Takeshi had to stare when he realized the two odd teenagers at the breakfast table a week after the Oversurge were in fact Lambo and I-Pin, aged up by at least ten years.

"How?" he asked.

"Demons react differently to having excess magic in their bodies," explained Fon, in his 'adult' human form. He hugged I-Pin who happily accepted it. "Think of this as a temporary form, since they need to actively borrow magic from Honoka and Kyouya in order to maintain it, at least until they age up naturally."

"Sorry about what a brat I was, big sister," said Lambo sheepishly.

Honoka hugged him tightly.

"It's okay Lambo. I always wanted a little brother to spoil and I got one," she replied. She peered a little closer at his hair. "Do you have horns right behind your ears?"

Lambo grinned, and pulled his hair back a little bit to reveal that he did in fact have little cow horns that were easily disguised by his much flatter hair style. Then, to the complete bafflement of those watching, he was able to easily hide them with just a bit of energy.

"So...this is a temporary thing?" asked Takeshi, scratching his head.

"Essentially. The amount of power it takes to maintain it is very small, but they can now switch back between 'this' version and their actual age. Eventually they'll be able to turn themselves back into their younger selves, instead of adding years. It's a very rare trick, and the fact they can do it at all says volumes of how strong they're going to get later one when they're naturally that age," said Fon. He paused for a moment before adding "Or it's a side effect of the fact that I-Pin is very close to Lambo and they were 'eating' the same energy at the same time, because I know for a fact her special gift has nothing to do with altering ages."

"What's her gift?" asked Takeshi.

"I blow things up, including myself. The other one is really draining, but it doesn't harm me since it's made of my own energy. I mean I can do one that causes self-harm, but that's more of an instinctive all-or-nothing attack that would almost certainly kill me, which is why papa sealed it off until I had completed my training," said I-Pin.

It took Fon a second to register what she called him, before he smiled at her proudly.

"If Fon is your papa, then what does that make Kyouya?" asked Honoka impishly.

"Big brother, of course," said I-Pin as if it were obvious. "Just like you're big sister."

"Where's Hayato?" asked Honoka.

"His energy is a bit dangerous to be around, so I had him head to the Tempesta plains until it settles. We're going to be gone for a bit, about a month or so," said Fon.

"Squalo said something about a month-long training thing in the Neptune plains," said Takeshi.

"Ah yes, the Neptune plains is where you'll find the strongest of the Rain aligned demons and it can provide a massive boost to those who have that particular magic type. Fortunately your magic makes learning how to breath underwater almost natural, but you'll have to watch out for the crushing depths in the deeper parts. Not to mention the primordial demons that haven't been seen in several eons that are still around. Anything that's down in the deepest, darkest depths would never consent to being a mere familiar, and are on par with the leader of the various plains," said Fon.

"Then why haven't we heard about them before?" asked Honoka, curious.

"Because they are pretty much loners, content to just living their lives alone without having to worry about being summoned. I believe Squalo is considered a 'failed' summoner because he was unable to bring out his partner, so he decided to switch to learning how to use a sword to be effective," said Fon. "However I suspect it's not that he failed to summon it, but that his skills weren't strong enough to tempt whatever partner was called by his magic."

"You think he has the ability to summon a primordial demon," said Honoka.

"It's rare, but it does happen. Once he proves himself worthy of whatever he was about to summon, he'll become truly terrifying."

"Good thing this is the vacation time between moving up a year," said Honoka.

"Oh don't think you're getting out of training," said Fon wickedly. "Squalo's called in an old school friend of his to help train your Sky magic, since Xanxus does have to return to his job in the Varia."

"What is the Varia anyway?" asked Takeshi. He had heard Squalo mention it, but he never went into detail what they did.

"They're essentially one of the biggest groups to deal with rogue summoners and other criminals that the civilians can't handle. Serial killers and mass murderers who have somehow managed to learn magic without being noticed...or worse, have managed to find the less reputable demons to help them with their crimes. Since the civilians can't exactly defend themselves against such types, the Vongola created the Varia in response. When they're called in, that means that someone is about to be dealt with in a very... permanent...manner. As such when people speak of 'Varia Quality', they mean the Elite of the Elite who deal with not just the demons, but the summoners themselves. Xanxus is the current leader of the Varia with Squalo being his second-in-command," explained Fon.

"Well that explains the looks the other students kept giving him," said Honoka in disgust. Fon looked at her. "Just because his job means he has to kill the summoner on top of dealing with the demons doesn't make him an evil monster. Everyone kept looking at him like he was worse than Hayato, but he never explained why."

"I bet he'll be glad to hear you think that way," said Fon. "In any case Squalo has contacted his friend Dino, who has a Sky attribute as well. Just watch out for his familiar Enzo... I've heard Dino has the worst habit of losing track of his turtle and once it gets to water it tends to expand like crazy until it can eat entire houses, and he's very clumsy."

"What about Kyouya?" asked Honoka.

Fon had an evil grin on his face.

"He'll be going with you."

"What."

Kyouya looked pissed.

"Well considering your only options are to either stick with your partner, or return to the clan compound for the summer..."

Kyouya's face screwed up in disgust.

"Besides, do you really want to leave Honoka all alone with several older male summoners without someone to keep them from trying to use the fact she's somewhat oblivious to their real intentions?" asked Fon wickedly.

Kyouya growled at the thought.

"What exactly does that mean?" growled Honoka.

"He means that he wants me to keep any older summoners from trying to get into your pants and potentially knocking you up because you're cute," said Kyouya bluntly.

Honoka's face lit up at that, because if Kyouya, who didn't really notice the female form called her cute, then he genuinely meant it.

"You do realize I have a higher risk of getting pregnant from my demon partner than a human, since it's very common for female summoners to share their bed with their partners unless they're the same gender."

Fon snorted. If she summoned who he suspected, then odds were her 'innocence' when it came to being properly courted as a female would be solved in short order. Among other things, because if Reborn had shown such an interest in her, then the odds of them not ending up in bed in the near future were practically nonexistent...unless Honoka somehow managed to shift the demon into a more 'familial' role like she had Xanxus.

So far only Kyouya had any real luck in that regard when it came to anything remotely close to dating, and that was mostly dancing.

Dino was a bright, almost sunny blond man with a warm smile, clumsy behavior and had the worst habit of forgetting where his turtle was at any moment, thus leading to him having to retrieve his overgrown familiar from wherever it wandered off to and found water.

Honoka liked him immediately, mostly because he hadn't really batted an eye at Lambo's rather bratty behavior and instead indulgently gave the little cow some grape candy and generally let the cow climb all over him.

"So you're the one who Xanxus practically adopted as a little sister. I'm Dino."

"Honoka. This is Lambo and I-Pin, and Natsu's currently asleep."

Dino looked at her partner.

"His name is Kyouya, but you can just call him Hibari. He's not really one to talk much and please don't ask why he looks so much like his partner Fon," said Honoka quickly. Hibari was already in a bad mood, she didn't want to make it worse.

"Gotcha."

Considering he had met Fon before and heard a rumor about why he had banned an entire clan from having demons until recently, he could make a general guess what the reason behind the resemblance was. Especially when he put into consideration Hibari's age.

"Where is Fon anyway?"

"Off giving my second familiar training, since the magic he absorbed made his own a bit too dangerous to train around humans," said Honoka easily.

"How many familiars do you have?"

"Three," said Honoka. "Though only Natsu and Lambo are with me at the moment, and I-Pin is technically Kyouya's."

"So what do you know about Sky attribute magic?"

"Just that it's really rare and can act as a sort of magical glue when it comes to fixing things. And that demons have a habit of going after those who have it, though Fon never explained why outside of the fact that absorbing it causes major power boosts."

Dino lead them to an outside gazebo, where there were snacks and non-alcoholic drinks already prepared.

"That's the most basic gist of why demons chase after Skies. The more detailed explanation is a bit more complicated. Have you ever felt so alone in a crowd of people, like no one can understand you?" asked Dino.

"All the time, at least until I came to the Academy and started to make friends. Having Hayato as a familiar really helped," said Honoka without hesitation.

Dino winced.

"Well those with the Sky attribute have a habit of collecting 'strays' and other lost souls and giving them more than just a friend... but something close to a sense of purpose," said Dino. He took out a glass ball that had a few cracks in it, but wasn't about to shatter. "Imagine this is the average soul or magical core. Everyone has cracks in them that form naturally over a lifetime, some deeper than others. Skies by nature have them as well, but in their case their magic naturally seeks out those who are compatible with them and draws them in, something like a whirlpool or a vortex draws in everything around it. Once the resonance starts, the cracks start to smooth over and heal until they're non-existent."

"Basically a sort of magical and spiritual glue," Honoka summed up. This was utterly fascinating.

"Essentially, yes. Eventually once the 'cracks' heal, a bond is formed between the Sky and the one drawn to them. It's very similar to that of a familiar or a partner bond and is highly symbiotic, as the Sky provides a sense of 'grounding', while the other side provides 'protection'. The reason demons and some humans target Skies specifically is because they desperately want that sense of 'grounding', of 'belonging'. The power boost is just a major and very attractive bonus," said Dino. "Of course there are some Skies that are either flawed or their magic is inverted and thus they can't provide that feeling. At all."

Dino grimaced when he mentioned that possibility.

"I take it you know the opposite type?"

"He's a narcissistic jackass that makes you want to punch him in the face, repeatedly. I hope you never run into him, because he's not exactly a good example for a summoner. His only 'bonds', if you can call them that are more in line with a superior and subordinate than any real connection, and I'm fairly sure he only got to that position because of his bloodline," said Dino. "Of course then there are times when Skies take to another Sky to the point they resonate with each other. From what I've heard from Squalo, that's what happened between you and Xanxus, which is pretty amazing because his sub-type doesn't exactly play nice with others."

"What is his sub-type anyway?"

"A combination of Tempesta and Sky magic, which for some reason is called Wrath. Don't ask me why, because I honestly have no idea," admitted Dino.

Dino had only met Iemitsu once or twice, but that was two times too many in his opinion. Just being around the guy made his skin crawl, if he wasn't holding back the urge to put his fist in the guy's face to shut him up.

Worse, the guy had no idea that people despised being in his general vicinity. He was completely delusional and lived his life according to his own ridiculously self-centered world view and it was a miracle he got married in the first place.

Dino did not envy his kid, but at least they had a shot at a normal life because last he heard Iemitsu almost never visited and had no hand in raising them.

"So what are we going to be doing then?"

"Well little Jewel Summoner, we are going to be teaching you how to fly."

Honoka was pretty sure her eyes were wide at that moment.

"What?" she said gaping.

Dino grinned.

"You didn't think they were called 'Skies' for nothing, did you? Those with Sky attribute magic can fly under their own power, though they have much better control when they have help with their bonded familiars. Especially if those familiars are Sky attributes themselves."

"Gao!"

Honoka was so startled that Natsu came out of her soul realm to look for the threat. He looked very confused to find none, but happily jumped into her lap when she patted it.

"This your familiar?"

"This is Natsu. I've had him since I was twelve... Fon said that the one who left him with me was a fairly well known demon of the Helios realms."

Dino summoned own familiar, which was a Sky pegasus.

"How well attuned are you to Natsu?"

"The first time they practice combining their powers together she slipped into Hyper mode without any instruction on the matter," deadpanned Hibari. Dino choked.

"Very attuned then. That will make it both easier and harder, because it sounds like you need to learn how to put small barriers between you and your demons, otherwise you could end up hurting yourself and them from being too synchronized."

"That happens?" asked Honoka.

"There are cases when the boundaries between the two become so blurred that when one dies, the other does as well. It's not pretty, especially if one of them is captured and then tortured," said Dino with a wince.

Somehow Honoka had the feeling this was going to be a long, but productive month.