°Now for that other matter.° The human said.

°Lorelai.° Mor agreed.

°Indeed, she jumped us pretty badly, so we glossed over pretty important stuff.° The human continued.

°Yes, we did. She mentioned another human, a person quite crucial to the development of the kin,° Mor stated.

°Just so. After she mentioned it, my mind just ran wild, and I forgot to pry further. Still, that leaves a bunch of questions. Like how did he get here? In which way did he influence the kin? And Why does none of your children's books talk about that? There was only that one mention in your history books about that archmage, which I guess might have been the human, but no other legends?° The human said.

°If you say it like that, it sounds like someone tried to remove traces of that human and did a terrible job or that one historical document just slipped their attention.° Mor mused.

°Unlikely. If it was a legend or children's story, maybe, but something taught in history class? No. I think the human purged all knowledge of him being here himself, but Lorelai somehow knew or guessed that the knowledge would be important in the future and left a trace for an attentive and questioning mind to find and act upon it.° The human said.

°So someone like me.° Mor boasted.

°Yeah, no. You were just a bullied loner, and without my help, you would either still be under Ranbor's scrutiny, dead, or gone mad by fusing with a real elemental, ° the human said flatly.

°You could have left me that illusion, at least.° Mor pouted.

°Be serious. The question is, who might have more information about that human? I think either the headmaster, Dino, the king, or the Shadow-kin. If I remember correctly, they boasted about knowing secrets no one else knew.° The human said.

°True. We should ask Dino. He's the one we can trust most of the bunch.° Mor agreed.

°Yeah, I just have a bad feeling about all of this. Don't you think our relationship with Dino and Tiara went too smoothly?° The human asked.

°It did, but with how he and my father act, he seems genuine. Do you think it is all an act? Because I don't. I think he wants to improve Soul-kin society.° Mor said.

°I'm not implying anything. It's just a feeling. Like, shouldn't the king be involved at all in those secret things? Also, shouldn't the king have a say in who is allowed to spend time with his daughter? He must know, and if he is really such a traditionalist, we are right on his shit list without having a clue.° The human argued.

°Maybe he's just like Dino.° Mor said, however, even saying it sounded wrong.

°Do you think we're in trouble and shouldn't return home?°

°No. Nothing has happened yet, and maybe it won't at all. I just say we should be careful. Dino might be on our side, but he is not king, ° the human stated.

°Then, the prudent thing would be to make plans for when or if that happens.° Mor said.

°That won't do us anything good. If it happens, we can only trust in Dino or run like hell, hoping they can't catch us. Or improvise because I don't think only the king will stand before us when he wants to eliminate the anomaly.° The human said.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

°But you're telling me, and we're not doing anything about it. Isn't that just like you always say with that Murphy thing?° Mor asked, and the human cursed, having to agree.

The two worried friends quickly asked Sophie for her opinion, and she tried to calm them down. Yes, the king of the Soul-kin, his Majesty Desmond Diamond, was a stern man but also a just one. He wouldn't do something rash because one of his subjects looked different or might get into a relationship with a royal princess, commoner or not. Instead, as far as Sophie is concerned, the king would be quite happy to grant his daughter that simple wish if the suitor was someone the princess chose. However, instead of getting calmed, Mor and the human worried even more. Because with all the woulds, shoulds, and maybes in the long-winded explanation about the king, it sounded more like delusions from Sophie. Something not entirely unheard of from Mor's mother. After all, he knew best how much she could deny the truth if it didn't fit her worldview.

Still, they had no other ideas on how to mitigate that looming fiasco other than fighting, which was stupid, and running away as fast as possible, which might be impossible. So, Mor and the human decided to trust in Sophie's judgment and in Dino. Hoping the prince had figured everything out before they even arrived. In this manner, the two friends spent the rest of the journey alternately worrying, theory crafting, and discussing as Amethyst Isle drew closer and closer.

When it finally came into view, it was a nostalgic sight. Mor felt like it was ages ago when he first came here, full of hopes and dreams. But now, so much had happened, and so much needed to be done. He needed to convince the Shadow-kin somehow to support him, find the elusive Wood-kin, talk to the secretive Stone-kin, and probably reconnect as much of the other kin as possible to be as prepared as can be, before Lorelai lost the alleged control over the first, and it starts to rampage again. All while dealing with the new threat of magical beasts, which may be a stronger form of the already dangerous monstrosities. Mor scratched Mirage between the ears and smiled. Well, some of them might be more dangerous, but there are also definitively cute ones.

"Walk me through it again," Morokhan growled.

"No. You will just hit me again." Dino grumbled.

The prince was rubbing his head where Morokhan's fist had just landed a few seconds before.

"Then I will," Morokhan stated coldly. "After telling me to keep quiet about it, you forgot to tell anyone that my son doesn't look like your typical Soul-kin. Because and I'm citing you. "Don't worry, Moro. I have everything under control." Which is obviously what happened. You did not lie to me, right?"

"Come on, it isn't that bad. I'm just going to tell my father now. Explaining that "I'm using the teleport to get a liaison to the Ice-kin and a new addition to the secret guard force"." Dino said but then crumbled under Morokhan's judgemental look.

"You're right. That sounds stupid." Dino sighed.

"I know you are under a lot of stress, but it is my son we're talking about. If something happens to him again, and this time because of your neglect, Sophie will hurt you," Morokhan said matter-of-factly.

"That woman is scary," Dino said. "She would kill me."

"She can be scary, but also the most loving and cute girl you will ever meet. And she won't kill you. I would stop her before that. Killing the crown prince might not reflect well on her resume." Morokhan stated.

"Right," Dino grumbled. However, you're right. Tiara also came by to tell me about her decision. She wants to explore her feelings and not get tied down to the Emerald family right when she graduates."

"Oh, so Sophie had the right idea," Morokhan said, nodding. "Did you at least talk with your father about that?"

"I did bring it up, but you know how he is, " Dino said. He went full-on, "That's not traditional." I hope mother will calm him down and make him rethink.

Morokhan grimaced. "I often wonder how you turned out this way. Is it a never-ending rebellious phase?"

"Might be." Dino agreed. "I just want everyone to be as happy as they can, not only the powerful and influential. Because of that, I'm very pleased about Orth and his squad. Their growth in such a short period is remarkable. The special operations team you suggested was a good idea, and with Lord Obsidian on our side, keeping it secret from my father is easy."

"I don't know about that, but at least the king did not act, so maybe he is unaware of our schemes," Morokhan said. Still, we were talking about my boy. How do you intend to salvage this?"

"I mean, the Ice-kin idea has merit. He does have good connections, looks like one, and even has done their first hunt tradition. As far as I'm aware, this makes him a fully-fledged Ice-kin adult, more so than an adult Soul-kin, because he didn't finish school." Dino ventured, and Morokhan gave it some thought.

"If everything goes well, however, you are right. We can't let Mor repeat that last school year, no matter how much Tiara would like to attend class with him. He would draw too much attention."

He nodded. "Then we're going with that plan. It might be the best we can work out in that short a time frame." Morokhan looked pointedly at Dino.

"I already said I'm sorry." The prince grumbled. "You know I have a lot to deal with."

Morokhan shushed Dino and grew quiet for a second. "They are almost there. We should get going."

Dino nodded and got up. The two adult Soul-kin were walking side by side to the hidden teleportation platform when there was a loud slap as Moro's hand collided with the back of Dino's head.

"Why?" Dino whined.

"I don't know. It just felt right." Morokhan answered with a shrug.