Chapter 5

The next morning, Piper was down in her apartment in the Hell-Council run Asphodel Manor, packing her things for the trip to her parents’ manor in the Air Kingdom.

“…Stupid… where the Hell…” The siren dug through her closet, silently cursing as she threw various pieces of clothing on her bed and floor. “WHAT THE HELL?”

“Are you just about done?” Zosime leaned against Piper’s door frame.

“Pfft, no.” Piper blew an errant strand of hair out of her eyes. “I hate visiting my parents.”

“I thought they got over that.” The gorgon tilted her head, winding one of her snakes around her finger.

“They still send me letters telling me to get my butt home.” Piper shrugged, finally coming up with a large, light blue box wrapped in ribbon. “And they send me things like this to wear when I do.”

Zosime raised an eyebrow and entered the room, clearing off some space on the end of the siren’s bed to sit while Piper took the dress out of it’s box, her eyes widening as the flowing blue and white dress made an appearance, three times the size of the box it was stored in. The embroidery glittered as the siren shook it out gently.

“It’s a little much, isn’t it?” Piper grimaced.

“What size are you again?” Zosime picked up the skirt, tracing a finger along the embroidery.

“NO.” The siren pulled the dress out of Zosime’s hands, starting to fold it back up into the box. “My father would pitch a fit.”

“Isn’t that what you want?” The gorgon tilted her hands as her snakes tilted in the other direction.

“No… it’s my mother. My dad brought me here.” Piper sighed. “He even humours me by calling me Piper. My mother refuses to believe that Supernatural Control is helping me. She knows that I got sick while I was training, and she thinks they’re trying to kill me or something. I showed her the protein supplement program that I’m spearheading to get better, and she laughed in my face. Said that if I wasn’t good enough to hunt down my own meat, I didn’t deserve it. I told her that I don’t eat people any more, and I left. I send letters to my dad and my cousins, but I’ve cut all communication off with my mother. I’m going to see if everyone I know is okay… that counts for the other kingdoms too.”

“So… we’re going to all four?” Zosime’s brow creased. “I need to pack more shoes.”

“No, no. I sent word ahead. The leaders are meeting me in the Air Kingdom.” Piper shrugged. “Thank you for coming with me, though.”

“Hey, no problem.” Zosime smiled. “I mean, someone has to beat those guys off you, right?”

“Oh please.” The blue-haired siren rolled her eyes. “If I had a nickel for every crap line I got from those shmucks, I’d be a billionaire and I’d just up and buy their lands out from underneath them.”

“What, and have more work to do?” The gorgon chuckled.

“No, I’d have elections, and if they got into office to run their countries, so be it. If not, tough beans.” Piper grabbed a large duffel bag off the floor and shoved some of her things into it.

“You wouldn’t be a princess anymore.” Zosime made a face.

“Whoop-dee-doo~” Piper twirled her index finger in a circle. “You make it seem as if I care.”

“Just meet me in the control room in ten minutes.” Zosime rose, exiting the room.

--

Piper entered the control room ten minutes later to see Zosime talking with a yeti intern and an icthyosapien informant, all three having donned various garments from the ‘casual wear’ section of the Supernatural Control uniform catalogue. Zosime had on a pleated pinstripe skirt, a black and white corseted shirt with the Demonic Activity black and red crest on the arm, and her red hi-tops. The icthyosapien had on a black and green Supernatural Control crested tracksuit and flip-flops, and the yeti wore nothing more than a simple pair of black shorts, because most of the sizes were far too small for the massive creature.

“Your turn to pick?” Piper caught the group’s attention.

“They volunteered.” Zosime shrugged. “You know Alton, right?”

“I do.” Piper shook the fishman’s hand. “Thanks again for the help on that leviathan catch.”

“No problem.” Alton shrugged. “It was trying to eat my grandmother, so I didn’t really have any qualms taking it down.”

“And I don’t think you’ve met Neelambar. He’s one of our northern interns.” Zosime motioned to the tall, muscular, furry, felid-looking monster.

“You really want to come with me to the Mediterranean?” The siren looked at the yeti with sheer disbelief on her face.

“Sure.” Neelambar nodded. “I haven’t been further south than Poland in a long time. But it’s not like I can’t survive in the heat.”

“Oh. Well, welcome aboard then.” Piper smiled. “You folks ready to go?”

“Do we get a primer this time?” Zosime asked.

“Do you really want one?” Piper cringed.

“Yes.” The trio answered in unison, as the yeti and icthyosapien took up seats.

Piper took a deep sigh, pulling a dossier out of her bag. “Fine.”

The siren pulled out a series of photos, grouping them into four sets and handing them around. “These are the leaders of the elemental kingdoms. A very long time ago, the demon clans started grouping themselves together in lands that they could flourish in, and eventually they started noticing that certain elements tended to group together. Kings rose out of the demon ranks, and aside from a botched attempt to bring all the kingdoms together about seven hundred years ago, they’ve mostly kept to themselves.”

Piper motioned to the photos of ethereal-looking demons that closely resembled the siren. “I’m from the Kingdom of Air, and that’s my father, Zephyr, and my mother Azura. If anyone refers to me as Melisma… that’s because it’s my name. I will correct anyone that says it though, and I encourage you all to do the same. I will only answer to Piper.”

“I take it you have some issues to work out here.” Alton looked up from the photos.

“I have been a Supernatural Control agent for over thirty years, and I gave up my name when I came here. The least they can do is respect that.” Piper shrugged, pointing to the set of photos containing well-tanned royalty dressed in shades of dark blue and sea green. “These nice folks are from the Kingdom of Water. There’s King Muir, Queen Nerissa, and their children, Prince Delmar and Princess Maya. The air kingdom has a tentative peace treaty with them, but it’s only because they control most of the shoreline, and if we were cut off from overseas supplies, the other kingdoms would crumble.”

The next set of photos held a family with deep red hair, dressed in red and gold tones. “This is the royal family of Fire, King Fintan and Queen Nina. They are nice… to a point. I have to be nice to these people, not only do we have a standing treaty with them, my mother is badgering me to marry their son, Prince Ash.”

“Is there any particular reason?” Zosime asked, picking up the photo of the young man. “Though, he’s not bad looking…”

“She wants us to have stronger allies to the east, and she thinks that this is the only way.” Piper rolled her eyes. “Honestly, the pen is mightier than the wedding ring.”

The group snickered as Piper fought to keep a straight face while she motioned to the last photo of a handsome young man that looked like he was made out of marble, dressed in deep greens and browns. “This is the kingdom of Earth. We don’t know a lot about them, but we do know that this is the Prince Regent, Kentigern. He’s been the prince regent for about two thousand years, but he hasn’t aged a day.”

“Is there anyone else we should know about?” Alton looked up at the siren.

“If there is, I’ll let you guys know once we get there. I don’t know if their generals and priests will be in tow.” Piper shrugged. “The invitation was extended to the royal families only.”

“Should we get going then?” Zosime started to rise. “I know how eager you are to see these people.”

“Sure. I mean, really… the quicker we get this over with, the sooner we can get back to trying to hold the world together, right?” The blue-haired siren lifted her duffel from the floor and slung it onto her shoulder. “Upside, we can take the doorways instead of the gateways.”

“Doorways?” Neelambar shot Piper a wary look.

“I have a spell attached to my room at the palace. We can just open a door and be there instead of having to cross through fire or water to get there.” Piper smiled. “I wouldn’t worry about fitting through, either. My closet is huge.”

“O…kay.” The yeti chewed on his bottom lip.

Piper crossed the room to the main entrance doors and hung a small charm from one of the handles. “You fit through here, right?”

“Yeah…” Neel nodded.

“Then you’ll be fine.” The siren smiled, turning the knob and opening the door to reveal a large, well appointed room.

“This is your room?” Zosime tried to take it all in as the group entered.

“Yeah.” Piper deadpanned. “I hate it.”

“How on earth can you hate something like… right.” The gorgon cut herself short. “Does that mean I can sleep on your bed?”

“Knock yourself out.” Piper nodded. “I’ll be right back… please don’t break anything.”

The siren pushed open a secret panel in the wall, disappearing behind it with her duffel bag. “And I mean it!”