Chapter 25

Never in his short life had he ever felt as inferior as he did when he was finally able to meet her again. For once in his life he felt compelled to kneel in submission before a woman, his queen, their queen. The way she carried herself, the way she looked. She was strong, yet gentle. He had witnessed her kindness and her cruelty during the recoveries of their people. She was highly intelligent and a quick learner. Most of all, she listened to those around her and took their advice. She was worthy of the title they had secretly bestowed upon her.

"So, that's what a Celestial looks like." The dark-haired male vamp next to him breathed out in awe.

Sho glanced at him. "Don't do anything stupid Kijima. She's not like us." He warned quietly. He glanced up and across the room to notice an irate and fuming Blonde Bakeneko sending him a warning glare. He nodded to her, to let Erika know he was paying attention.

She's changed so much. He thought morosely. It's my fault. He couldn't help, but remember his time in locked in the labs and wonder if they did the same to her. He'd asked others about their time, but no one cared to talk about their experience. He didn't even want to think what they would have done to her, considering the rumor that she was a culmination of them all. He'd heard somewhere that a Celestial was the most ancient of their species and she was rumored to be a pure one. The purest of the pure.

This meeting was more of an information session. They were being instructed to warn those they were caring for to be more cautious. The humans were trying to infiltrate their communities to root them out. Apparently they were trying for a mass extermination. It was only a matter of time before they just dropped the pretense and tried killing them openly. The crypto-humans that had recently been murdered, had been killed in a police station and labeled as terrorists. The desperation to segregate humanity had officially gone beyond the borders of insanity. It was only a matter of time before the humans did something incredibly stupid. There were several communities of crypto-humans that were stockpiling several underground locations and planning for a very grim future. It reminded many of the time when the fate of Earth was threatened with nuclear disasters in the past. Not that it ever went that far, but it could easily do so this time. Those types of weapons had become more precise over the years.

"Fuckers, they can't study us in their labs, so they want to destroy us." Hidehito hissed quietly in anger.

"You think they'll go after our families?" Sho asked, worried about his mother and father. Sure, they'd given him trouble in the past, but that was a normal thing between parents and their child and he knew it. He wondered what his mom and dad would think of him now. Would they go somewhere safe if he asked them to or would they consider him dead to them?

"In conclusion, if any of you have family that you can trust. You may want to make arrangements for their safety. It will only get worse before it gets better." He heard her comment sadly. "I know many of you have family that is human, so I won't blame you for not wishing to participate, but please remember that it is for the survival of our kind that you cannot reveal what you have learned today." She gave a final warning, knowing that these were her most trusted. Even if they weren't, she would still give them the chance to gather their loved ones and bring them. From her visions and the recent intel, she knew what they would face soon, she wished to save as many as possible.

Kouki Takarada stared at his father and daughter in shock. He'd hoped that what he'd witnessed had been a lie. He'd never told his father of the secret that he and Lina had shared before she died. He'd also hoped that Maria did not inherit their talents, yet she did. He fell to his knees and Maria flung herself into his arms apologizing to him.

"Maria… there's nothing wrong with you, my little princess." He told the sobbing little witch as he stroked her hair.

"Kouki, you and Maria need to go with Kyoko and her guards. They will take you somewhere safe." Lory announced as he sat behind his desk and pulled out a cigar. "I don't want you two involved in this."

Kouki looked up as his father and shook his head. "It's already too late for that, Dad. I got involved in it when Lina and I fell in love." He confessed.

Lory gave him a confused look and watched as his son murmured something, wiggled his fingers and his teacup was quickly filled with little gold spiders. "AH!" He laughed. "I was wondering where Maria got that, you scamp!" Lory groaned. "Okay… What do we do now?"

"Sorry I've been hiding it, Dad. I just…" He sighed out, still holding his stunned daughter.

"Daddy? You're like me? But…" Maria stammered in shock.

He gave her a soft smile. "I'm sorry, Princess. I only hid it to protect you, but I suppose it was something I should have told you." He confessed. He glanced up at his father. "I should have told you too, Dad. Sorry."

Lory sighed. It wasn't that he didn't think of getting completely immersed in this conflict, he just wanted to do it a bit more covertly. Now that he knew where Maria got her talents, there was far more at stake than he anticipated. All those years ago when Jun had teased him about her being a witch, he thought she was just playing around. Now, he could see that she wasn't. He wondered now about Ten. How many other unique people did he have surrounding him? He gave a small smile and a little chuckle. "No need boy. You take after your mother more than I thought." He alit from his seat and took his family in his arms. "I suppose we all need to make arrangements then." Yes, he would need to find a way to contact Kuu and Juli too. They probably wouldn't take any of the events well.

Kuon sat on the tiny cot in the barracks that they'd placed him in. He didn't want special treatment, and he certainly wasn't ready for her to see him yet, so he'd been placed with the other new recruits. It wasn't like this was something new to him; however, the circumstances were. Hiou had just come to tell him that if he could trust his parents, it would be advisable to retrieve them or find somewhere safe for them. He wasn't sure how to explain everything that had happened to him or what he was involved in. He was pretty sure that his father would jump at the chance to go with him, but he wasn't sure if his mother would come or force him to stay with them.

The visions he'd been having lately were terrifying. He didn't want to go home after and find the charred bones of his parents in the rubble of their home. He was certain that the upcoming events would stop for no one. Even if he'd been isolated at the Uesugi compound these past months, he was well aware of the direction things were going. One did not need to be a military genius to know something like that. Instead of capturing crypto-humans, they had started exterminating them. It was sickening and a prime of example of the worst that humanity could be, and it had only just started to warm up. They weren't even sparing children or the humans that lived with them. That was obvious from the small community of peaceful, reclusive Kappa that had been destroyed in Kyoto less than two weeks prior.

No! This was important. He would be going back to Los Angeles. He would not allow his mother and father perish in this nonsense.