" Look, Lin and Mia is back! "
" So is our grandson along with his uncle and aunt! "
Xie and Roe carried the baby as Lin and Mia walked arm in arm.
It looked like a storm had just passed over the place.
Bodies scattered here and there. Blood and flesh filling the air with its dirty stench.
They saw Nanako, holding hands with a handsome young male, chaining down the beast by its body and tail.
" Uncle Jin... "
exclaimed as she ran.
" Stay back Mia! "
He yelled before she got too close for the beast. It snapped and licked from its bondage.
" Lin! "
Nana exclaimed as he too caught up with them.
" Does this mean it's over? What do you do now that you have caught this thing? "
Lin asked.
" Dang! We missed a good fight! "
Roe stamped her feet. Xie hit her on her head. " You just returned from getting drowned. Don't forget small head! "
" My Roe... Roe....! " Boshu ran towards her throwing away his helmet and sword. He was about tk hug her by the glaring Wolf King made him settle for a back slap, " Are you alright darling? "
She went ahead and planted a kiss on his cheeks turning him all red. " Alive and kicking! "
She pulled him in a tight embrace.
" Uncle Jin, Father... What do we do with this thing? How long will these chains restrain him? "
The wolf king too came forward. " Tell us brother. I have no idea. "
" These chains restrain him as long as this essence of me is breathing. Which is not very long! "
" What do we do then? What should be our next step! "
Jin smiled.
" This is my mess. My shame. My problem. I will be taking it along with myself. I will forever be indebted to you Mia for giving me this opportunity to rectify past mistakes. "
" Where will you be taking it? The land of the Tree of Knowledge? "
Mia asked innocently.
It was Nanako who smiled this time-
"
This is about the last part.
............The question you ask, the truth you seek, might leave you startled, unable to speak. Look carefully, look inside to cope, when home seems like a distant hope....
The home for all. Our Primordial Home. Our final abode.
You are planning on absorbing this and taking it along with you. Aren't you? "
Her eyes touched Jin with a soft wink.
" Take me with you. " Was her next statement .
" Nana... "
" Nanako! "
Erupted a series of protests.
" You know it will be unsafe to just let them merge and leave them unchecked.
The beast can over power Jin's consciousness again.
Even he know that too well. "
Nana's fierce reply shut them all at once .
" I need to make sure they pass through the divide between this world and the next. These eyes have ached for centuries. The turmoils that our love story created , we have been blessed to see it reversed.
Mia and Lin brought the kingdom's together. There is nothing else that I wish. It was time I too got my well deserved rest! "
Before anybody could say or add anything more, Nanako used the pendant to open a portal mid air.
Every body watched in dismay.
Mia found the place it opened to resembled the land of the Tree of Knowledge.
" Thanks for looking after our people so well little brother, I always believed in you! "
Jin smiled a farewell goodbye at Mia's father before hitting the beasts head with his fist.
The same silver white light that radiated from the pendant pulled the beast inside.
" Now! "
Nanako held Jin's hand as both disappeared beyond the portal.
The opening to the other world, closing behind them.
They were drenched from head to toe as they ran trying to catch the little culprit.
It was not raining at the moment but he had called the ocean waters and made it shower on them.
" Mia get hold of your son. He is becoming to powerful ! "
Ruby was the one baby sitting him. He was too fond of her. But he got mad when Xie sneaked in from behind and pulled her under him.
He was about to plant a kiss on her lips when hthe little minion unleashed the shower , soaking them wet.
Jade had taken the helm of the mer- world. She happily married Anjana and pronounced him king.
Ruby agreed to Xie's marriage proposal. And she came to the land to live as his queen.
But she needed to keep going back to the mer- world to revitalise herself. Xie had given up his chance of claiming the throne for this reason and decided to settle near the shore.
This way, Ruby never had to miss the waters.
Boshu went to live with Roe in the Wolf kingdom. His phobia of wolves had long disappeared. It only came back when Roe threatened to turn into her true form or rip his head, whenever they had an argument.
The Fox King did not waste a moment in naming his special grandchild.
They called him Akata, meaning fox. Though that was not exactly what he was. It was half of his self. The rest quarters being wolf and mer-male.
The Fox king even went over board announcing him as his True Heir.
This announcement did meet with a lot of silent resentment if not loud.
Some said it was belittling the princes present.
And some said it showed the king's favorite.
Mia and Lin were mostly unbothered by mundane state affairs.
They liked spending most of their time hanging out at Xie's place.
The men drank as the girls roamed the ocean.
Akata was the one often bored.
He preferred Roe's presence .
It was one such leisurely afternoon.
" Aku... What is this behavior. Say sorry at once! "
Mia sat with her boy's hand in her hand when suddenly he pulled himself free and ran.
Roe had arrived.
He went and leaped over her head.
She tackled him fondly making him loudly giggle.
Boshu dropped behind at which the little boy raised an eye brow at him.
" What? Now I can't even accompany my wife? "
Boshu acted like he was punching him at his tummy.
" Careful! " When the drenched Xie warned. " You don't want to end up like me, do you?
This casanova wants all the pretty girls to himself. "
They all laughed a loud at Xie's tease.
" Come on Aku. Go play with your friends. I have something important to discuss with the elders. I will come play with you after that! "
He never even looked back after Roe's instruction. He marched straight outside till he reached the play site.
" What is it? You look worried! "
Mia did not miss the sign of distress as Roe straightened up and heaved.
" There has been detected some disturbances at the Sacred Lands. We are not sure about the occurance. Nor do we know any details. But all the standalone testimonies match and they are quite vivid .
I thought you guys aught to have a look at it! "
She rolled out a leather paper where there were innumerable scribbling .
" Now this feels like old time! "
Boshu barged in as they formed a circle around the manuscript.
"Let get going. Let go brainstorming! "
He was about to thump Lin and Xie on their backs but their eyes rolled . " May be not! "
He mumbled withdrawing his attempts, when both the Fox and the Wolf pulled him in a bear hug.
" Come on in you shy bird. We are all a big family now. Aren't we. When are you going to stop being scared of us! "
" Neeevveerr! "
Boshu yelled in joke.
That was the perfect picture drawn on the beautiful land. Disturbance come and go and so does time and tide. The land was freed from its long curse. Not only the immortals bit the mortals too lived in peace. They had feared that they might have been trampled upon in the absence of a just king but the immortals left their governance in their hand.
They developed a system where they let their opinion known as to who should be the next King and king's men. This they called democracy.
They decided to migrate to a lower ground in order to stay away from future immortal hustle. Though things looked great at the moment, it didn't take more than a moment to turn into a bloody battle field. The mortals were willing to give up their fertile plain to dwell peacefully in the lands below that of the immortals.
Also joining them were left alone birds and other beasts, like Boshu. They too had been living amongst the mortals in hiding. Now they had to choose between merging back with the immortal world or exiling themselves with the mortals to the underlying strata. This process saw a great influx of migrants in numbers. Both the Foxes and the Wolves took them in with open arms. But some still chose demotion. Centuries of fear had hard wired their emotions.
Mia had in her own time, tried going to the land of the Tree of Knowledge, along with the mer-boy.
But strangely enough, they both got stuck at the Land of the Lakes.
She didn't want others to know so she had swore his silence, " This is a secret between us. Nobody needs to know. Alright! "
The little boy was just too happy to play around Mia carefree and act his true self. Be his age. Grow like a child without the sword of sacrifice hanging from the upside.
All was basically good in the immortal world till the news of the disturbance arrived. So was everything really alright ?