Scarlet pulled out her key from her pocket and twisted the lock with a sigh. She was still thinking about the note from I'm her pocket.

'Counseling, yeah right,' just as she was about to open the door a scent wafted into her nose. It was Kaiju, but not Duncan. She slowly opened the door to find that there was no one in the kitchen nor the living room. Scarlet laid her backpack on the couch and followed the scent down the hall. When she got to her room the scent was the strongest, but no one seemed to be around.

"Whoever you are I know you're still in here so, you might as well come out," Scarlet peered around again until she noticed her closet.

Something seemed off, but she couldn't tell what. Then she realized something and quickly dove under her bed for the box. She pulled it open to find everything where it was left. With a big sigh she slid it back under and turned her attention again to the closet. Scarlet slowly moved closer until she was able to turn the light on yet still there was nothing to find. A thought crossed her mind, 'If it's him then he's probably looking for the necklace I better wear it in case he comes out.'

Scarlet went back, took the necklace from the box, and hung it on her body before announcing, "If you want it Belloc come and take it!"

She left her room in an effort to retrieve her backpack, but instead found the red-skinned king tapping his nail as he sat at the kitchen table. His face was in the usual unamused look and his black nails made a loud tapping sound. "First off," he began, "I am your father and you will address me as such. Secondly, we need to talk."

"How long have you been here?" Scarlet asked as she sat down across from him.

"Don't change the subject. Now, I need the necklace."

"I'm guessing there's something special about that writing then and you're not gonna tell me for whatever secret Kaiju reason."

The king gave a small smirk, "You're very intuitive, but I need the necklace Scarlet."

The clock ticker for about a solid ten seconds until she replied, "Why can't you just be honest with me? If you answer me I'll give you the necklace."

Belloc's face went from complete unamusement to slight disappointment, "Would you really just hand over a family heirloom to satisfy your emotions? Learn this now child emotions are fickle things and if you let them control your choices you'll find yourself with more baggage than before. At the least be strategic and satisfy both your actual needs and desires."

"You'd know wouldn't you?" She then stood up and put the necklace around her, "You should really be proud though because you didn't answer my question."

Just then the door opened and Duncan walked in immediately asking, "How do you know where we live?"

"Simple tracking son, you should know that," the king stood up, "but since you were wondering I was just leaving." He walked passed Duncan, stopped in the doorway, and shifted into his human form, "Scarlet we're training this weekend starting at dawn. Don't be late."

With that he shut the door and was gone.

Scarlet yawned as the sun was peeking over the horizon. She stretched as she looked around for her father. The desert was quiet, but she could smell his scent. She looked up, she looked down, and all around, but nothing. She yelled, "Bell...father what are we doing today?!"

Just then the ground erupted and before she knew it Scarlet found herself on the ground. She looked up and found the king brushing dust from his hair. Scarlet sat up as he grudgingly said, "I should be giving you a lesson on tracking, but fortunately for you we're doing strength exercises."

Scarlet gave a painful smirk, "I don't know how that'll work out for you. My strength fluctuates."

"I know, your brothers did too, but by the time I got to him he was a little more balanced."

"Balanced?"

"Yes," he got into his fighting stance, "this will sound somewhat "crazy" daughter, but your strength at this young age is dependent upon two things: what you learn and what you have confidence in doing. So in all things be confident."

The hybrid mimicked his stance, "I can kinda get behind that. It's crazy, but believable."

"Good," Belloc goes for a blow on the ribs, but Scarlet dodges. The two go back and forth for some time. Scarlet dodging majority of the time and Belloc dishes it out. The king was growing impatient though and growled thinking, 'This is meant to test your strength not your dodging ability'.

Finally Belloc grabbed the princess' wrist, "If you don't fight back now I will make you."

Scarlet stared him in the eyes as his grip began to crush her wrist. The pain went soaring up her arms, but Scarlet held strong. She could see the veins on her hands bulging and shaking, but all she could think was, 'I won't let him see me in pain let alone cry. That's what he wants!'

Belloc's face showed annoyance as he continued to tighten. Scarlet put her head down and bit her tongue as her breathing continued to become heavier. Her whole body began to shake when eventually one of her knees hit the ground. Belloc leaned in and whispered, "I'm not afraid to break you."

Scarlet took a deep breath, "I know…" she gripped her numbing hands, "I'm not either!"

The hybrid lifted her arms and threw the Kaiju king over her head as hard as she could, but he still held on and like a cat landed on his feet. Belloc returned the favor by pulling her up with much more force than she'd done to him, but she too landed on her feet and didn't continue the cycle. Instead, she took her knee, hit it as high as it could go, and sent her father head flying backwards. He cracked his head back with his eyes glowing through his hair, "That's more like it."

Scarlet continued her assault with a kick to the ribs, a knee to the chest, and even a good shin jab, but he wouldn't budge. Scarlet then realized that she almost didn't feel her hands and took a big, pain strickened gulp. She looked her father in the eyes and remembered all the times she wished and prayed he was there, all the trouble her brother went through for her, all the broken hearted moments in her life, but that's when she also got the strange feeling of thankfulness. With a grin, she pulled their hands closer to her chest and started spinning. Scarlet kept going and going no matter how hard it was to get father off the ground. The sand was being kicked up and the air could be heard in both their ears. The two began forming a small dust devil, but Belloc's feet still weren't fully off the ground. The pain was beginning to become unbearable so, in the middle of another twist slung her foot out and finally kicked up her father's feet. It wasn't too long before his nails could be felt slipping from her wrist. Through all the wind Scarlet yells, "Are you proud of me now?"

Just then Belloc's grip slipped and he was sent flying across the desert. Scarlet shook her hands back to life as the dust began to fall. All of sudden there was a sharp pain on her foot; looking down she saw it was a lizard and turned around to pick it up. The lizard eyed her for a moment but was pushed off her hand by a much stronger, hotter breeze. A small chill went up teens spine, but before she could turn around his hand grabbed her. Scarlet looked around the dark and hot area to find nothing and her slight claustrophobia started to set in. Her breathing got heavy and her palms got sweaty, but somehow she managed to grab the sides of fist and push. Even with her hands not yet fully recovered Scarlet managed to open his fist. The two were staring at each other eye to eye; the only difference was that Belloc could read her face or rather sense her emotions and Scarlet could not. He loosened up his one hand and dropped her into the other. He narrowed his eyes saying, "I have something to show you."

He propped her on his head and the two proceeded to go down into the Kaiju Lair. The journey seemed somewhat longer than usual, but then again Scarlet had no idea where they were going. Scarlet tapped her fingers on his scales when she heard a low sound come from below her. She stopped tapping for a second and then started tapping again only to hear that same low sound. Sighing she asked, "Do you feeling my tapping?"

"No, I feel your worry. What is there to worry about?"

"Other than this new location I'm going to nothing. I'm just thinking." They sat in only the sound of his footsteps for about another minute when Scarlet asked, "Where were you?"

"Taking care of a few things."

"And you couldn't even write a letter, or call, or something? If it was to protect us I won't ask anymore questions, but I just want some kind of explanation."

"Secrets have power, and that power diminishes when they are shared, so they are best kept and kept well. Sharing secrets, real secrets, important ones, with even one other person, will change them."

The quote made her spirit burn, but she returned it, "No legacy is as rich as honesty."

Just then they'd made it to their destination. Scarlet's eyes grew wide as she looked around at a room full of all the treasures one could imagine. The number one thing that surrounded them was gold, but there were also Jade, Rubies, Jasper, Spinel, fossils, and other items such as jewelry, weapons, and surprisingly some clothing. Something else caught her eye though

Scarlet jumped down in awe, "I thought you only had one hoard?"

A chuckle escaped from his lips, "I have many child."

Scarlet went over to a pile and picked a large diamond, "At least you hoard pretty things."

Belloc went and layed on a pile as he watched his daughter explore for a few moments, "Pick anything you want."

"What?!"

"You heard me."

Scarlet quickly put down the kimono, "What do you want? You'd never give up anything from this place."

The king narrowed his eyes and lowly said, "You know what I want."

Scarlet looked down at the necklace and again said, "No, I don't know why this is so important to you, but it was mom's and she gave it to me. You can make do whatever or bribe me I don't care I'm not giving it up."

"Geez Scarlet you look worn out," Garnet said with concern.

"That's because I am. The great King of the Kaiju had me with him for nineteen of the twenty-four hours of the day all weekend," she dumped her books into her locker.

Finn scratched the back of his head, "You've been workin' then huh?"

"No kidding," just then the three heard footsteps approaching them.

It was Piper, "Hey guys!"

"Hey!"

"You look really...wet," Garnet pointed out.

"Oh yeah I just got out of the shower...Finn," she started shuffling through her backpack before whispering, "I got that extra strong pepper spray you wanted."

Just before Finn could grab it Garnet grabs his hand, "What's wrong with you?"

"Well for starters I don't have the body of a jock."

"Finn, you know I'll handle it if I have to," Scarlet said and Garnet shook her head in agreeance.

"You guys don't have to do that. I don't want anyone getting in trouble."

Garnet objected, "We don't want you getting in trouble!"

"Um," Piper poked her head in, "may I suggest another solution?" She shuffled around in her backpack again, "I figured you might be a little apprehensive about this so, I got this instead." The brunette pulled out a book that read Self Defense For Beginners.

The teenage boy eyed his two friends before saying, "Fine, but I'm still keeping the pepper spray for emergencies." Garnet just sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Anyways did you guys hear about the field trip?" She looked around to find curious faces, "I'm guessing not. Well we're supposed to be going to the Human History Museum on Friday and, even bigger news, that's the day after they unveil the Humans and Kaiju exhibit."

Scarlet perked up with more curiosity, "Piper you're kidding?"

"Nope believes it'll be a "Wonderful opportunity to learn about the world we currently live in"."

'I think it'll be a little more than that…'

"Well I should probably be getting to class. You know how hates people being late," Piper waved goodbye.

"Wait!" Scarlet stopped her, "who's chaperoning?"

"Well other than there's , and I think Coach Jenna. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious."