Inside Damon's main temple, the redhead was finishing preparations to leave for Kyoto. He wore nothing out of the ordinary, only his usual black toga and little else. He honestly did not expect the trip to be complicated. It was not as though he planned to do much there either, or at least that was what he hoped.
Standing beside him was Koneko, the white-haired Neko, wearing her usual monotonous expression that apparently no one could remove from her face no matter how hard they tried. The young Nekoshou wore simple, comfortable clothing, although her posture revealed that she was far more restless than she wanted to appear. After so long, she was finally going to reunite with her sister.
A few steps away stood Rhea, dressed in her usual white-and-gold robes. The Titaness had decided to accompany them and, naturally, Damon had no intention of denying his mother anything. He did not need to ask why she wanted to come either.
During the past few days, Koneko had grown quite attached to Rhea. Honestly, it was not surprising. His mother was one of the most maternal people Damon had ever known, and the silver-haired girl's feline nature seemed to have quickly grown accustomed to her presence.
As everyone knew, Koneko was not particularly expressive, but Damon had begun to notice that when it came to his mother, the Neko was a different story. At the very least, the Nekoshou seemed to seek Rhea's warmth at every opportunity, to the point that she always sat near her during meals and rarely wandered far whenever the two walked through Olympus. She had even begun allowing Rhea to arrange her hair or gently touch her ears without showing the slightest annoyance.
At that moment, Rhea was adjusting a small part of Koneko's clothing, making sure everything was properly in place before the trip. The girl remained still while the Titaness worked, neither protesting nor pulling away. "There," Rhea said with a small smile.
"Thank you," Koneko replied quietly.
Damon watched the exchange from across the room and could not stop a slight smile from appearing. It seemed his mother had managed to adopt a small abandoned cat.
Grayfia was also present, waiting near the entrance of the temple. As Damon's personal maid, the Devil had no intention of remaining behind. Even though she had come to enjoy the company of Aphrodite and Hera, she would not miss this trip for anything. In truth, Damon doubted he could have convinced her to stay even if he had directly ordered her to do so.
"Is everything ready?" Damon asked as he picked up a short dark cloak and settled it over his shoulders.
"Yes, Damon-sama," Grayfia replied immediately. "We will not need to bring much. Anything necessary can be created or transported once we arrive."
"That is what I thought."
Grayfia glanced toward Koneko, who responded with a small nod. Although the two had known each other far longer than anyone else in the room, since Grayfia had served Sirzechs and frequently operated within the Gremory household, their relationship remained somewhat distant.
Grayfia had not been directly involved in what happened to Kuroka, but she had still been an important figure within the Devil society that condemned her sister.
There was no open hostility between them, but neither was there enough trust to say they truly got along. In the eyes of others, they were simply neutral toward one another.
Rhea turned her attention back to Damon. "Are you certain my presence will not cause any problems?"
Damon raised an eyebrow. " You are my mother. You can come with me wherever you want. If anyone has a problem with that, they can tell me directly."
Rhea let out a small sigh, completely unsurprised by the reply.
Damon finished adjusting his clothes before sweeping his gaze across the room. He had considered bringing more of his sisters, but in the end decided against it, preferring to leave them in charge of their responsibilities. Athena and Hera would remain on Olympus while he handled matters in Kyoto.
Athena had proven extremely helpful during the past few days. The Goddess of Wisdom had been particularly attentive to the needs of Camp Half-Blood, working alongside Hephaestus, Artemis, and Leto to resolve any problems that appeared without needing to interrupt Damon every time.
And Damon was honestly grateful. Yes, he liked keeping everything in order, as the God of Order, but he was not particularly fond of having his peace constantly interrupted. What else could he say? He liked delegating responsibilities.
As for Hera, one did not need to be a genius to understand that, as Queen of the Gods, there was no one better suited to oversee Olympus during his absence. Hades and Poseidon had their own realms and matters to handle. Damon had no intention of giving them more work, even though he certainly could, but why torture his brothers?
In simple terms, Hera was the most logical choice. Damon trusted her to keep Olympus under control. The goddess understood the workings of the pantheon better than almost anyone and had no difficulty imposing her authority whenever necessary..... And Hera certainly enjoyed imposing her authority over others..... Damon wondered whether she was the same way in bed.
"How long will we be gone?" Koneko suddenly asked.
Damon emerged from his thoughts and turned toward the Neko. "Well, I will not be gone for very long, but you…" Damon replied, dismissing the matter. "I imagine you want to stay with your sister, so you do not need to worry about returning with me."
Koneko lowered her gaze slightly. "I see…" She seemed somewhat troubled, causing Rhea to place a hand on her shoulder. "You do not need to worry."
"I am not worried," Koneko replied abruptly.
Damon and Rhea exchanged a brief glance. The redhead understood the situation immediately. Koneko's ears twitched slightly, although she did not try to move away from the Titaness's hand.
Damon walked toward them and stopped in front of the girl. "Koneko."
The Nekoshou raised her gaze..... "You do not have to decide anything when you see Kuroka," Damon continued. "I obviously know you want to see her and that you still care about her deeply, but that does not mean you have to forgive her or stay with her. If you want to return with me or do something else, I will not force you into anything."
Koneko remained silent for several seconds before nodding.... Damon placed a hand on her head and lightly ruffled her hair. Koneko frowned, although she did not move away.
Grayfia watched the scene with a calm expression before walking toward them. "Damon-sama, we can depart whenever you wish."
The redhead nodded and extended one hand. A gentle energy began gathering before the group as space slowly distorted, forming an opening that connected Olympus to Kyoto.
Damon looked toward Koneko once more. "Ready?"
The girl stared at the portal for several seconds. On the other side was her sister, along with everything she had tried to forget for years..... She took a deep breath before saying, "Yes."
Rhea kept one hand on her shoulder as the two began walking toward the opening. Damon and Grayfia followed closely behind, the latter remaining attentive to everything around them.
After crossing the portal, the four appeared before one of Kyoto's main entrances. Damon had never visited the city before, but he knew its location well enough to arrive without any problems.
Even so, before he could take a single step, several figures descended from the nearby rooftops and trees, surrounding the group within seconds. They appeared to be tengu dressed as guards, all armed and displaying expressions of maximum alertness.
Damon raised an eyebrow at their reaction. Perhaps warning them before arriving would have been better, although he had not expected the guards to appear on top of them the instant they crossed the portal.
"Identify yourselves! What business do you have in Kyoto?" shouted one of the tengu, who appeared to be the leader of the group.
Damon had no problem answering. "My name is Damon."
The moment he spoke his name, several of the tengu seemed to freeze. The name of Olympus's new king was becoming increasingly well known throughout the supernatural world, especially after the recent events involving the Devils.
Before they could even say anything, Damon continued speaking. "She is Koneko, this is my mother Rhea, and my personal maid, Grayfia. We are here to handle several matters with Yasaka. I understand that our arrival was somewhat sudden, but I imagine you understand the importance of what I just said."
The god took control of the conversation with ease. The tengu leader hesitated for several seconds before quickly nodding and turning toward one of his subordinates. "Inform Yasaka-sama immediately."
The tengu obeyed and disappeared in the direction of the city.
The guards had already been informed that the god would probably arrive at some point, but they had not expected him to appear without warning or to be accompanied by so many people, which explained their aggressive response.
"Lord Damon, please follow me. I will escort you to Yasaka-sama," the tengu leader said before lightly bowing his head. "And please forgive our rudeness. We have received several unwelcome surprises during the past few days, so Kyoto is on higher alert than usual."
Damon accepted the explanation without asking further questions. There was no need to investigate at that moment. If something important was happening, he would discover it sooner or later.
The group passed through the large gates and began walking through Kyoto under the guidance of the tengu. Rhea remained close to Koneko, while Grayfia stayed a few steps behind Damon, attentive to everything occurring around them.
The city stirred a certain nostalgia within the redhead. The streets, traditional buildings, and constant movement of its inhabitants reminded him of the Fire Capital within the Elemental Nations.
Several yokai stopped to observe them as they passed. Some recognized Grayfia, while others looked at Rhea with curiosity, but most kept their attention on Damon. None of the four stopped walking.
After crossing several streets, they finally arrived before a large shrine. Two women were waiting near the entrance.
One of them was a blonde woman with nine long fox tails extending behind her body. Damon immediately identified her as Yasaka. The Kyuubi's beauty could easily rival that of many of the most beautiful goddesses he had ever met.
The second woman had black hair and unmistakable feline features. She was also incredibly beautiful, although she paled slightly beside the elder Kyuubi. Even so, that took nothing away from her in the redhead's eyes.
Damon barely had time to study the situation before the Nekoshou's eyes widened completely. "Shirone!!!!!!!!!!!"
Kuroka ran toward them without caring about appearances or protocol. Tears filled her eyes as she stretched both arms toward her younger sister.
Koneko remained frozen for a moment. After so many years, her sister was finally standing in front of her. Rhea slowly removed the hand resting on her shoulder, allowing her to decide for herself.
Koneko hesitated briefly, but slowly took two steps forward. Within seconds, she also broke into a run and threw herself directly into her older sister's arms.
Kuroka caught her tightly, wrapping both arms around her while burying her face in her hair. Koneko held onto her in the same way, saying nothing and making no attempt to hide the tears beginning to slide down her cheeks..... The onlookers watched the reunion quietly, and those who knew the sisters' story had small smiles touched with both sorrow and relief.
Rhea kept her gaze fixed on Koneko, clearly happy to see her reunited with her true sister, although a small part of her also felt a slight pressure in her chest. During the past few days, she had grown far too accustomed to holding the young Nekoshou in her arms.
Yasaka allowed the sisters to enjoy the moment before walking toward Damon. Upon reaching him, she lightly bowed her head in respect.
The movement offered the god a rather generous view of her chest, but Damon maintained a calm expression. "Welcome to Kyoto, Lord Damon. It is a pleasure to finally meet you."
Damon returned the bow, showing respect toward the ruler of the territory. "The pleasure is mine, Lady Yasaka. It is an honor to meet a woman such as yourself."
The Kyuubi offered him a courteous smile before turning her attention toward the two women accompanying him. Rhea stepped forward. "My name is Rhea. I am Damon's mother."
Yasaka's expression changed immediately. Even someone as ancient as her knew the name of the Titaness, mother of several of Olympus's most important gods and a woman from an incredibly ancient generation.
"Rhea…" Yasaka repeated, unable to completely hide her surprise. "It is an honor to welcome you to Kyoto."
"Thank you for allowing us to enter without prior notice," Rhea replied with a warm smile. Faced with the Titaness's kindness, Yasaka could only respond with a nod and an equally cordial smile.
Grayfia was the next to introduce herself. "Grayfia Lucifuge. Damon-sama's personal maid."
This time, Yasaka was not quite as surprised. She obviously knew the former Queen of Lucifer, and although she wondered how Grayfia had ended up serving Damon, it was not particularly difficult to infer. After all, throughout history, exchanges of servants between leaders in the human and supernatural world had been rather common, especially in the old days.
Even so, Yasaka had no trouble showing the proper kindness expected of the host. "Welcome as well, Lady Grayfia."
Grayfia lightly bowed her head..... Yasaka observed the group for several seconds before turning her attention back toward Damon. "I imagine you have much to discuss. Please, follow me inside. I prepared a place where we can speak with greater privacy."
Damon nodded. "Please, lead the way."
Yasaka began walking toward the shrine while Damon, Rhea, and Grayfia followed her. Koneko and Kuroka remained locked in their embrace, and those present decided to allow them their moment alone. No one intended to rush them.
After everything the two of them had suffered, they could take all the time they needed to speak about what had happened.
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