Loose Ends

Veranis, along with her two charges arrived at Noba. It was actually during the night time apparently. Not too surprising considering there would be a time zone difference with the Earth and Demon realm being in completely different realms. Noba was absolutely beautiful city and unique from most of the things on earth. If Max and the others had been expecting something Gothic or anything along those lines they would have been mistaken.

"We'll, here we are." Veranis said as they appeared at the cities edge. "I know where the palace is, that's the easy part."

Max looked around, surveying his surroundings. "Hunh, of all things I didn't expect it to look like something from Tim Burton's mind." While he was impressed he kept his wits about him and took the safety strap off his guns. They may not work against demons and the like but it made him feel better.

Yuyuko looked around, and actually smiled slightly. "...Miki would like this place. If she is the Demon King, then it makes sense..."

Veranis nodded, then glanced at Max. "Those, would actually be useful in protecting yourself from the lesser demons and such that live here. Just be careful with them, not that I have to tell you that. This way."

The demon lead both of them further into the city. Some people it was hard to seperate them from humans, and with others it was more obvious. There seemed to be a few other races here and there--a woman with pointed ears hinting they may be a elf of some kind. Among others.

When they reached the palace, naturally it was guarded. They just didn't let anyone pass through. However, Veranis was decently known around here so she was hoping that would help.

"Evening." Veranis greeted the guards. "Is Miki currently available? I have some important news in regards to her."

Max like always shoved his hands into his pockets and followed the lead. He hoped this would have a happy ending however he didn't think so.

The guard raised a brow. "...You're Veranis, aren't you? Surprising to see you here, I don't think you were ever known to come to the Demon Realm, at least not often. Hold on, I'll need to have you cleared by the captain..." He nodded to one of the other guards, who disappeared in a wisp of air. "Please wait just a moment."

"All right. Thank you." Veranis said sincerely and waited. "Has there been anything of note going on around here as of late?"

Max moved over to Yuyuko and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I would ask what's on your mind but I think I can guess."

Yuyuko smiled weakly. "Yeah... I just... really want to see her... then I'll know..."

"Anything going on? Well, there was an incident in which Her Majesty's pet caused a bit of commotion. Repairing the palace was a bit difficult... that, and an incident of Her Majesty throwing a bit of a... uh... tantrum, when someone stole her candy... so the palace had to be repaired because of that too... it... was not a good time for the builders..."

Veranis looked slightly amused. "Ah. I see. Something's never change I suppose."

She still found it amusing Miki had a giant feral dragon named biscuit. Nobody would think it was a dragon, more along the lines of a dog or something. While it was possible Miki wasn't Yuyuko's daughter, she..just had a feeling it was. They would have to see, but she was fairly confident.

Max nodded. He decided it was best if he just waited.

"So, you're the phoenix demon we've heard so much about." A stern feminine voice came from behind the other guards as Captain Norn arrived. She looked the group over, then held out her hand to Veranis. "Kurie Norn, Captain of the Demon Soul Knights, and personal bodyguard of Her Majesty, the Demon King."

"Veranis Takashi." The young woman shook her hand. "A pleasure to meet you, and these are my friends. I have heard of the Demon Soul Knights but I have never met any in person." The woman in front of her felt both like a elf and a demon, not completely unheard of.

Max stepped forward, "Max Sypher." He held out his hand.

Kurie looked at Max when he stepped forward, and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you. And you are...?" She had turned to Yuyuko, who looked distracted. "...Ma'am?" Yuyuko blinked, and then blushed.

"Ah, I'm sorry. My name is Yuyuko Kurusu... can... can I please meet with Miki? I... I think she might be my daughter... or at least maybe knows where my daughter might be..." At this, Kurie blinked, her face showing obvious skepticism.

"...You think that a several centuries old demon might be the daughter of you, a relatively young human? You can understand why that would sound far-fetched, correct?"

"It is." Veranis conceded to the demon knight. "But in a way, it's that reason you know there's some truth to it--there's obviously far more plausible lies out there if that was the case. Yuyuko was told this by a..contact of hers. It's possible they were lying or had misinformation, but its the biggest lead she has. I thought there were ways to tell for sure of someone's family line, isn't there?"

This is where diplomacy counted. Max would let Veranis do the talking. He looked to Yuyuko, "Maybe if you showed her a picture of your daughter."

Hearing this, Kurie quirked a brow. "That would help, yes. Do you have one?" Yuyuko nodded, pulling out a picture from her wallet, showing it to Kurie, who's brows both rose at what she saw. "That... looks exactly like the Demon King. It's easy enough to fake pictures, but this is enough for me to at least give the benefit of the doubt here. I'll take you to Her Majesty, and we'll perform a test to see if you are actually who you say you are. None of you are a threat to her, so I'm not particularly worried. However, try anything, and I will kill you without hesitation, understand?" Yuyuko simply nodded, her heart pounding in her chest. This had to be her daughter. It had to be...

Vernais said nothing, she was ready to follow and get this over with. Hopefully it would have a happy conclusion. If it did, it meant her work here would be done..for the most part. There were other things requiring her attention but she was holding them off for now.

Max looked at Kurie, he didn't respond well to threats, especially those masked as a warning. "I understand and I understand you have a job to do however you can work on your tact a little. There was no need to threaten to kill us. We know we're no threat to her, or you or anyone else here." He took out his guns and handed them over as a courtesy, "I'll be back for those later."

Kurie's brow twitched. "You do understand that I am tasked with guarding the Demon King, someone who has had far more than one assassination attempt on her life? I'm simply letting you know to be careful, because I will react, and ask questions later. You may regard that as foolish, but it is the best course of action when dealing with beings that can move at speeds that a human could not even follow. I have no time for tact, either. I apologize if I offended you, but I do not need a lesson in how to deal with people who seek an audience with the one I've sworn my life to protect." She paused, then motioned to the other guards, who moved aside. "I appreciate the gesture of offering your guns as well, but it is unneeded. Bullets will not harm her. Now, follow me please."

"Hm.."

Out of the three present, she was the only one who was a threat to the people here, but not Miki herself of course. However, she remained silent. Right now, her focus was getting Yuyuko reunited with Miki.

Max shrugged "Wow. Hit a nerve did I? It was just an observation. Good speach though. You should write that stuff down." He holstered his weapons. *Let's get this over with.*

Kurie didn't even turn around as she lead the way. "I'm glad you liked it. I'll be sure to let you critique any others I come up with, your opinion is really important to me." Yuyuko, surprisingly, choked back a snort of laughter, shooting Max an apologetic look. The deadpan delivery had caught her off guard, and hadn't expected the humor from the serious woman. Plus, she was a bundle of nerves at the moment.

(Eh, just skip me this time. Veranis has nothing to say)