… Demon Queen is his daughter. Then there's her Second, the little witch." Hiou shivered just thinking about that scary little girl. He'd never met a more powerful witch. He made it a point not to piss her off when he was around her. She could easily turn him into a spider or snake.

"Her Second?" Kuon asked in curiosity.

Kotetsu nodded. "Her Advisor In Training."

It sounded like they were gearing up for something really big if they were already addressing Kyoko and Maria as such. He wondered who else would be rallying around her in the future.

Her reign was already in the process of beginning; although, she did not have a male counterpart yet… A king to stand by her side. Reino would not ever be taking up that mantle again. He firmly believed he had failed in that long ago, and didn't deserve the honor or the prestige. Kotetsu was grooming the boy for that. Hopefully Kyoko would accept him. She'd already accepted her Royal Guard without knowing it. Hell, she didn't even know what she meant to the community yet. She believed she was merely a common little worker bee in this hive. No, no. She was already the queen and others were accepting her as such. She had participated and planned many of the latest successful raids and rescues.

There were many crypto-humans that owed her greatly and eagerly followed her. She had done so much in the past months. Whether it was organizing the raids, personally attending to the orphans created by the humans, gathering resources, or even helping in the field hospitals, she was out there and she was behaving like a true leader. Without realizing it, she had become their Queen Mother.