The Journal of a Connecticut Yankee Ch. 12

"I guessed as much, you really did put on a show for everyone. I hear many of my sisters are trying to figure out exactly where you came from. You were supposed to be kept a secret, something I understood Mother ordered. This made little Druella very pouty. I approve." She said with small, cruel smile.

So Auntie Dru did keep in contact with her. That lying bitch, but was I really surprised?

"Everybody seems to be in the know about everything else, except me." I stated pointedly

She tilted her head dismissively before taking another sip of tea.

"Welcome to family politics." She replied after swallowing, "Thats why I left all those years ago and created Wonderland. It was a sanctuary for me. To be free and have fun, to regain my lost childhood. A place that didn't have intrigue of Mother and my sisters. All they cared about was who could conquer more land, who had more power, who would succeed Mother one day-"

"Where's Romie?" I interrupted, not caring about her little walk down memory lane or the bullshit of the Maou and her overachieving kids.

Misrelda set the tea cup in it's saucer gently and put it back down on the table. She stared me straight in the eye and I felt those red irises piercing into my very soul as an odd silence seem to envelop the two of us.

"I was going to ask you the very same. Where is my daughter, Donnie?"

"Wh-What?" I answered, bewildered. I had thought she would know, or have some kind of idea in the very least?

"Where. Is. My. Daughter?" The queen asked again.

"I don't know! I thought you did!" I shouted causing the other patrons to look our way.

The goddesses marble heated as Misrelda pushed herself back from the table and summoned a thin crimson blade to her hand.

"Liar!" She cried sweeping the sword across the table.

Twisting my wrist, I let the mana quickly flow from the leyline to Arawn's stone and used it to form my own grey katana Force-Blade. Our weapons clashed against each other over the embroidery. Electricity arced and spiked around us from their contact.

"I'm telling you the truth, I haven't seen her! I'm trying to find her, myself!"

"How can this be? You're just a human! Without magic!" She cried again in shock.

"I've been doing a little character progression... Mom."

"I can see that... Son."

With those single words, those stupid names that were the farthest things from the truth, the air between us changed. Her hand lowered and the thin, crimson blade disintegrated. With a slight flick of my wrist, I allowed my Force-Blade katana to fade away. We each grabbed a chair and sat back down at her table. While the Queen smoothed over the wrinkles on her dress, I remarked,

"Old Maou-ma changed a lot of Earth's history."

"I know."

"What about your husband?" I asked gingerly. With the timeline messed up, there were still so many unanswered questions.

"When I finally came to Earth and saw it's year, I had my hopes of finding him. To have the king of my heart back in my life again. But it was for not. He was alive but already married to a human woman. They had a son. Timothy, if I remember correctly. He was not my Eric.

Before I could offer my condolences, she continued,

"My Eric died in my arms a very long time ago," Misrelda finished softly, her eyes glistening with fresh tears of the memory of a man that no longer existed, "and now, with what you tell me, I find my only daughter no longer exists as well."

"No!" I said passionately while reaching out and grabbing her small hand, "She's out there! I know she is! Something... something tells me she is! Please... Don't give up hope. I will find her. Believe me."

Shocked by my intensity and the physical contact, Misrelda stopped crying and whispered softly,

"I believe you."

We spent the next hour or so trading notes. How I came about my new abilities and powers and the differences in this new reality verses the old original one. I even tried some of the tea and cookies they had. It's funny, with Druella I always felt on edge. With Misrelda, I didn't have that lingering feeling of caution. Maybe I was getting soft, or maybe she was someone I felt I could trust.

A waiter came to us while we were in mid conversation and interrupted with a bow,

"I'm sorry to disturb your majesties, but the MBI agent asked that I relay a message to the Prince."

The Queen nodded regally to him and he turned to me to continue,

"She says that she has been recalled to her office and that your... granddaughter is on her way to pick you up."

Yeah, that's awkward.

"Uh, thanks." I said with a tight smile.

He bowed again and left us. Well, cats outta the bag now.

"So uh, yeah. I've got some... Kids... A grandkid too..."

"I know."

I raised my eyebrows to that.

Druella is not the only one with spies, Donnie. All Lilim have their agents, their networks. Even myself.

"Ah... That's... Nice." I floundered while taking a sip of cold tea.

"I don't hold any ill will against you for it. I was told of the circumstances."

"Good to know. Crazy times back then, huh?" I half laughed.

"Dude! This place is boring why are you here?"

My granddaughter elegantly made her entrance over to us.

Fucking kids.

I sighed and gestured to her, "Your majesty, may I present my granddaughter, Vicky. Vicky, meet The Queen of Hearts, my mother-in-law."

"Oh shit. Uh, I mean, uh... P-Pleased to meet you, your queen- I mean your majesty!" She stuttered while slaughtering a curtsy with no dress on.

Jesus.

Misrelda turned an eye at me and remarked, "Well, there's certainly no question of her relation to you."

God damn smart ass Lilims.

"It is time that I must leave as well," she stood and reached into a red, heart shaped purse. Removing a red phone, she slid it over to me, "If and when you do find something or if you need my help, call me."

A direct line to the Queen. Couldn't get much better than that.

Nodding, I stood too and slipped it into my pocket.

As she passed by us, a warm, spur of the moment feeling filled me. I'm not sure why but I knelt down and called to her

"Hey mom, can I get hug?"

Maybe I just missed my own parents. Maybe I was avoiding the fact that at some point, I did need to talk to them. To explain that I wasn't their Donnie. That I wasn't their son.

Misrelda paused and turned back. A smile grew on her face as she ran to me and we embraced warmly.

"Please, find her and be careful. There are enemies everywhere, around every corner. I don't want to lose two of my children." She whispered into my ear.

"I'm tougher than I look, mom. Don't worry, I'll find her. I promise." I whispered back.

She released her hold on me and quickly walked out while sniffling. Druella might have been my Aunt in Law, but Misrelda was the only Lilim I could ever think of as being an actual family member.

"I totally failed that, didn't I?" Vicky asked after she left.

"Let's go home." I answered, pushing her towards the door.

As we drove, Vicky finally burst out,

"The Queen of Hearts, The Maou, her husband, Druella and," she lowered her voice to a whisper, "the Chief God of the old world!"

My granddaughter slapped my thigh in excitement and exclaimed,

"Who else?! You met like every famous person out there! Who else?!"

"Vicky," I sighed in depression of what I had learned and threw my elbow on the side of the door to rest my head on my hand, "I donno. I met a lot of people. I shot a lot of people. Maou's hubby included."

And today started off so good too...

"You shot her fucking husband!" She all but shouted.

"Yeah. I kinda left that one out on purpose during dinner. Him and I were having a... philosophical debate one morning during breakfast. I was giving him a history lesson on the how the good ol' U.S. of A was founded and Tom Brady there told me I was full of shit. So I called him out on some of his own short comings, he got pissed, came after me and I shot him a few times. Didn't do too much other than piss him off even more."

"Holy fucking Maou. Did that really happen? It happened, did it? Am I even suppose to know that?"

I shrugged, "Hell if I care. You know more about the real history of things than most of the population out there."

"Sweet. Ah shit," my granddaughter said as raindrops started to appear on her windshield.

"What?" I asked

"Guess a Ryu got into a fight with her boyfriend or something," she grumbled as the rain started to fall harder.

The rest is hard to remember, but I'll try...

Ilias's marble heated up again. Then... an explosion? Vicky's car flew up into the air, I know that much. The feeling in my stomach of free floating. Her screams. The crash. The impact. Being upside down. A burst of pain. Breaking glass. The feeling of the car skidding across the road.

Nothing.

••••••••••••••••••

The sound of rain splashing against the asphalt met my ears. A few moments later a stabbing pain in my ribs. I opened my eyes but everything was so fuzzy. Vicky. Where was Vicky? A curved blade pierced through the cars frame. Metal screeched and tore as a large chunk was ripped away.

"There you are!"

Blinking rapidly against the rain falling on my face, I looked up to see Belphegor standing above me holding her scythe.

"I guess I wasn't as patient as I thought I was. Now where's the stone that he gave you? Oh there it is, it's on your wrist, how convenient!"

She reached down to my hand only to be zapped by a blueish forcefield appearing around me.

"That BITCH!" She spat in hatred, "How dare she keep me from what's mine!"

I could feel myself being soaked. Whether from the rain or my own blood I didn't know. My whole body was hurting, my head was swimming, there was a slicing pain in my side every time I breathed. I tried to summon a Blast-Punch but I couldn't focus, couldn't think straight. My eyes shut in exhaustion.

"Fine. We'll do it the hard way."

I could hear more metal tearing, more ripping. Rustling and grunting.

"Hey... HEY!" I heard her shout.

Forcing my eyes back open, I saw a sight that made my heart stop and my blood run cold.

She held Vicky up by her ponytail for me to see. As far as I could tell she was unconscious.

"So how about this. A little birdie told me you were going after the Philosophers Shard from Druella. Bring me that and Arawn's stone or else your granddaughter dies."

My eyes began to droop against their will.

"HEY! Are you listening?!"

My lids fluttered open and she banged the business end of her scythe against the shield a few times to make her point.

"The shard and the stone for her life! Hear me? You have five days. Meet me with them at the Church of the Black Sabbeth in a place called Los Gatos. Five days. The stone and the shard or she dies. No tricks."

Pain got the best of me, I couldn't breathe, it felt like I was drowning. The last thing I saw was her dragging my granddaughter through a fiery black portal...