Nia hung her head as she made her way towards the supernatural department. After making sure she wasn't going to lose control again Alexander had taken off, reminding her once more that he was perfectly willing to help her learn to control her magic. At this point the girl really didn't see any other options.
It didn't help that he hadn't explained what he meant earlier about waiting for the others to find Sear. When she asked him to clarify he just smirked once more and told her not to worry about it. He was so smug. Like he already knew everything and was just enjoying watching it play out. She still couldn't get a real read on him.
But that could be saved for later. Right now she needed to help out any way she could. As she made her way into the department, the others looked up and seemed surprised to see her. "Nia?" Damian asked before heading towards the girl. "Are you sure you should be up and about already? Kingsley said you'd be resting for a bit."
She shook her head. "I can rest after we find Sear. Now, I know Kingsley sent some people out already, but is there anything we can do from here? A tracking spell or something like that?"
The others all shared a glance. "Uh… we've been looking into stuff like that," Envie said before putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Listen Nia, maybe you should just take a breather and let us handle it. You just got up a little while ago after all right?"
The princess frowned at her. "I can't, I have to-"
Sky cut her off. "Nia, we all know what happened. We know you did everything you could to get him back. You did literally everything you could do, and more. We're just worried you might be pushing yourself too hard too soon," she explained.
Nia balled her fist up. She knew they were worried about her, but she felt like she couldn't stop now. Not when there was still something she might be able to do. "Listen Nia, you've already done enough," Damian said. "Now you can leave the rest to us. We will bring Sear back safely. I promise."
Before she or anyone else could respond, a figure rushed into the room and tackled Nia to the ground. Everyone looked shocked as Sear pounced on top of the princess and began licking her face. None of them more looked surprised than the princess herself. "Holy shit, you really know how to deliver!" Vivian said looking towards Damian. "Promise me two million bucks!"
"Wait, how?!" Nia said, finally managing to push the dragon back enough to sit up. Had the others managed to find him already? Had they clashed with the Youngblood?
"I see there are some new faces here."
Everyone turned towards the door and saw Astro making his way in. All of them, save Junji and Ezra who had no idea who he was, looked shocked. "Astro?!" Nia said getting back up.
Sear ran back over to the prince who patted him on the head. "Hey, it's been a while," he said, giving a casual wave. "Sorry I didn't head straight here after I got back. I saw what was happening with Sear and decided to handle that first. Then I stopped and got something to eat. Everything in Tartarus tastes horrible."
The others quickly made their way over to greet the prince, except Nia who just stood there and stared with a blank expression. "It's nice to see you again Astro!" Damian said happily. "When did you get back? How did you know about Sear?"
"A few hours ago, I used the All-Seeing Eye."
Vivian walked over and punched him in his side. "You goof! You've been gone for three weeks! We were starting to wonder if you were dead! I was gonna get my uncle to check on you."
Astro chuckled. "Well, as you can see I'm alive and well... and only three weeks? It was three months in Tartarus. I guess time really does pass differently in other dimensions."
"Three months?!" Serena said shocked. "You've really been gone for that long?!"
"Well, it did you some real good," Envie said looking him up and down. She had noticed he built a bit more muscle. "You grew your hair out too."
He grunted. "Yeah, I need a haircut. Maria doesn't care for long hair. Or beards," he said rubbing his chin. It wasn't much, but there was a small patch growing there. He then looked over towards Nia, who had still just been staring at him. "Hello Nia. It's good to see you again."
He walked towards the girl and reached up to pat her on the head, but she slapped his hand away. The others looked surprised as Nia took a step back. "You… you've been gone…" she said narrowing her eyes at him. "You've been gone for three weeks…"
Unlike the others, Astro didn't seem at all fazed by his baby sister's sudden action. He hummed. "Well like I said, it's been three months where I was, but I understand what you mean. It has been a while hasn't it?"
Nia shook her head and sighed. She really hadn't known how she was going to react when she saw her brother again. She had felt a mix of emotions towards him, but right now the one at the forefront was anger. Mostly because… he was being so nonchalant about all this.
"Do you… I don't… you've been gone for three weeks!" she shouted.
"You said that already," he said before letting out a yawn. "You seem a little upset."
Nia looked at him in disbelief. "A little-?! You jerk!" she said shoving him. Or at least trying to. He didn't even budge. "You can't just show up after three weeks and come back like you just got back from vacation or something! Do you know what's been going on all this time?! We needed you! Sear needed you! I needed you!"
The prince nodded. "So you are upset then?"
Nia growled before firing a blast of wind at him. This time he was pushed back a few feet. The princess glared at him before turning around and storming out of the room. "I can't believe I wanted you back so badly…" she muttered.
Everyone just watched as she left, and after a few moments Damian turned towards Astro. "Uh, I know we have a lot to catch up on and discuss, but perhaps you should go talk to her and sort things out first?" he asked.
Astro shook his head. "She'll be fine. She just needs time to cool off," he said bluntly. "Now what exactly have I missed since I've been away?"
Nia made her way down the sidewalk with an angered look on her face. She couldn't believe him. How could he just show back up and just act like everything was the same? And then the way he just brushed off how upset she was!
"You okay blondie?" She looked over towards AJ who was walking alongside her. He had caught her storming out of the base and of course had come along with her. "You've been fuming ever since we left. What did your brother do anyway?"
She sighed. "He's just… he's too laid back about all of this," she said pouting.
AJ hummed. "Guess you're right. Man, this brother sister stuff must be complicated."
"He left me on my own all that time! I've been trying to figure out all these weird powers and he was traveling around with his dad! Then he doesn't even bother acting like he's sorry! Like he doesn't even care!" she complained.
"Maybe he's just got dimension lag or something?" AJ offered.
"Or maybe he's just a jerk."
"That could be it too."
Just as the princess opened her mouth to let out another biting insult towards her brother, they heard a loud crash followed by shaking. Nia and AJ both steadied themselves before looking up and seeing a large figure off in the distance. It was a monster. "What the hell?!" AJ said. "How the hell did that thing here?!"
There was no way it had gotten this far into the city without the alarms going off. Townville was way too used to monster attacks to slip up and let something like that get in unchecked. Nia looked just as confused. She knew that Hank had some kind of monster tracker or something to help spot these things before they got close to the city borders. He always gave everyone a warning so whoever was closest could intercept it.
"Stay here and call Ezra or somebody! I'm going to try and stop that thing before it does too much damage!" Nia said as she took off into the air. AJ yelled after her, but she kept going. She couldn't afford to wait around for back up.
As she got closer, she could see the monster more clearly. It was an enormous dragon-like creature covered in silvery white scales. It had a pair of piercing blood red eyes, and multiple sets of a razor sharp teeth. "He's a big one…" Nia muttered as she flew it towards it. Thankfully everyone, used to attacks like this, was already clearing the area.
She was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to help everyone and fight this thing at the same time, so she needed to focus on keeping it busy.
The dragon let out a loud roar before taking in a breath. Nia looked confused for a moment, but then quickly realized what she was doing. "No! No! No!" She quickly sped in front of it, and then brought her hands back, just as the dragon shot out an intense stream of flames from his mouth. "Updraft!"
The princess swung her hands upwards, a twister rising up from the ground below and pulling the flames upwards. She winced as she put her all into keeping the flames away from the building behind her. Even from there she could feel the heat, and she knew if she let it pass it'd turn everything it hit into ashes.
After what seemed like forever, the flames finally died down and Nia dropped her arms as the dragon growled and locked its eyes on her. She glared back at it. "That's right, keep your eyes on me…" she said before firing off a blast of wind. It hit the dragon, doing little more than irritating it. Nia began flying off, and it angrily followed. "That's right, follow me!"
The dragon looked like it was about to charge, but it suddenly stopped. Nia turned back around and saw it was just sitting there. "What the…" It turned back around and then began taking aim at another building. "No!"
Nia quickly rushed over and hit it with another blast before it could shoot. It grunted before whipping its tail at her, which she just barely managed to avoid. This thing was smarter than it looked. It obviously wasn't just going to let her lead it out of the city. It was planning on sticking its ground right here. She'd just have to do damage control until the others arrived.
"Alright then!" She lifted the wand before transforming it into a lance. She flew down towards the dragon, avoiding another swing of it's claws, and then stabbed down at him. The lance hit him right in the shoulder, but it bounced right off, sending her flying back. Nia quickly balanced herself just in time to fly out of the way of another swipe of its tail.
This thing was tougher than it looked.
It once again took aim at another building, swinging its claw at it. Nia flew in front of the building and lifted her arms, making a barrier of wind around herself. When the claw made contact with the barrier, it pushed her back quite a bit, but managed to stop it just before they came in contact with the building.
Nia yelled out before dispersing the barrier, knocking the dragon's arm away. "Could today seriously get any worse?!" she snapped before turning the wand into a bow. She was going to need to hit this thing with something that packed a little more punch. "Blaze Blue Arrow!"
She fired off an arrow of bright blue flames. This attack actually managed to stagger the beast. Nia smiled. "There we go!" she said, firing another arrow. She started a barrage of attacks on the dragon, circling around it to keep it in one place. She just needed to keep this up.
The dragon let out an angry roar, which stunned the princess, before swinging it's neck around and headbutting Nia. The girl was sent flying back a few blocks before slamming into the ground. She bounced a few times before finally coming to a stop in front of a nearby building. Nia took in a deep breath and grabbed her arm.
Her body was already starting to heal itself, but with the crash she just took plus her injuries from earlier, it was going to take a while. Unfortunately the dragon wasn't planning on giving her much time at all. It opened its mouth and started charging another blast of fire.
Nia opened her eyes and saw it getting ready to fire. She groaned before rolling over and pushing herself up to her feet. "You've got to be kidding…" she muttered. She couldn't take another attack like that. She might have been able to block it with a giant shield, but there was no telling if it might bounce off and damage some other art of the city.
But… maybe if she switched to Titania… No! She couldn't lose control like that again. She'd just have to handle this on her own. She got ready to cast another spell, but suddenly the dragon seemed to just stop. A terrified look came across its face as it stopped charging up it's blast and then turned around, spreading its wings before taking off into the air. For a creature so large, it moved fairly fast through the sky.
Nia looked utterly confused as she watched it fly off into the distance. That… didn't make any sense. What type of monster just showed up, acted so strange, and then left randomly. Why did it show up? How did it get here? Why did it leave? There were so many questions running through her head right now.
But for the moment, she let herself just flop out and be relived. She really wasn't sure she could have fought that thing, so she was glad that it left.
High up above her however, the princess was completely unaware that the father of monsters was sitting on a building watching the dragon flee. He smiled to himself. He had thought since he had been gone so long that any lingering or new monsters here wouldn't recognize his presence. But it seemed like he hadn't lost his edge after all.
All he had to do was show up, and that little welp tucked tail and ran. He wasn't sure what they were thinking about sending that thing after her, but he would have had to deal with Astro's whining if his son figured out he was here and just sat back and watched. Plus it was fun to flex his power a bit.
"Typhon the Terrible."
The king hummed and then looked over to his side. Standing near him was a platinum blonde woman who was dressed in a white gown. He could feel the divine energy just pouring off of her. A smile made its way onto his face. "Let me guess, you're the new supreme goddess?" he asked standing up. "What happened to the last one? Slain in battle? For beings who call themselves gods you all seem to have a knack for getting yourselves killed."
Hera narrowed her eyes at him, and he just smirked back. "So what do I owe the pleasure of your presence, oh supreme goddess. Surely you have more important things to do than bother a poor old man who's simply sightseeing."
"Drop the act Typhon. I've heard all about you from Eris, and I know about the pact that you made with us years ago," Hera said, crossing her arms. "I'm not sure why you're here, but I only came to tell you that I won't let you cause any trouble."
Typhon put his hand over his heart in mock offense. "Really? I'm hurt. You think I'd hang on to some old grudge from years ago? No, I have much bigger things on my mind."
"Like interfering in mortal affairs? Something that's clearly not allowed by-"
Typhon leaned down in front of her and bared his teeth. "Don't presume to tell me what I am and am not allowed to do. You may be the queen of your pantheon, but you're nothing to me. The only woman allowed to tell me what to do is long dead," he growled.
Hera looked unintimidated. "If you think I'm going to let you run wild here you're in a very grim surprise. I'm not afraid or intimidated by you, and I won't think twice about bringing you down," she warned, poking him in the chest.
She and Typhon stared off for a few moments, and then he smirked. "I like you," he said standing back up. He turned back towards where Nia was. "Anyhow, you don't have to worry about me running wild. I've no real interest in this dimension anymore. I'll only involve myself wherever Oberon is involved."
Hera raised an eyebrow. "Oberon?" she asked, confused.
Typhon chuckled. "Ask Eris." He spread his wings and god ready to take off, but then looked over his shoulder. "Oh, by the way. I roughed up some bastard by the name of Chase. He stole my son's dragon, and since he's only half mortal I technically got involved in a divine affair. You don't have a problem with that do you?"
Hera sighed and shook her head. That was a half assed excuse, and they both knew it. But it wasn't worth getting into an argument over. There wasn't anything she could do about it now. "Don't let it happen again," she said in a warning tone.
Typhon smirked. "No promises…" With that he took off into the air, shooting off into the distance. Hera stared after him. She had a feeling he was going to be troubled.
She then looked down towards Nia. There was definitely some kind of divine aura around her. It was small and nearly untapped, but it was there. Did it have something to do with Oberon?
The dragon soared through the air as fast as it could, desperately trying to get as far away from Typhon as possible. Once it got far enough from the city, the creature suddenly began to glow around it's whole body. It began slowly shrinking down, going from a massive monster to a small bird sized lizard.
It approached a mountain where a blue skinned figure sat on the edge, watching over Townville with an amused look. The dragon perched itself on the feminine figure's shoulder, lowering it's heard and looking saddened. "Oh, don't worry poor baby. I'm not mad," she said reaching up and scratching it under its chin. It purred happily at the contact.
"Mama just didn't expect that big brute to be lingering around. He and his little spawn are going to be in real trouble," she said clearly annoyed. She had wanted to see what Nia could really do if she was backed up into a corner. So far she had only shown a small burst of her real power, but she needed to know what she could really do.
If Typhon was going to be looming over her however, anything she sent to test her would be either scared away or killed. "This complicates things. Gramps never likes when things get complicated. Stubborn old goat," she said before floating up into the air.
"But… maybe this can work out. I might have an excuse to go see my cute little cousin in person now…"