Tenpou sighs while shaking his head at my behavior.
"I should have seen this coming when I saw him here." Tenpou says, looking from me to my father. "And tell me, Dragon, what is the purpose that we were summoned? What kind of mission? How long will it take? How many of us are going? Where are we going?" Tenpou questions, firing off any and all questions that should happen to come to mind. My father turns to look at him with a look that clearly screams surprise.
"Well, you shall find out shortly when the Phoenix gets here." the Dragon says, looking toward the door behind him that's covered in cloth. The two of them look toward it with a look of recognition.
"Well, no need to wait any longer. I have arrived." an older man says as he walks through the door, his greying hair hanging down in his face, covering his eyes. Everyone besides me bow to the man. He turns to look at me with recognition. "You must be my dear brother's son." the Phoenix says, looking at my father, who nods. He walks down the steps, and over toward me, only to see my eyes closed and my shoctra glowing a strange purple. "And what's this?" he questions.
"Dammit boy!" My father shouts as he jumps to his feet and marches down the steps, toward me. With one swift movement, he goes to grab me, only to have my hand shoot up, and grab his wrist. I tighten my hold on his wrist. Tenpou turns to look what's going on when he hears my father's sudden cry of discomfort.
"Oh, fuck no!" Tenpou shouts as he runs over toward me. "Excuse me, sir." he says as he kneels next to me, barely giving the Phoenix time to get out of the way before getting hit. He places his pointer finger on my forehead, right on top of my shoctra. "Luka. LUKA! Listen to me!" Tenpou shouts.
"What are you doing?" the Phoenix questions, looking down at Tenpou with confusion as he sees the sweat soaked brunette hair sticking to the bottom of his neck. Tenpou completely ignores him though, as he begins to mutter something while tracing my shoctra. The Phoenix watches in complete surprise as he sees me fall forward, onto Tenpou's lap. Tenpou sighs in relief.
"Well, that took an awful lot longer than it used to." Konzen says as he walks up next to Tenpou, and holds me while Tenpou gets off the ground. Tenpou takes me from him as soon as he's on his feet.
"It's been so long since we've seen each other that it doesn't surprise me. After all, bonds do have a nasty habit of breaking when enough distance is between the bonded." Tenpou says with a sigh, completely forgetting that they're not supposed to have such a bond and that the one that can exact punishment is standing mere inches away from the three of them.
"What kind of a bond are we talking about? Not the forbidden one, I hope." the Merciful Goddess says as she walks in the room. The four of them turn toward her.
"Of course it isn't!" Konzen says, glaring at her that she would even bring it up.
"Oh, don't worry. I was only joking. No one in the last thousand years has been able to perform that bonding ceremony and live." the Merciful Goddess says with a grin on her face. She turns toward me with a far too unsure look in her eyes. "It is unfortunate that the Dragon would not listen to me about the whole situation though...I would rather have told him the dangers to himself for forcing such a thing on such a young son." she says before shaking her head.
"Does someone mind filling me in on just what is going on here? And what did my brother do against your better judgment?" the Phoenix asks, looking at his sister-in-law with confusion.
"He separated Luka from his commanding officer just so that they would not have contact with each other before sending said commanding officer off to the western army." the Goddess says, looking at her son with something close to pity.
"And when did this happen?" the Phoenix demands, irritation evident in the way he's looking at his brother.
"Oh...how long ago do you say it was, Tenpou?" the Goddess asks, turning to Tenpou. Who is currently attempting to get me to come out of the trance I put myself in. He turns to look at her with confusion.
"What was that? I am sorry, I was preoccupied with this one." Tenpou says, pointedly looking down at me.
"Completely understand. And I repeat, how long since you were moved to the Western Army?" the Goddess asks, looking at Tenpou pointedly. He's quiet for a moment before looking back up.
"Sixty...years, I believe?" Tenpou says, making it sound like a question the way he said it. Both the Goddess and the Phoenix's eyes widen.
"Has it really been that long?" the Goddess questions herself as she looks back on what had all happened since Tenpou's promotion.
"How come I was never informed that one of my Generals were moving out of the land?" the Phoenix demands, looking back at his servants and the various other people that had come in the room with him. They merely shrug.
"It was...made to be a punishment for me...he wasn't supposed to have been there...long...ger than a few ye...ars." I mutter as I attempt to sit up and get the breath that I hadn't breathed since I went into the trance back. Everyone looks at me in surprise except Tenpou, who refuses to meet my eyes.
"I think it's time we stop talking about this." Tenpou says, grabbing one of my arms, and forcing me to stand up with him. I stumble slightly before turning to my uncle, aka the Phoenix.
"What was it that you called us here for?" I question, looking at him with confused eyes. He turns to me with a smile on his face.
"You are to guard and protect your cousin." the Phoenix says, turning and walking back up to his chair. Konzen and I look at each other in confusion.
"Um...what?" Tenpou asks, looking at the Phoenix with confusion. "Isn't Prince Damien old enough to protect himself?" Tenpou questions, referring to my older cousin, who is currently with the army in the Southern Lands. The Phoenix looks at us with a smug look.
"No, no, no. I mean your newest cousin. My wife will be having a baby in a small amount of time and I expect you to follow my orders and guard the child with all you have. I have no time to be raising children. My wife will be bedridden shortly after the birth due to the intensity that comes with such an act so it shall fall on the three of you to do what I'm telling you to do." he says. The three of us stand there for a moment before a look of irritation appears on Konzen's face.
"What in the heavens do you mean, THREE?" Konzen shouts at the top of his lungs as he looks at the Phoenix with horror filled eyes.