The Journey of Two Sisters: Book 4 of the Kinstone series

It takes us a few minutes to reach Ayame’s home, which rests near the marina. I pan up to see a pair of satellite dishes sticking out of it. I smile, thinking that Ayame must’ve added the second one over the course of the summer.

I lean forward and knock on the door. A few seconds later it slides up, revealing a slender, yet slightly shorter than Marron, danuki gyoubu woman with shoulder length brown hair.

“Konichiwa, Tenaki-san,” I smile, bowing to her.

The woman quickly pulls me into her, hugging me tightly. “It’s so good to see you, Aria-chan. I am extremely happy to see you here in the village,” she says.

I smile, hugging her back. I pull back from her. “This is my older sister, Marron,” I say motioning to her.

She bows, “Konichiwa, Tenaki-san.”

Ayame’s mother bows, “A pleasure to finally meet you, O’Conner-san. Aria-chan told me all about you.”

My sister smiles.

The woman then looks to me, “Have you come to visit my daughter?”

“Not quite,” I respond. “The truth is I need to borrow your equipment to make a call.”

Her head droops, sighing. “Ever since Ayame tapped into the telecommunications network, it’s become nothing but a nuisance. Not to mention all of the ‘upgrades’ she’s made to it since the start of fall.” She then smiles to me, “You can use it.”

“Thank you,” smiling to her.

She nods and ushers us in. Marron and I take off out coats again and hang them up. Tenaki-san then leads us deeper into the house. We pass by the kitchen where I see Ayame sitting at the table looking over her phone. Her head pops up and notices me. She quickly leaps out of her chair and runs over to me, hugging me tightly.

“It’s so good to see you, Aria-chan,” she says. “If you were coming to the village you should’ve called me.”

I giggle, “Well, Hashibaba’s the one who did.”

She grins, looking me over. “You look so much better in your true form.” Her gaze then peers down, catching my tails as they swish behind me. Her eyes then grow wide, “You’re a kyuubi now,” she says excited. “You must be the youngest kitsune I know to grow all nine.”

I pan over to her mother, who also marvels at my tails, but is far more reserved in her reaction. “I agree, Aria-chan,” she says. “No doubt Tsukino-sama and Asharyume-sama are extremely proud of you.”

I giggle, “They are.”

Ayame then leans in, “I heard a rumor you went on a second date with Kenji.”

My cheeks blush softly, biting my lip.

She grins, “You two are meant for each other. I know it.”

My tails curl tightly as my face burns even hotter.

“Ayame,” cuts in Tenaki-san, “Aria-chan is here for a reason. The two of you can talk after she’s done.”

My friend nods, “Okay mother,” then looks to me, “making a call?”

“Yep.”

She smiles, “I’m in.”

Mother and daughter lead Marron and I deeper into the house until we reach the radio room. A pair of computer towers along with monitors, mics, and other equipment rest on a table.

Both mother and daughter then take their places at opposite sides of the table, with Ayame booting up her computer and logging into the network. “Alright, signal is strong and I am ready to go here Mother.”

Tenaki-san looks to me, “May I please have your phone?”

I nod, reaching into my backpack and pulls out my phone, handing it to her.

She smiles, plugging it into her computer. She starts syncing my phone to it. “I must say, there is some pretty strong protection on your phone, Aria-chan. Not that I can’t connect to it, just that the outgoing signal is heavily encrypted.”

I smile, “My mom wanted to be sure that no one could trace me. But I still think someone may have hacked into it somehow.”

She nods, “I agree, but not from the phone itself. More than likely they got into the service provider and started looking for your ID codes.” She taps a few more keys and then hands me back my phone. “With that we are set to go. To be extra careful, I’ll delete the data from our computers of your phone’s information after we’re done.”

“I’ll also monitor the call,” perks up Ayame. “Just to be sure no one has broken through.”

I nod, taking it, “Thank you Tenaki-san, Ayame-chan.”

I hold up the phone and scroll through my contact lists. I smile, finding Miriam’s, noting the date of the last time I called her. I take a deep breath and tap on her number, and hold it to my ear.

I hear the phone ring a couple times, and then its goes silent for a moment as it hits the third ring.

“Yes, this is the cu Callen residence, how may I be of help?” I hear a man ask.

“Yes, is Miriam awake?”

“My Lady is indeed awake,” he responds. “May I ask to whom I am speaking with?”

“Aria Edge.”

“One…one moment,” frantically he replies. I hear the heavy footsteps as I think he’s running through the house to reach her.

A couple moments pass, and still nothing.

“Aria?!” I hear her ask, sounding both excited and surprised.

“Hi Granny,” I giggle nervously. “I can’t tell you where I am. I don’t want anyone getting hurt or worse if they know my location.”

She cackles softly. “Oh, my dear child,” she replies. “I agree that you shouldn’t tell me, and do not worry yourself over the Coven. They would never divulge such information even if they did.”

I smile softly; glad to hear her voice again. I really hope everyone is still okay after all this time.

“Are you and everyone alright?” she asks.

I smile, “We are all fine, and fully intact.”

“Good, my little Aria.” She sighs heavily into the phone. “You have no true idea of how worried I myself or the Coven has been since you failed to arrive in Seattle when you said you would.” She pauses for a moment to take a breath. “These past three months have been filled with nothing but constant worry and fears abounding of you and your party’s fate.”

I wrap my tails around me. “We were ambushed the next morning. When I had just entered the portal, a spell exploded right behind me. This made me lose concentration and we were blown way off course. But like I said, we’re all here safe and together.”

“I am overjoyed beyond measure, my granddaughter,” she replies.

I giggle to myself at how Hashibaba just called me that.

“Regulus and his allies have been pressing harder, and becoming nearly frantic in their search for you,” she says. “They however, are seemingly being fed with false leads and misinformation of your whereabouts.”

I smirk, Mandy, the gossip queen of the Coven. She’s the only person I know who could easily find a position within the coven’s intel group and loves gossip, not to mention spreading it.

My chest tightens a bit. “No one’s been hurt right? I mean…is everyone alright?”

“Everyone is just fine, Aria,” she replies. “However, many know they are being watched. Some have even come home to discover their phones wiretapped. We learned that taps were ordered by law enforcement. We quickly went to court to have them removed.”

Worry begins to settle in. I could never live with myself if anyone got hurt because of me.

“I have to ask, are the warrants for Orga and Kateryna real?”

“They were,” she says, “until Jonathan Parkston and several others challenged their validity. I am quite happy to report they have both since been rescinded.”

I sigh heavily in relief, awesome.

“I will finally have good news to tell everyone for the first time in months,” she says.

I giggle softly.

“I must add that the Coven will not be holding the Winter Solstice Festival this year.”

My eyes grow wide, “You can’t that on my account, Granny.”

“That is precisely the reason why, my Aria,” she says. “We cannot in good conscious celebrate while several of our precious members are missing or in danger.”

I sigh, leaning onto the table. “Looks like I’m going to be missing yet another festival.”

She chuckles, “Yes, but for a good reason.”

A hand then rests onto my shoulder. I look up, seeing Marron standing over me. I smile, wrapping my tails around her. She grins softly, pulling me gently into her.

“Marron is with me, do you want to talk to her?” I ask.

“Not…right now, my dear,” she replies, going silent for a moment. “But do tell her that the Coven misses her deeply, just as much as you.”

Why not speak to her? It still makes no sense how the last time we spoke, Miriam said nothing about expulsion or anything else for that matter. Just what is the deal back home?

“No one in the Coven bares any hatred towards your sister,” she adds. “However, there still is one person she must face.”

Her voice seemingly trails off, almost as if she lowered the phone. I could faintly hear her in the other side of the phone. Even with my fox ears, which could amplify any sound, I am still unable to listen in on what the conversation is. Whoever she is talking to is also doing an exceptional job in hiding their voice from me. That or Miriam covered the mic so that I couldn’t hear anything.

“Aria?” she asks coming back on the line.

“I’m here Granny.”

“Good girl. Now, I want you and everyone in your party to remain safe and do not worry yourself over everyone here,” she says. “The Coven is strong, and is forever with you and your sister. We can handle anything that comes our way.”

Even still, they are my friends and have been there for me for the past two years. The children have been the best friends I could have asked for in my new life. So no matter what, I will still worry about them. Even from the other side of the world.

I sigh, nodding. “Ok Granny, tell everyone that I miss and love them. I hope to see them again one day.”

“I will my precious granddaughter, and I pray your return to us is swift,” she replies.

I smile. “Oh, one more thing Granny,” I add.

“What my dear?”

I grin softly, “Kick ass.”

She chuckles, “I shall and I will also relay this to everyone as well.”

I giggle softly, “Love you Miriam.”

“I love you as well Aria,” she replies. “Now take care of yourself and mind your sister.”

“I will Miriam. Until then,” I say.

“Until then, my girl.”

I start lowering the phone to end the call.

“You do realize that this is all a gamble correct?” I hear her say, almost in a whisper.

“I know.”

My ears quickly shoot up, feeling my heart racing in my chest. I…I know that voice. Even if it’s faint and just two words, the voice speaking them is undeniable, but it can’t be. I quickly raise the phone back to my ear.

“Wha-” The line then goes completely dead.

“Kuso,” exclaims Tenaki-san. “Something’s interfering with the signal.” She and her daughter look over the computers.

Ayame looks to her mother, shrugging.

I look at my phone, wondering if what I heard was nothing more than a fantasy.

“What’s wrong sweetie?” asks Marron.

I look up at her, and then back at the phone, “I don’t know.”

She nods softly. “Did you mean what you said to her?”

I quickly stash my phone into my bag, staring at it. “I’m tired of thinking about the other covens and playing defense. It’s time we went on the offensive for a change.” I stare out towards the sea. “I’m guessing everyone else has been thinking the same.” I smirk, “I know Miriam will be sending out the call pretty soon.”

Marron stares at me, “I hope you know that you are basically declaring war on the other covens right?”

I stare back, “They were the ones who declared it first when they allied with Regulus and attacked my home.” I still remember the first night I arrived at the Ranch and Jenn talked about going after the members of the covens that attacked me who live in St. Louis. This of course was quickly shot down by her parents.

She sighs, pulling me tightly against her. “You really are your mother’s daughter.”

I cling tightly to her, “I miss her Marron.”

She gently strokes my hair, “I know you do sweetie. I know.” Marron plants a kiss onto the top of my head before giving me another tight squeeze and letting me go.

Tenaki-san shuts down the uplink and rises from her seat, “Well with that over, how about some tea.”

Marron and I look to her. “Yes please.”

She smiles and leads us back into the kitchen. Ayame steps over to me, “So how did you date go with Kenji? I hope it went well.”

I bite my lip, trying to hide my beet red face.

She grins, “I bet you both kissed again.”

Now I feel my face burning even hotter than before. My eyes dart away, trying not say anything.

Marron smiles, “Oh they did…a lot.”

I look up at her, eyes glaring as we enter the kitchen. “Of course you’d know after spying on me.”

She grins, “I just wanted to make sure my baby sister was alright. Not that I don’t trust Kenji.”

I slap the back of her head with one of my tails, making her laugh.

Ayame looks at me confused, “How did you spy on her? Did you follow her while Aria-chan was on her date?”

I shake my head, taking a seat at the table, “No…she used a watchsphere to monitor us while on the beach.”

Her head tilts, then looking to her mother. Tenaki-san smiles, “It’s an object used in the west for spying and recording with.” She looks to me as she puts a kettle on the stove, smiling softly.

Ayame also looks back at me, but now with a grin on her face. I sigh, knowing that she, along with everyone else, would’ve loved nothing more than to follow us on our date. granted, they gave us our space during the first. I lean onto the table, again thinking about the watchsphere. I smirk to myself, if Marron was watching, I have no doubt that everyone else was as well.

(Marron)

The next hour was spent talking with each other. I watch as Aria and her friend settle into the living room, each discussing about the summer. My sister tells her about the gathering and the tournament. She grins broadly as she talks about the second night and dancing at the restaurant.

“You do know we would’ve been there in a heartbeat Aria-chan,” she says.

Aria smirks, “Yeah I know, with Kenji along for the ride. If anything I…kinda wanted him to be there.”

She giggles, “Oh, we know.”

My sister sighs, leaning into her knees.

I smile, watching as Fenris stays close to her, lying curled up on the floor. “I’m a bit curious as to how everyone reacted to her bonded when they both arrived in the village for the first time.”

Ayame’s mother takes a sip of her tea. “I won’t lie when a few were a bit off put by his appearance. A gigantic two-tailed wolf, strolling through the streets, naturally we were nervous about him.”

She smiles over to me and Fenris. “We soon came to realize how much of a father he is to her. Always watching over her as though she were a pup.”

I lean over onto the table, smiling.

Tenaki-san leans over to me, “I will admit that a few believed him to be a kami or yokai some sort, given how powerful he is. But…that quickly faded after their initial trips. He, like her, became very much a part of this village. He even began watching over several of the smaller children while their parents worked in the fields.”

I chuckle softly, “He’s the same in our coven. Parents with younger children feel completely at ease with him babysitting their kids.”

Her bonded lifts his head, and looks at me, smiling softly. I grin at him in return. I know he’s hers, but I too am grateful for him being around. He and I still often talk whenever she heads to bed. The two of us will sit in the living room and enjoy a quiet few moments before heading to bed ourselves.

(Me)

About four in the afternoon, Marron walks over to me. “Sweetie, why don’t we head on home?”

I nod and hop up from the floor. I pull out my phone again, looking to her, “I’m gonna text Yukari first.”

“Good idea.”

Me: hey, Marron and I are heading home.

A couple moments later.

Yukari: Alright. Do us all a favor and begin making dinner in a couple of hours.

I smile. Got it.

I stash away the phone again and step towards the door. Marron and I slip on our coats and boots. Fenris rises off of the floor and yawns, stretching out his body. Ayame and her mother walk over to us, with my bond slipping past them and sits by me in the entryway.

I turn and bow to them both. “Thank you so much for everything.”

Her mother smiles, “It was my pleasure Aria-chan.” She steps forward and sets my scarf, “Now that you are able to visit the village, I’d like for you to come by more often.”

I smile, “Yes ma’am.”

“Oh,” she adds, “when you do, don’t run through the forest as the trees are still covered in snow. I don’t care how proficient you are, no trees. Am I understood young lady?”

I giggle, “Yes ma’am and thank you again.”

She smiles.

I hear camera shutter go off as I turn to see Ayame smiling to me. “Now I can show the others.” My cheeks turn a soft pink. She giggles, “It’s going to be like the spring again isn’t it?”

“Maybe,” I tell her.

She smiles, stepping next to her mother.

Marron and I bow to her mother again, “Thanks again and we’ll see you later.”

“Come sooner,” says Ayame. I giggle, nodding to them. Seeing how I’m back to full strength, I can easily come down whenever I want again. Granted, I do have to give everyone a heads-up first.

They smile just as the door slides open revealing Ayame’s father. I turn and meet his surprised gaze. “Aria-chan,” he says excitedly. “I heard you were in the village, but I didn’t know you were actually in my home.”

I giggle, “Konichiwa Tenaki-ojisan. Unfortunately my sister, Fenris, and I were just about to head back home for the evening.”

He pans over towards Marron and bows to her, “Konichiwa O’Conner-san. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, but I wish I could’ve been here sooner to greet you along with my wife.”

She smiles, bowing to him, “It’s quite alright sir. Perhaps another time?”

He nods, “Until then.” He turns and smiles to me, “You are looking well Aria-chan.”

I smile, “Thank you sir.”

He smiles, “Well, I won’t keep either of you much longer.” He then peers down at my bonded, “A pleasure as always Fenris-dono.”

The wolf bows his head, “And to you as well.”

The three of us then quietly slip out past Ayame’s father and back onto the street. I turn to see Ayame waving to me. I smile waving back at her.

Fenris grows back to his true size and kneels down. I smirk, crawling onto his back with Marron sitting behind me. We grip onto his fur as he gently rises off of the ground. With a slight tap of his shoulder, the wolf takes off, heading straight for the house.

Marron leans over as we exit out onto the main road. “What did Tenaki-san mean by ‘don’t run through the forest due to the trees being covered in snow’?”

I smile, feeling the chilling air stinging against my cheek. “Back in the spring I used to cut through the forest as a shortcut. Mostly leaping from tree branch to tree branch like a ninja.”

She laughs loudly, “You should probably lay off the anime.”

I giggle, “I did the exact same thing at the Estate. Plus the kids love to race each other.”

She gently pulls me back into her, holding me, “I wish I could see that one day.”

I smile, resting my head against her.