"Wh-wha-what? What's going on?" Homugi questioned, trying to stand up to fight, but the shell was bouncing too much.
"I don't know. It's a good thing we caught those fireflies, though. Otherwise, we'd really be in a panic," Meioshi replied, landing on her pearl. "The pearl!"
The doctor quickly stroked it, hoping that it would light up the crib a little bit, and was relieved when it responded to her touch and lit the crib in a dim, blue light. She let out a sigh and looked about to inspect her surroundings. Yuko was holding Hasumi to protect her from anything that might fall on them, and Homugi was trying to hold up a defensive stance. The shaking was too much. Analyzing the type of movement surrounding them, Meioshi broke down the pattern of the vibration. It matched large footsteps. Someone was carrying them! While the shell was lightweight and the varying weights of four women might not have mattered for a strong group of men or even a demon, there would be some sort of a struggle if they had to walk for several miles carrying this much dead weight. The pearl would've been another problem. It was quite heavy, even for her. Trying to feel around for the hatch of the crib, Meioshi crawled about and tried to steady herself enough to feel the top shell. When she found the lock, she was able to get it partially unlocked, but the lips of the shell wouldn't budge. So, the shell wasn't just being carried. It was being carried in something else. Something was encasing the crib, but she couldn't tell if it was a rock as shells are often in rock beds or something like softened clay.
A soft light poured into the ajar shell crib, and Meioshi could smell something very fresh in the air like baby oil. She tried to pry the shell a bit more to touch the thing surrounding them, but it was too tight for her to push her fingers through. Instead, she did her best to analyze the now lit encasement surrounding the crib. Oddly enough, it looked like... tree bark. The victory of her analysis was short-lived, however, as the crib was dropped with a THUD! The doctor fell back and gold dust shot through the ajar slit, covering everyone in the dust. Coughing sounded from the top of the hollow tree and the carrier stood still for a moment to wait until the coughing stopped. When he started hearing muffled sounds, he huffed and growled a bit before breaking the hollow tree carrier in half and flipping the crib to dump the girls out. Except... four girls didn't tumble out. Instead, a child oni with rose hair and a green yukata scrambled about to search for her friends. The creature towering over them widened his eyes in surprise before softening them immediately at the sight of the girl. When she came face to face with a spotted puppy and adorable piglet, she yelped and nearly fell on a floating sunflower fairy.
"H-h-homugi! Y-y-you-you're a pup!" Meioshi yelped in a child's voice. She then let out a yell and wiggled about in a panic before shouting, "I'm a tot!"
"You're so cute, Homugi!" Hasumi cheered, snuggling into the pup's neck and muzzle. She noticed that she could suddenly and looked down to see that... she had no feet. Hasumi then yelled and bounced around in a panic before shouting, "My legs! They're gone!"
"Why am I a piggie?" Yuko questioned with a piglet's startled squeal.
"You're married to a piggie, Yuko," Meioshi replied, unusually calmly.
"Doctor! You're an oni!" Homugi exclaimed, pointing at her with a paw mitten.
"Kachan oni," a familiar, gruff voice called. Meioshi turned at the nickname and was met with Kiyonobu in a human form.
He was devilishly handsome with his brown skin and moss gray hair and stubble. Probably more than Numa-o, but she could see a worried father in his features as he kneeled before her. He was dressed in clothes and armor reminiscent of a swamp, but he didn't have that musky smell of a swamp. He actually had a pleasant fragrance about him - one that probably attracted many a mate in his youth. He didn't appear old. Probably was no older than 40 years old from the lack of pronounced wrinkles. He was a healthy-looking male, but he did dress as though he had some wealth. Despite the dark coloring of his armor, he wore bright greens, yellows, creams, and reds like they were meant to resemble the moss, algae, and mushrooms of the swamps, but the silver embroidery on his shoulders symbolized both wealth and hanging moss from trees much like his hair.
"Kiyonobu? How on Earth did you find me way out here? I thought you were with Numa-o," Meioshi said in her child's voice.
"Husband? Are you in the nursery?" a woman asked.
A gorgeous woman with dark brown hair pinned into a maru mage hairstyle and an elegant blue, purple, and yellow kimono resembling the colors of a swamp iris scurried inside what smelled like, and virtually looked like once Meioshi took a quick look around, a child's nursery. She did have subtle markings of green along her eyelids, but her hair was interestingly enough waxed with something deep green like the sludge you might find on the swamp's water surface. Kiyonobu and his woman must truly be swamp ogres... and caring parents. It made her realize when Kiyonobu saw her as a child before, that was literal. Shanwang mentioned that the oni inevitably equated her power to that of their children, but she didn't think the oni would see her as one of their children. If that's the case, why did Numa-o try to battle or kill her? Would he be so harsh with a child? Shaken out of her thoughts, the woman came closer to them and Meioshi simply remained still to observe her. She truly was stunning. The woman kneeled down, placed fingers to her lips and a hand on Kiyonobu's back, and gasped lightly before smiling sweetly. Oh, she was a mother. Only a mother would look so breath-taken in front of a child like that.
"Oh, she's beautiful! Is that her, husband?" the woman asked. When he nodded with a similar expression in his eyes, she then greeted, "Hello, little one. I am Tazu, Kiyonobu's wife. You had us worried sick, young lady."
"I did?" Meioshi questioned, tilting her head.
"Kiyonobu went back to retrieve you after you managed to seal the waters of our island, but you had already gone. He couldn't find you anywhere! He was in such a panic that he paced every day, hoping nothing had happened to you. Did you simply return to your parents, little one? Where on Earth did you go so quickly?" Tazu asked, curious to know what happened.
"My family died some time ago, I'm afraid," Meioshi answered honestly, smiling sadly. "I no longer have parents, just my small circle of friends."
She didn't know why, but she felt a dark aura surrounding the oni parents that was heavy on her. Their eyes were covered in black like a set of panda eyes, and they both sharply inhaled from her words. Tazu, however, returned to her sweet smile a bit faster than Kiyonobu could his quiet expression of admiration, so she responded, "We'll have much to teach you then, little one. Why don't you tell us your name? That's a wonderful start!"
"I'm Meioshi," the doctor greeted. She turned to hop over to her girls and said, "Homugi is the cute pup there. I met her at the lagoon just after Master Kiyonobu found me. She's learning how to be the best guardian ever! My little piggie is Yuko. She's my nursing apprentice! Someday, I'd like for her to take over my maternity ward at the clinic back home. She loves helping young mothers and children just like me. Oh, and this bright flower is Hasumi. Her ladyship may be young, but she's bursting with energy! I think she'll do quite well at the museum. One day, I'd like to be a better doctor and advance my skills to open a big ward to help as many people as I can. It's my thank you to the people who've helped me be me."
The aura around Kiyonobu somehow managed to grow darker at Meioshi's cheerful introduction. Meioshi didn't understand it, so she pouted a bit, but that just made Tazu twitch her eyebrows. Did she say something wrong? Do oni just not like medics or museums?
"That's quite kind of you, little Meioshi," Tazu said finally. "Well, how about this? We'll introduce you to one of our children while we discuss what we can teach you. You have much to learn about your heritage from what Kiyonobu has told me. Since you did challenge our lord, Numa-o, and left quite an impression on many of the warriors at his Aqualiseum, I believe you'll fall in line with other warrior oni. With you having a passion for medicine, however, you could receive your training from another commander. King Shanwang trusted her with finding remedies for many ailments. You'd like that! Wouldn't she, husband?"
"... yes," Kiyonobu answered stiffly. Whatever he was trying to hold in wasn't going to stay a secret for very long. He looked like he was about to burst.
"Come, husband, let's find Meioshi's playmate until we find her instructors," Tazu suggested, lifting him up and walking out of the room together.
"What was that about?" Hasumi asked, floating around the doctor.
"I don't know, Ha - "
"Daddy likes you," a small voice replied, making the girls turn to it.
There was a playpen right across the room where a small boy was standing on his toes to peek his head over the fencing of the pen. It was filled with toys and weapons much like Meioshi's crib was filled before. The boy looked a lot like Kiyonobu. He had the same moss gray hair and eyes, but his skin was greener than Kiyonobu's brown. His teeth were also protruding from the bottom jaw and not small yet like fangs. He had a headband on his forehead that had the silver embroidery of his father's clothes on it and wore a jacket with pretty swamp weeds patterned onto it. His shorts were knee length. He was a surprisingly cheerful boy in the pen.
"Hello," Meioshi greeted, waving politely at him. "Who are you?"
"I'm Omezo! I was taking a nap before sister-mother came in."
"Sister-mother?" Homugi questioned.
"Whoa! You have a talking puppy!" Omezo said, pointing at Homugi.
"Isn't she cute?" Meioshi squealed, lifting Homugi to snuggle her fur. This just made Homugi blush before squirming out of the doctor's grasp. "Wait, is Madame Tazu your mother or your sister?"
"Neither. She's daddy's second wife. Daddy has four wives. My mommy went to get more books for home school," Omezo explained. "I think you'll be meeting everybody soon. Daddy doesn't believe in orphaning children. Since you like helping others and honor those who have helped you, he likes you lots. I heard you fought Lord Numa-o. Was he as strong as they say?"
"Whoo! Whatever myth he had surrounding him was true! He packed a wallop!" Meioshi admitted. "I wouldn't have stood a chance against him without the help I got."
"What kind of help did you get?" Omezo asked, hanging off the pen fence with excitement.
"Oh!" Meioshi said, running over to her shell crib. She lifted up the pearl in her small arms and said, "This pearl. Lord Okakura gave it to me. He's a nautilus demon who can make containers of power. He said I would need it, so he let me have it. This is what's holding all of the chaotic waters that Numa-o was watching over. Would you happen to know why he had it in a treasure chest?"
"M-hm!" Omezo nodded, proudly. "It was the only thing he had that could hold all of the waters. Mommy said that the waters of Ogre Island were the most difficult of the elements to control. Monsoons, tsunamis, maelstroms, you name it. It's hard for one commander to keep that much power together on his own, but Lord Numa-o and King Shanwang never got along. So, the king forced him to handle the waters alone since Lord Numa-o claimed that he could with no proof of it. As it turned out, Numa-o couldn't. The sheer power of the water would leak out from the chest, so the humans suffer in the mortal world once a year because of it. Those demons affected by our waters are also put in danger roughly around the same time. A season for humans is short for oni like us. Your pearl was just right in holding the waters back. Now, Lord Numa-o can probably control it! You're a big help!"
"Wow..." Meioshi said, looking down at her pearl to rub it. "Thanks for that bout of information, Omezo. You're really smart!"
"My mommy's a teacher!" Omezo declared, proudly.
"How come you're in this playpen by yourself?" Hasumi asked, flying over to him.
"I got sleepy. So, I napped," Omezo explained. "I can be your playmate, though. I like your friends!"
"Thank you, but, uh, would you mind telling us where we are exactly?" Meioshi asked.
"This is the nursery. Across the hall is the school and down the hall is the arena. That's where we train," Omezo answered.
"What about the house? Whose house are we in? Where is it located?" Yuko asked.
"Oh, this is daddy's house. Before the Flying Reiki Palace disappeared, the swamps were where you had to travel to get to Lord Numa-o's palace. Daddy's the one who says if you can cross or not. We're just outside of the reiki palace's entry swamp. Like on the edge. It looks like a small cave on the outside, but that's just to keep humans out. Beyond the cave is where we are," Omezo answered.
Homugi sighed before saying, "This vacation just got more complicated than it needed to be..."