Journeys of Time 30: Recall to Reality
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As the sun began to illuminate the room near the volcano, the dragoness inside of the room rolled over and groaned before opening her eyes slowly, "Curse the astral womb that birthed you." As her eyes slowly focused, she noticed the letter on her bedside table and sat up before noticing the wax sigil, "Oh, Tenchi has sent a letter."
Tearing the envelope open, the dragoness began to read, "Dear Liether, Prime of the Firestone Tribe, we have recently found someone in the realm of the dead that proved to have something unfinished with you. Could you come to Tepehi, the newly appointed capital city of Ri'Co'Va, and allow them to finish their business? It ain't a hostile unfinished business. Signed Tenchi, Peridot, and Hildegaard." Liether read Hildegaard's name with a slight acidic taste in her maw, but decided to pay them a visit as she pulled on her usual attire, a black skirt open along the legs and an almost equally revealing black top that looked scorched by design, opening the door before calling out to someone, "Kavi, you are taking today's duty on the throne. I got an important visit to Ri'Co'Va to do."
A dragoness with orange scales, all dressed up in a white robe with fiery cuffs and wearing a small hat on her head, bowed to Liether, "Yes, ja'hki." Liether had already told her half-sister to not call her by the title of a prime, as she wanted to make the tribe be more of a family than a collective of servants with a leader. "Just make sure that things are not going to the After for us." Liether only heard her half-sister agree before she went to have a quick meal, deciding on a Wichan toast which soon had her half-sister walk in to absorb the fire, "Ja'hki, I already told you to heat that outside of the house." Liether rolled her eyes before pulling on the travel robe of hers, "Yes, 'mother'." Her half-sister groaned, but knew that despite how much they irritated one another, they always found time to relax together.
Over in Ri'Co'Va, Tenchi stood in front of her daughter Ainohi together with Peridot and Hildegaard, talking to her as Tenchi had recieved a letter from Violetta telling that one of her nobles in the Blood Council had requested that they deliver someone that Ainohi had saved from slave traders. Next to Ainohi stood the person, a blue mare with white hair, wearing what could only be described as a perfect replica of a standard female vampire's attire, even having been dolled up to look like a vampire, with her consent, to appeal to the noble.
"Now, remember that this is not a sightseeing trip, Ainohi, you are gonna bring Miss Lazuli to Miss Bloodmane, then go right back to work at the embassy." Tenchi spoke to her daughter, making her groan softly, "Yes, mom." Peridot reached over to pat Ainohi on the head, "Calm down, sweetie. She is just wanting to make sure you are not getting falsely arrested again." Ainohi shivered at being reminded of that event, but soon a knock on the door was heard and Hildegaard approached and opened it, standing face to face with a female dragonfly, Hildegaard was having wide eyes before Tenchi saw her and walked over with a smile, "Greetings. I guess you are looking for me?"
The dragonfly opened her bag before retrieving a letter, "It depends. Are you Tenchi, the queen of the Frostclaw Tribe?" Tenchi smiled, "Well, Prime is the correct title and I am the queen of Ri'Co'Va, but yes, that is me." The dragonfly reached the letter out to Tenchi before feeling that Tenchi took it and didn't seem to be able to take her eyes off the dragonfly.
Peridot and Hildegaard got a shock when Tenchi suddenly called out, "Hey Kari. Come here!" Footsteps were heard and soon Ainohi's fraternal twin came walking. Upon seeing the dragonfly, her tail began to wag before Tenchi looked at the dragonfly, "My little girl here has always wanted to see a dragonfly." The dragonfly was blushing a bit, soon feeling how Kari was upon her and was looking over her metallic sheen and her beautiful wings while Tenchi was opening the letter to read.
"Honorable queen of wyverns, I wish to invite you to Bastilia in Je'Zaki so you can witness the beauty of my queendom. I hope you come here when you get more time. Signed, Queen Honeycomb of Je'Zaki." Tenchi smiled at the letter before looking up and noticing that Hikarinoai was giving the dragonfly a soft hug, "Hey, be nice to her, Kari. She is fragile." Looking back at the letter, she found an additional note at the end, "Also, if someone wonders, the delivery girl is named Bijou." Hikarinoai wagged her tail faster before Ainohi facepalmed, "Sister, just be nice with her now, you are getting a bit too excited there."
After seeing off Ainohi and finally getting Bijou free from the clutches of Hikarinoai, Tenchi kissed both of her wives farewell and jumped onto Arashi's back before Bijou walked up to Arashi, about to be warned by Tenchi about the wrong approach before suddenly laying down in front of her, making Arashi sniff her and then nuzzle her thorax, giving Tenchi a surprise how quickly she was accepted before Bijou was allowed onto Arashi's back and taking off with them, working as a planetary positional system back to Je'Zaki.
But while Tenchi was flying, there was a knock on the door to the house as Liether had arrived. Waiting for them to open, she had been thinking what could be so important as to make her have to come there, but she knew better than questioning Tenchi. Hearing the door opening, Liether was welcomed by Peridot, "Hello Liether. Tenchi flew off for a visit a moment ago. But I know what she wanted done. Come on in." Liether bowed in respect to Peridot before walking in, "Thank you kindly, Peridot. I was curious what it could be that she wanted me here for, so I came as quickly as I could." Peridot smiled as she lead Liether to the dining hall, "Oh, believe me, it is gonna make the day for two people."
Liether was confused, but followed along as Peridot opened the door and walked inside, just as Liether walked in too and looked around, before noticing a guard standing there, "Wait, what is going on here?" Peridot smiled and walked over to the guard, who saluted her and suddenly Hildegaard came through the door behind Liether and spoke up, "I know you hate me, Liether Firestone. I have hated myself too. So, I wanna end the hostility now."
Liether was having cold feet from hearing Hildegaard behind her, soon feeling the hands grabbing her shoulders and being pushed towards the guard, who sheathed their blade and soon lifted a hand, making Liether fear for her own life, but Hildegaard didn't let her move away and soon guided her hand to the outstretched one, placing it there before the guard suddenly moved Liether in closely to them and the scent made Liether calm down before it sunk in.
That scent of a warm breeze through a field of capriza flowers, the way she was held. They all were familiar and soon the guard let her go and slowly removed the helmet, causing Liether to cover her muzzle before tears filled her eyes, "By Neo... my wonderful baby girl. My beautiful Chaline."
Liether felt herself quickly wrapping her arms around Chaline, who held her mother close, listening to her tears falling while her own fell too, "Yes, mother. I am here. Even Gaceia didn't want to hold me in the After." Hildegaard began to sniff as she felt Peridot drying her eyes and holding her close, "You made her entire life now, dear." Hildegaard nodded before noticing that Liether was looking at her, slowly letting Chaline go before making her way over and holding out a hand, "Aerial General... I... I wanna apolog..."
Hildegaard slowly lifted her head, making Liether smile before lowering it and offering her own throat, which Hildegaard quickly lowered and soon pulled Peridot, Chaline and Liether into a hug, "The past is now history, and we are living in the present to make a better future from the things we learned."
Over in Bastilia, the capital city of Je'Zaki, Tenchi finally landed and stepped off Arashi's back, just as Bijou climbed off and looked at Tenchi, "Welcome to the biggest sweet land around. You go on ahead, I will have the tenders take care of your wyvern." Arashi growled gently before Bijou pat her nose, "No worries, they are good at making snacks."
Arashi didn't need to hear anything else and followed right along with Bijou, just as Tenchi heard someone approaching and turned around, her first instinct being to jump and hide when she was face to face with Hercule, one of the queen's spider mounts, but didn't do it as she knew who was sitting on top, "Greetings, wyvern queen. Welcome to Je'Zaki, the realm of the sugar hills." Tenchi tried her best to stay calm as she looked up at Queen Honeycomb, the regent of the realm, "Thank you for the invitation, Honeycomb. I must say, I am still not used to Hercule."
Tenchi looked at the curious spider that put his pedipalps on her left cybernetic arm and tapped on it, making Tenchi go from being worried to actually smiling at how he wasn't such a fearsome beast, but rather like an eight-legged puppy, "I haven't asked, but what does he eat?" Queen Honeycomb smiled before petting on Hercule's head, "Oh, he only eats feral flies, and when it is necessary, he gets some of the criminals we sentenced to death."
Tenchi couldn't hold it back and used her other hand to gently pet Hercule on the head, "Oh, you are stealing my job here, are you? No wonder, you are so adorable that they cannot imagine you being such a ruthless executioner. Yes, you are. Yes, you are." Hercule began to wave his pedipalps, as if showing that he was being shy.
Honeycomb smiled before looking Tenchi over and realized something, "Hey Tenchi. Why aren't you armed like you are usually? It seems a bit odd to see you without any weapons." Tenchi looked at her with a warm smile, "Oh, I didn't feel a need to have a weapon around here. Your realm has no reports about any crimes involving armed deaths. Most seem to be done with stingers and proboscis. So I feel really safe here." Honeycomb nodded with a happy smile, "That's good that you feel my realm is safe enough to not make you worry."
A bit away, hiding in a tree, a rather fit jackal was sitting and watching Tenchi from a distance, taking out a phone to snap a photo before sending it to someone with the message, "Is this her?" It wasn't long before they had a confirmation, "Yes, that is her. Follow her and when you find a good moment, give her a lesson why you shouldn't underestimate a Mezian." The jackal began to laugh softly before writing the answer, "Of course, boss."
The End.
