"Well... This is about what I expected..."Mars suddenly stopped walking and raised his hands, 78 was confused for a moment before the fluffy ears on top of her head twitched for a moment, then she also raised her hands... Marie was of course confused by their actions, that is until Mars spoke
"Come on stop hiding, we see you... We are here to deliver a lost child"
Then it suddenly clicked for Marie and being a smart child she also yelled
"I am okay, they didn"t hurt me!"
Soon elves with bows raised and pointed towards Mars and 78 cam out from the underbrush, one of them imitadily commanded
"Put the child down!"
"Sure"
Mars picked up Marie that sat on his shoulders and put her down, but instead of returning to her people she clung to Mars" leg and yelled
"You"re bad people! Mars didn"t hurt me and yet you threaten him!"
"Marie come over he---"
Just as one of the elves spoke another one suddenly yelled
"Did you just say Mars!?"
The other elves paused and looked over at Mars for a few moments before they lowered their weapons as one of them whispered
"It"s really him, Mars of Green river!"
Another one of them also wisphered
"What is the half-dragon of Green river doing here!?"
Mars gave a smile and lowered his hands before he spoke
"What I am doing here is a longer story, one that I think your elders would like to hear, right?"
The elves gave nods all around and one of them spoke out
"We"ll show you the way to our village... I am sure that the elders will thank you for bringing Maire back to us, but let us do it too"
Then all the elves kneeled down and spoke out loud
"""""""We thank you Mars!"""""""
Mars gave a nod as a smile formed on his face before he spoke
"Please lead the way"
78 that walked besides Mars asked him
"Mars what"s Green river?"
Mars" smile widened before he spoke
"Home"
78 gave a nod, then the group of four were escorted by the elves further into the forest...
"Where...?"
"sush lay down again Yel"
Yel obeyed the voice that she so often had before and laid down again before the image of her most dear person flashed through her head and she suddenly sat herself up, ignoring the dizziness she felt she spoke
"I need to train"
"Nope, you need to rest!"
Yel, still dizzy felt her body being pressed back down into the soft bed she was laying on before
"But mom if I don"t train then Mars won"t---"
"Won"t what? Return? Since when have you grown such a pair? I distinctly remember giving birth to a daughter!"
"But mom---"
"No but"s, have you forgotten what you are!? You dumb girl!"
Yel fell silent and stared at Xel for a few moments before she gave a sigh and spoke
"I am Mars" slave"
"Looks like you have not forgotten... Now who does you body and heart belong to?"
"Mars"
"Then who gave you permission to wear it down like this!?"
"...No one"
Xel gave a sigh and caressed Yel"s forehead before she spoke in a calm voice that seemed to lul Yel to sleep
"Then sleep now my dear... Sleep and recover for when he returns..."
Yel closed her eyes and soon she fell asleep, Xel gave a sigh and showed a rare tender look as she looked over her eldest daughter...
Mars awoke gradually, it was the middle of the night and for a moment he had forgotten where he was before he felt a splitting headache and quickly sat up in his bed as he mumbled
"water..."
Mars quickly found a water jug standing on the night table along with a gla.s.s, Mars pushed the gla.s.s asied and quickly drained the water directly from the jug before he mumbled while feeling a little more alive
"Those elves sure know how to party..."
Then he gave a sigh as he remembered the whole banquet that had happened before he went to bed, the whole thing had lasted a couple of days, he had simply been unable to refuse their hospitality
"More likely their fruit wine... d.a.m.n it was good..."
Mars once again laid down on the bed and closed his eyes for a few minutes until the urge he felt was to much to bare and he once again sat up in the bed before he swung his legs out over the side and quickly wore some pants as he mumbled
"Where was the toilet again..?"
Mars quickly left the room in search of a toilet which he quickly found, (thankfully) after he was done there he returned to his room and laid down on the bed again before he slowly fell into a shallow sleep...
A couple hours later Mars detected moment in the room next to his, but as he still was in shallow sleep he didn"t really care about it, it was only when the door to his room was slowly and silently opened that he began waking up and when the intruder crawled onto his bed he slowly opened his eyes and saw... 78 staring into his face from close distance, she sat on his stomach and was leaned down with their noses almost touching, Mars greeted her
"Good mo---"
Or at least he tried to as his lips were quickly sealed by hers it was only after a few seconds that her lips let go of his and she showed a bright smile
"Good morning to you too Mars"
Mars gave a wry smile and reached up and grabbed her shoulders, then he instantly flipped their positions so that she was the one laying on her back before 78 managed to really realise what was going on he kissed her deeply for a few moments
"I really do love her..."
Mars remembered this as he realized what he was doing and gave a sigh inwardly before he separated from her again, when he did he looked into her pupils that gradually changed from being brown and round to being gray and triangle formed as she complained
"Geez Mars you surprised me so much that my transformation almost came undone... Time for payback!"
78 quickly grabbed Mars and tired to flip him around and thus 78 challenged something she shouldn"t have, this she gradually learned as the two of them fooled around for the best part of an hour, although they didn"t cross the final line both of them were quite exhausted by the end. They both laid on their backs and looked into the ceiling as Mars spoke
"Let"s get ready to continue our journey home..."
"Okay Mars, I"ll help you pack"
"Thanks"
After packing Victoria showed up and so the trio was gathered again and ready to continue on their way which they did after saying goodbye to the elves and Marie in particular...
"Here we finely are... The coastline..."
Mars looked out over the rolling sea, it had been a month since they had left the elves and they had been flying almost non stop since so to say the least Mars was quite exhausted thus they had decided to spent the night before they challenged the journey over the sea to Salen,
And so after spending the night by the sea Mars flew off carrying 78 while Victoria"s shadow flew over the surface of the sea and for 7 days the group flew in a straight line towards Slaen until they reached it, the coastline, Mars lowered his alt.i.tude but just as his feet was about to touch the ground he suddenly stopped and floated over the sand. Terror had stopped him, what if the s.h.i.+tbag administator whould just show up again and throw him away once more? What if he would kill 78? What if---
"Mars!"
"Eh...?"
Mars snapped out of his daze and looked at 78 he held in his arms, she reached up and slowly patted his head as she spoke softly
"It will be alright"
Mars stared blankly at her for a few moments before he gave a nod and touched down on the sand of the beach, and indeed nothing happened, he waited for a few moments, still nothing
"Thank the heavens..."
Mars gave a sigh and very much wanted to keep flying until he reached Green river which at this point only was about a week"s flying away but stopped himself, afterall he didn"t want to arrive and then pa.s.s out, he wanted to return as if he returned from a short trip so he wouldn"t worry the girls to much
"Let"s make camp here..."
"Okay Mars"
"Sure... Mars, do you want... Me to... Stand guard?"
"If you would Victoria, just wake me up if you get to tired"
"Okay..."
Mars looked off into the distance with a look of longing on his face before he looked up into the sky and showed a resolute expression
"I"ll be coming for you soon, you s.h.i.+tbag of a administrator!"