Chapter 19: The Meeting

It was getting further into the late afternoon, being around seven pm. It had been a long day, but it wasn’t over yet. Fumi, Gary, Vinayaki, Ryujin, and Taweret were walking back to the admin office. They had a chance to tour the area a little bit more, but it was time to report back to the center of the underground den.

They approached the doors of the administration center. The clear glass door had Kiroko that was inside and sitting next to her desk. She was dressed back to what she originally wore before the arena.

“That wasn’t too bad in the fight, Ryu poo,” Taweret told him. She looked at the dragon, and he simply nodded in return.

“So we have been summoned back to talk to Kiroko. Did she mention why?” Gary asked.

“I don’t know, husband,” Fumi said. “I just know that she wants to talk to all of us.”

“Well, here we are then...”

Kiroko looked up and waved the five to enter. She put her furred hands to the desk as the doors opened up for them. They stepped inside, and Kiroko gestured for them to approach them.

“I am glad that you are here,” Kiroko said. “Have you had a chance to see all of the facility and den here?”

“Yes,” Vinayaki said, looking down at her. “We still have a few extra questions here and there to ask, though.”

“Tell me, and I will answer.”

“How do you intend to handle your population growth for this den?”

“Our goal is to continue to expand it. We have the resources to do so, and we will carry it out. Right now, the den can be expanded to at least two thousand in population at least for ten years. With your help, it will expand even quicker. The more resources, the better our situation becomes.”

“You are willing to help us out in search of the Lintarsha shards then?” she asked.

“Hmmm ... perhaps you should ask someone that I know,” Kiroko said as she waved her finger towards the door near her office. There was a set of eyes watching as the door opened up. Cassandra was observed pushing a wheeled cart into the room that had a television and various instruments connected to it. The pregnant Yuki then went and plugged the TV to an outlet as she then took a phone jack and plugged it into the phone. She then pulled the covers from an instrument as a large camera was then connected to the TV.

“It is set,” Cassandra said. She gave a thumbs up and smiled.

“Thank you, Cassandra. I will call you back in when we are done.”

With that, she bowed her head and walked back to the doors to exit the room. Kiroko then turned on the phone and began to punch in a series of numbers.

“What are you doing?” Ryujin asked.

“It will be in the early afternoon there where I am calling,” she replied as she punched a series of more numbers on the phone. “Gary or Fumi, can you turn on the TV for me, please?”

Gary got up as he turned the knob to the TV. The camera was on as the display flashed and showed all six of them that looked at the camera feed footage.

“If this is some sort of...”

“Relax Ryujin; she will need to see us make the final talk. I wish I had chairs for all of you. Fumi, Gary, come and sit down.”

The couple looked at a set of chairs in the room. They went and pulled out the chairs and positioned them so the camera would pick them up. Kiroko keyed in the last set of numbers when she pushed her chair away to look at the camera. They could hear a ring tone kick in.

“We have someone important to talk to. She wishes to have a word with you three. I am giving her a phone call,” she said as she turned to look at the three mythics.

She turned her head to look back at the TV. The phone continued to ring for at least twenty seconds. Finally, the screen changed. It no longer displayed them but a similar desk from the TV display. They all saw a female Yuki that they had not seen yet. Fumi almost gasped a little bit as Gary looked at her.

The female Yuki that they were looking at had solid white fur. Her rodent eyes were red. She looked beautiful and proper. She wore a green and yellow spotted kimono that flowed downward and away from the desk and table. She had a look of importance to her. Even Fumi felt unworthy to look at the image that she saw. Behind her was a painting that displayed an old drawing of what looked like her wearing the same kimono.

“Who is she?” Gary whispered to Fumi. His wife didn’t have to answer.

“Kon’nichiwa musume. Ogenkidesuka?” the female Yuki asked on the other line.

“Mother,” Kiroko responded. “Please speak English since the others here speak English. Everyone, this is my mother, O Yuki San.”

While the others didn’t feel an overwhelming sense of shock, Fumi felt intimidated. This wasn’t just one of the many Yuki; this was none other than Yuki herself. The mother of all the rats. Gary went and held his wife’s hand to calm her down a little bit. She was the one that started them all. This was a significant phone call indeed.

“My apologies,” Yuki replied in the calmest of tones. Her accent had the strongest of Japanese accents more so than Ryujin ever had. “Kiroko, these are the representatives from the Coalition of Deities. You three,” she said, pointing to the deities. “I want you to introduce yourselves.”

“I will introduce myself first,” Vinayaki replied, pointing one of her four arms to herself. “My name is Vinayaki. I am the elected representative of the three. I come from what would be called India of today.”

“My name is Ryujin,” the dragon addressed himself. “I come from Japan, so I don’t need to say anymore.”

“Ryujin...” Yuki responded. She clasped her hands together as she nodded to the dragon’s response. She didn’t seem that surprised to look at the dragon.

“And my name is Taweret,” the hippo goddess almost gracefully bowed. “I am the great goddess of Egypt. It is a pleasure to meet you, great princess and mother of all.”

“Hmmm ... it is a pleasure to meet you. I suppose the other two are the selected representatives of our den and family?” Yuki gestured to the couple behind the deities.

“Yes,” Gary said, standing up. “My name is Gary, and this is my wife, Fumi. It is an honor to see you for the first time.” He sat back down on the chair as Fumi was too nervous to respond.

“Very well then ... it is good that I get a chance to talk to the Coalition’s representatives,” Yuki said as she stood up from her desk. She kept her hands together as she walked around her table and stood in front of her camera.

There was a look of elegance and dominance that they could see from her. Her kimono was so long that it hid her tail as she moved and walked. It practically dragged on the floor as she moved. Yuki looked like she was in control of everything and that of a leader. She kept her hands clasped together as she spoke to them.

“Have you had a chance to see what one of our dens looks like?” Yuki asked Vinayaki.

“Yes, we have,” the elephant goddess replied.

“Have you reached a decision about letting us join you?”

“We have, but we don’t speak for the entire Coalition.”

“What are your thoughts?”

“We have had a chance to see the resources that you have, and we are intrigued with your offer. Understand that this is the first time we are dealing with so many mythics at once. We are not used to this.”

“My family is vast ... I understand that. You are overwhelmed ... that is good. Numbers are strength, and numbers are power. The bigger our population, the more powerful we become. We join you, and you become more powerful in turn. That is the will of things.”

“We do have some concerns, though,” Ryujin explained to her. “These are things that need to be addressed before we can fully admit you to the Coalition.”

“Explain.”

“Our concerns come into the safeguard of your growing family. Within the last ten years, the family has been growing through a population explosion. You have begun to adopt human children and indoctrinating them into the dens. Their goal is to expand the dens and become the mates to the Yuki is that correct?”

“Yes,” she answered without hesitation. “With the sacred Money Tree in our possession, we have an endless supply of money. Now is the time to begin expanding our influence. My children, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren, and so on all deserve a mate. Humans abandon or discard children on their own. We ensure that human children have a good home and well taken care of. I will not lose a generation due to some chemical imbalance.”

“That is not what is in question, and you are not on trial for this,” Vinayaki told her. “We simply need to make sure we know that when we tell the others about this.”

“Are you against this?”

“Again, it is not in our position to be against it. There will be rules, though, if you want to have our abundant resources.”

“The art of cooperation is for both to make agreements. What are your demands?”

“One goal is to remain anonymous. We are devoted to staying out of human affairs while the humans figure out their own destiny.”

“Interesting ... while that is what we do, there is a flaw to that form of thinking. For one, our numbers will continue to grow. Our desire is to have a place beside humans. One day there will be millions of us. Will we still remain anonymous as you declare?”

Vinayaki seemed to think about it for a moment as he looked at Ryujin. He seemed quiet as he didn’t have an answer.

“Hmmm...” Yuki noted. “I see ... you did not expect us to begin with. I can see us playing a big part in your Coalition. So many of us ... will we have representation of our own?”

“Of course you will. We admit, though, that we don’t exactly have the full knowledge of how such numbers can be fairly represented.”

“Such as the issue of our numbers ... I had to create this kingdom from the ground up. If need be, I would like to represent the family as the mother and leader that I am in your Coalition. That is the only solution that you have in this manner ... for now.”

The elephant goddess nodded her head in agreement.

“What else do you need to address?” Yuki asked.

“We will have to limit your activities in how much you get into human affairs. You cannot engage in actions of assassination and political manipulation against human mortals unless directed by the Coalition of Deities first.”