Chiyoko: The 1 000 Generations Child

Chapter 24: The King

Pruf. A small scarlet explosion clouded the purple essence.

Chiyoko raised her eyebrow. "Was that it?"

Another explosion followed, this time it was a bit bigger, but still small enough to be safe and not crack the flask.

Then there was a third one, and a fourth.

Scarlet nebula took over the purple essence. Fizzle. Fizzle. Pruf. PRUF. CRACK!

Reverend Sei leaped forward as the now scarlet essence boiled, shuddered and exploded the glass.

Sakura grabbed an umbrella and opened it as she pulled reverend Sei to her chest. Shards flew across the room, hitting the umbrella and bounced back when hitting the golden cage.

Chiyoko was safe. The rocks were safe. But anyone in that golden cage?

Yusei-rock remained silent.

Ru-rock exclaimed: "Oh no!" and would have hidden in Yusei's arms if they both weren't a rock.

A scarlet mist obscured Chiyoko's view. "Mom? Mommy? Are you alright? Momsies?"

She rushed towards the cage, but Sakura's voice said: "Stay there, Chiyoko. It's too dangerous."

Chiyoko stopped. The mist slowly dissolved.

Sakura lowered the umbrella. Surrounded by glass, she examined it closely. Her fingers slid over the few scratches made by the shards. "This is strong material," she said.

Reverend Sei scratched her head. "I enhanced it because they break so easily in my line of work. Guess I made it stronger than I thought."

A laugh escaped her lips.

Ru-rock rejoiced. "They're alright!" she cheered, "But what happened to daddy?"

From the last bits of mist, a triangular shape rose. "I'm here, Ruri-poo. Daddy is alright," an ancient voice roared.

The King of the Yokai sounded impressive, but his appearance was the least. His white to red fading kimono reminded of a ruby, with his bald head adding a shimmer, but he was also the size of one, both in height and width.

"Daddy!" Ruri would have jumped up and down if she weren't a rock.

The King snapped his fingers. The golden cage vanished and the glass shards collected themselves into their original flask form.

He shuffled towards the desk his daughter was placed on. He reached out to hold her, but his arms were even shorter than those of our 5 year old Chiyoko.

He looked around, but no footman was there to pick him up.

He noticed Chiyoko. "Would you be so kind -?"

Unlike what he had thought, Chiyoko didn't bend down to help him rise. She just stood on her toes, gently took Ru-rock and placed her on the ground, at eye-height for the King.

"My little Ruri-poo, why are you in this form? And why aren't you at school?"

Chiyoko shivered at the word school.

Ru-rock explained what had happened. The King nodded occasionally and uttered some gasps.

"And you had to grow up without me? You poor little Ruri-poo, it must have been so difficult for you."

"It was, daddy, but Chiyoko-chan and Yusei-kun helped me through it."

"Ah, small Yusei-kun. Is that boy still head over heels with you?"

Yusei-rock cleared his throat as he looked down from the desk. "I am, Sire."

The King nodded. He then looked up. "And you must be this Chiyoko-chan my Ruri-poo talked about. How can I thank you?"

Chiyoko looked at her parents and then at the rocks. "Well, Sire," she said following Yusei's example, "I'd like you to find a way to turn them back into yokai and take them to their time. I want to stay here with my parents and live the life I was always destined to live.

But...

I don't want to have to miss Ru-chan and even that stupid Yusei. So perhaps you could allow me to still become friends with them even though I am no longer part yokai?"

The King looked surprised, but his ruby eyes quickly softened. "That can be arranged."

The King snapped his fingers.

A scarlet symbol flew above the heads of Chiyoko, reverend Sei and Sakura.

Chiyoko recognized it as the yokaji for Friendship.

The scarlet yokaji descended to the humans' chest-height and embedded itself in their hearts.

The King smiled. "Now you can visit our dimension whenever you want to. But," he added as he looked up at Chiyoko, "it's up to you to become friends with Ruri-poo and Yusei-kun. Can you do that?"

"Yes, Sire!"