Beastmen Love

Claud looks at the other with a shocked face. The others run to him wanting to know what he heard. Kangki was about to read his mind since he took a little long to answer them.

"Aquaterra found clues of where Astri is." Claud says, and they gasp, lighting up their mood entirely.

"Let’s go there!! We never found a single clue! We need to go now!" Wayde says, full of energy again.

The others agree. Claud and Kangki had to concentrate their energies and minds more to travel this very long distance. The others quickly pass the portal, knowing that as longer the portal is open more tiring it is for Claud and Kangki.

Kangki and Claud sighed tiredly, holding their knees to catch their breath. They force themselves up, and all of them run to the Throne Room.. They find Deanora on her throne, her kings behind her.

"You came fast." Deanora smiles.

"We never found a single clue. Of course, we would come fast." Claud says.

"What are these clues?" Lee asks.

Deanora points behind them, and when they turn around, they see Astri coming from the door they just came from, followed by Kenzou and Shinkou, and Reigan on Shinkou’s arms. Astri widened her eyes when she saw them, and their consciousness almost blacked out with the emotion.

She looks a bit tanned, but her face is just the same as they remember. They ran to her and practically tackled her down. Her spouses are trying to hug her all at once, crying like children.

"Oh, my loves... I missed you so much." She cries, too, trying to hug them, but she can barely move a finger.

Hearing her voice made them more sure that it was her. Bono and the dinosaurs only watched them with happy faces. Bono is also relieved and crying, thrilled that they have finally found her.

They are crying so much, letting all of their pain out, and she patiently waits for them to calm down. She’s also letting her heart be healed little by little, feeling their skin, their smell. Deanora is feeling a little guilty for the little prank she did, but she also knows that Claud wouldn’t wait or look after Astri’s other spouses if he knew Astri was there. She prefers them to be angry at her rather than at each other. They suffered too much to start fighting each other right after finding Astri.

When Astri’s spouses calmed down more, Astri kissed each of them, making them feel their lives being ignited again, like a punch of warm feelings, thrilling their hearts even more.

"Where were you all this time?" Lee asks.

First she presents Shinkou, Kenzou and Reigan.

"Please, welcome them with all your heart, too. Shinkou is my spouse, too, and made me strong not to go mad during our trip. He tried to take all my pain away, trying to fill up your absence somehow. He did the best he could, even knowing I would never feel complete without all of you." Astri says.

All of them thank Shinkou wholeheartedly.

"I did what any of you would probably do.." Shinkou softly says.

Only Kangki and Claud could understand what Shinkou says.

Claud walks to him, holds his shoulder, and smiles.

"Thank you, Shinkou. Welcome to the family. Thank you for taking care of her heart." Claud says, in the name of all.

Shinkou nods, smiling.

"He looks so much like Astri." Tyr says, pointing at Reigan, and Claud translates.

"I can make all of you understand our language. I just need to rest a little more. I traveled too much today and I’m a little worn out." Claud says to Shinkou and Kenzou.

All of them go to a private living room, Astri’s spouses almost glued to her. They shift like 10 in 10 minutes to be hugging her. She explains everything that happened again, showing that they didn’t find her, not because they weren’t good enough, but because she didn’t have a body for a long time.

"There was a time I was angry... Because you decided to do something that broke your soul like that... But what could you do? I would do the same if I were in your place.." Kangki softly says.

"I told you I would be fine. I must admit I wasn’t expecting to be away for so long. It felt like just a day in the dark. I felt Baal lurking around my mind, like trying to plant bad things inside of me, but I sent him away every time. I always felt my soul was armored by your love for me." She says.

"This Shrine, you told, must have the best energy for your body to form there." Claud says.

"It has. Thanks to Kenzou. I’ll take you there once I’m complete. You all will love the energy of that place. And we also have to go thank Seiryuu, an ancient spiritual beastman of that realm. He gave us his ship."

They look at Kenzou, who got confused by being looked at by everyone.

"He has a very pure energy, indeed." Kangki says.

"He knows how to keep energies balanced. He has practices that keep his mind purified and the place, too. He taught me, and it helped me to handle everything until now, too. He’s like a father to me, too." Astri says, then translates to Kenzou, and he chuckles, rolling his eyes.

Kenzou is always shy when she talks well about him.

"I would love to learn from you, too." Claud says to Kenzou.

"Sure. It would be an honor." Kenzou says.

They keep listening to what happened to Astri. She’s passed from Tyr’s arms to Wayde, and then to Beau, to Cyprian, to Kangki, to Lee, and then Claud again. She looks like a ball being passed, but none of them wants to pass it.

In the United Tribes, at the castle, everyone there was anxious to have some news about Astri’s clues. The children are walking in circles, Skalven is sitting anxiously, Dieg too. Koa is walking around the kitchen, waiting anxiously. Zin is sitting on the sofa, looking like a bit sick. He’s thin, and his health is worrying everyone. He had some more life now, because they might have clues about where Astri is.

Everyone suffered a lot with Astri’s absence, but for Zin was harder because his sole reason to exist is Astri. In his mind, the only reason for him to be happy at all is to be with her. He loves his children and his family, but all of that is held by Astri, and everyone could see that year after year, Zin was getting worse to the point that Claud didn’t let him go search for Astri because it would be risky. And they couldn’t afford to lose anyone else.

"Atlas, try to talk to Claud again. It’s been a long time." Dieg says to Atlas.

Atlas nods, then starts to meditate.

He can only travel his mind and not his soul entirely, like his father and Astri do. Not because he can’t do it, he can in closer ranges, but Aquaterra is a very distant place, so he can’t do more than talk to someone’s mind.

He finds Claud, then relaxes a bit.

"Father? Can you hear me?" Atlas says.

"Yes. I can hear you, Atlas." Claud answers.

Atlas noticed that Claud’s voice sounded lighter and calmer.

"Everyone is anxious to know if you have found anything."

"You will need to ask the one who brought the news. It’s on my side." Claud answers.

Atlas is confused; normally, Claud likes to challenge him, so he didn’t question and just jumped to the energy on Claud’s right side, but he finds Kangki.

"Father Kangki? Did you find anything?" Atlas asks.

"I wasn’t the one who found it." Kangki chuckles.

Atlas jumps to Claud again and then jumps to the person on his left. When he saw some memories in that mind that he got inside, he felt like a strong, warm wind had hit him.

"Atlas?" He hears her voice.

"Mom..? Mom, is that you?" Atlas asks, with his voice cracking.

He was only a baby when she left, but he can recognize her good energy somehow.

Everyone gasps in shock and runs to Atlas.

"Oh my boy.. Look at your voice. You sound so grown up.. It is me, sweetheart. It’s mommy."

Atlas started to cry, so he couldn’t hold the connection. Everyone started to question things all at once. Atlas was trying to calm down, but now with all those people talking at the same time made things impossible.

Then a portal opens in the living room. They understood that they had to quickly jump inside of it. Hopin carried Aurora, Yuki held Albus’ hand, and they jumped together. Galion saw the portal when he was getting inside, then he ran to jump on it, too.

"MOM/ASTRI!!"

"OH MY LOVES!!" Astri says, and let herself be tackled again.

Cries filled the room again, and they had their time to calm down, too. When Astri goes kissing each of her spouses, she touches Zin’s thin face and smiles sadly, looking at him.

"I missed you so much.." He cries.

"Me too, love. Everything is going to be back to normal now. I love you." She says and kisses his lips. "My handsome snake." She says, hugging him.