Hey everybody! Sorry for the long hiatus...I really don't have an excuse. Just a bit of writer's block and a whole bunch of stuff happening in my life.

Things are still a bit crazy, but I'm just happy to be back and writing some. Sorry if a lot doesn't happen in this chapter. Just...be patient. Adventure lies ahead!

Bumping.

Emerald slowly opened her eyes, head slightly fuzzy as she tried to figure out why everything was shaking. To her immediate embarrassment, she felt Pierce's muscular thigh beneath her cheek, his hand holding her shoulder tightly as the bumping continued.

She immediately sat upright, startling the poor Daemos who in turn only held her close to his chest as the rattling kept on. "Emerald, please be careful! It isn't sa - !"

"Pierce." The bodyguard pushed away and took his head in her hands, turning him to face her. "It's okay. The plane is just hitting a little turbulence. We're perfectly safe. There's nothing to worry about." She glanced over quickly to see what Ava had done to calm the others down, only to discover the shorter woman holding on to both Noi and Asch in a deathgrip. Rhys and Leif were sitting in the seats across the aisle, the former looking very concerned while the latter had an almost-manic smile plastered on his lips.

"Really, Ava?" Emerald sighed, holding onto Pierce's hand as she turned to face everyone. "I know you get a bit freaked out during flights, but you could've at least tried to calm them down...or maybe woken me up?"

She shook her head tersely. "You needed to sleep." The barest hint of a smile twitched at the corner of her lips. "And you looked kind of cute cuddled up to Pierce."

"...be that as it may, all the guys look pretty upset. Did you tell them anything about what's going on?"

As if on cue, the overhead comms kicked to life. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are just about out of the turbulence and are currently on target to land at London Airport. It is currently 1422 local time, local weather is an absolutely lovely 75 degrees Fahrenheit and surprisingly sunny for this time of year. Please make sure any loose items are secured and remain in your seats. We will be landing in approximately ten minutes."

Emerald rubbed the bridge of her nose under her glasses, giving Pierce's hand another gentle squeeze before releasing it as she reached over and collected her papers. "Okay, here's what's going to happen: the plane is going to land. Once we get to the gate, some of the palace staff will meet us outside and take us straight to Windsor Palace to meet with Ally and Toby to go over the wedding plans again and smooth out any last-minute wrinkles."

Ava opened her mouth to ask a question, but the taller woman held up a hand. "I've already arranged for a separate group of staff to get our luggage and stuff to the hotel. Once we're done with the planning, we'll go get the guys fitted for their suits before going to the hotel for the evening."

Rhys nodded his head appreciatively, even if he still looked a bit fearful. "As usual, you seem to have everything under control."

Noi swallowed hard. "A-are you s-sure we're safe? It's very b-bumpy right now."

"It's just the air passing along the wings of the plane." Now that Emerald was awake, Ava seemed more relaxed and willing to help as she gave the smallest Daemos's hand a squeeze. "Feel that? It's already getting smoother."

The taller woman tuned her out as she finished putting the papers away, slowly becoming aware of Pierce still pressing against her side. "Hey, you okay?" she whispered, leaning in a little closer.

He nodded stiffly, eyes fixed firmly on her face. "I apologize for my earlier behavior. I did not mean to...act like that."

"It's okay." She let out a sigh. "I should've explained it a bit better to all of you. But hey - " She nudged his shoulder gently with her own. "Thanks for letting me get that nap in. I definitely feel a lot better now." A soft chuckle. "Sorry for falling asleep on you. It probably wasn't very comfortable."

Her actions shook Pierce out of his earlier paralysis, bringing a slight blush to his cheeks as he sat back in his seat. "Oh, uh...of course."

"Hey!" Leif called out, fixing both of them with a hard stare. "Are we there yet?! It was exciting when I thought we were gonna die, but now I'm bored again!"

"Oh, calm down." Ava rolled her eyes, settling back into her seat as she extracted her hands from Asch and Noi's grips. "You know, not every minute of the day needs to be filled with near-death experiences. Why don't you just chill out for once?!"

Rhys nodded, trying to regain his usual calm demeanor. "I agree. Now that Emerald is awake and reassured us, we should all calm down and just see what happens next. I will admit, I am looking forward to observing the marriage rituals you humans have here on Earth."

"Well, as I said before, royal weddings are a bit more over-the-top and rely on a lot of ceremony, but they're still pretty neat." The shorter woman grinned tightly when the plane gave a small shudder as the landing gear came out. "As long as you guys listen to me and Em, everything should be a lot of fun!"

Emerald nodded, visibly leaning into Pierce's shoulder to reassure him as the plane rocked lightly. "Just...try to stay focused. Okay?"

The Daemos all nodded (some more grudgingly than others) their agreement. "You can count on us," Rhys assured her.

Almost immediately, that promise seemed to be tested.

It wasn't enough that the plane was stuck in security limbo for nearly twenty minutes, making everyone more nervous as they were stuck inside. The gaggle of extra security waiting as they deplaned made nearly all of them visibly stiffen...

...except for Emerald, it seemed. She stepped forward confidently to greet the dark-suited man at the front of the group. "Hey Jones. How's everything been going so far?"

He nodded curtly towards her. "Vichana. Preparations are on track so far...no thanks to the last-minute 'guests' your charge decided to add."

The taller woman took it in stride as she held out a small stack of papers. "I think you'll find everything in order here." She looked past him over his shoulder. "Are your people ready to take the bags on ahead? We need to make sure we're on time for our meeting with Princess Alice and Mr. Doctant."

Jones nodded again as he made a small gesture, taking the papers and giving them a quick glance as several other people surged forward towards the cargo compartment of the aircraft. "They are already waiting for you at Windsor Palace. However..." he trailed off, taking in the Daemos. "I must say, it is rather...irregular...for guests to be privy to such meetings. Perhaps it would be better if we arranged for your guests to wait for you at the hotel?"

Emerald shook her head firmly. "I assure you, their presence will not be a hinderance to the preparations. I take full responsibility for their behavior while in the presence of the princess."

Jones paused, meeting her eyes. "Really? That's a rather...bold statement. Are you positive?"

She met his gaze without blinking. "Of course. You know my track record: I can assure you they will not cause any disturbances."

Ava gave a small nod next to her, stepping forward. "I'll make sure they don't do anything rude, Mr. Jones." She gave a well-practiced smile. "Besides, Em and I have known both Princess Alice and Tob - Mr. Doctant for a number of years. We would never bring in anyone untrustworthy."

Emerald winced slightly at her words, but quickly recovered. "If it's all right with you Jones, we'll be on our way. Is the car ready, or do you need us to sign off on the bags?"

Jones paused for only a moment before shaking his head and giving the barest of smiles. "No, I will take care of things here. As usual, you have everything in order, Miss Vichana. I will make sure your luggage is delivered safely to your suite at The Lanesborough."

She returned his smile. "Thank you, Jones. I'll see you tomorrow at the rehearsal?"

"Of course. See you tomorrow."

As the Daemos followed the two humans towards the car, they found their thoughts somewhat chaotic by what they had just witnessed.

'Ava and Emerald are guests here, yet they seemed to completely command the interaction back there,' Rhys mused, studying the two human females as they walked ahead. 'It seems they have more power than we originally gave them credit for.'

'Ava took control of that situation masterfully,' Asch crowed to himself, sneaking a glance at the shorter woman with approval. 'Of course, I would expect no less from my future mate.'

'They're both SO COOL!' Noi gushed to himself, eyes almost sparkling as he followed along behind the others.

'This is BORING! When's the ceremonial hunt begin?!' Leif glowered at the others, trying not to let his impatience show.

Pierce followed closely behind Emerald, sparing a quick glance over his shoulder at the human she had called "Jones." 'She handled that other human so easily. It is rather impressive how she was able to subdue him.' He felt himself puff up slightly with pride: she was a credit both to her species and her position.

None of the Daemos seemed particularly bothered as they got into the limo ahead of the two humans. "They're being so good!" Ava gushed as she watched them enter the vehicle.

"Hey, chill," Emerald warned softly. "They're not like the Queen's corgis: don't treat them like pets."

"Oh, relax." The shorter woman stuck out her tongue, but quickly found her mouth covered by the taller woman's hand. "Hey! What the - ?!"

"Shhhh!" Emerald gently shoved her into the car, quickly closing the door behind them before tapping on the glass divider. "Don't you remember where we are?! The Paparazzi are literally crawling everywhere and I don't feel like bailing your ass out of trouble today!"

Ava frowned, but settled herself between Noi and Leif as the limo pulled out. "Fine, I guess." She crossed her arms over her chest, full-on pouting. "You know, we have them back home too, but you don't freak out like this when they're being obnoxious..."

"That's because I have a pretty good handle on what those ones are going to do. I'm not sure how trigger-happy they are over here, especially with the wedding coming up in two days." The taller woman gave her a pleading look. "Just...try to be nice when we're out in public. Please? For me?"

Ava gave one last half-hearted glare before sighing and nodding. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Besides, we're going to attract a lot more attention than usual with these guys: best not to give them any extra ammo if we can help it."

"Ammo?" Noi tilted his head inquisitively. "Is there a chance we're going to be attacked?!"

Leif pulled out his knives, his smile almost as sharp as the blades. "Is it time for the hunt?!" he practically growled, twitching in anticipation.

"Oh, I didn't know you humans here shared such a custom with us!" Rhys sounded enthusiastic, but his eyes betrayed a rather worried look at this previously-unknown level of violence from the two women.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa! What's this about hunting?!" Ava glared at the Daemos. "No one's doing any hunting!"

"Oh, are we not allowed to participate?" Asch seemed disappointed. "But I guess that makes sense: only the newlyweds are supposed to deliver the killing blows. On Daemos - "

"No one is hunting anything!" Emerald took a deep breath, trying to rein in her emotions as she clenched her fists on her lap. "Look, just put the weapons away." She pointed a finger aggressively at Leif. "So help me, if you ever do that again while we're here in this country, I'll find a way to chuck you all the way back to whatever world you came from myself!"

The former assassin gaped at her in disbelief. "You...you can't! You don't have any magic!"

She leaned closer, voice dropping to a deadly quiet. "Try me..."

Rhys waved a hand between the two of them. "Do what she says, Leif. I will not tolerate you ruining this chance to observe the marriage rituals of this world!"

Asch nodded. "I agree: this is a rare opportunity we have, and I will be very upset if we are not able to watch."

Leif flicked his gaze between the three of them before sighing angrily and putting his knives away. "Fine..."

Ava let out a relieved sigh, glancing over at Noi and giving him a slight smile. "No one's going to attack us, Noi. It's just a figure of speech: it doesn't mean we're in danger." She let out a nervous laugh. "Em likes to exaggerate sometimes. Let's just relax and enjoy the ride. Okay?"

The smallest Daemos let out a light giggle, settling back in his seat. "Okay!"

Rhys sighed heavily, leaning back against his own seat in silent relief. 'That was too close,' he thought, glancing over at the two human women. 'Emerald sounded ready to actually fight Leif, which would have ended disastrously. I am not sure if even Prince Asch would have been able to separate them had it come to that.'

The Prince in question leaned in closer to his advisor. "Do you think she could actually do that? Send us back to Daemos?"

"I am not sure, your Highness. From what I have seen, neither Ava nor Emerald seem capable of wielding magic. But that might be because we have been fortunate enough not to incite them to action." He nodded slightly towards the taller woman. "If either of them were capable of it, I would most certainly believe it to be Emerald. She seemed ready to take on Leif without a single hesitation."

Asch scowled as he looked at her. "I will not allow anyone to interfere with our mission here. Do you understand?"

Rhys nodded again, barely noticable. "I understand, your Highness."