Chapter 22: Epilogue

I was so glad that the ICEP paid for my food bill, because with ten liminal mouths to feed, one of whom ate more than the rest of them combined, I wasn't going to be able to afford this party. The Saturday following Sashenka's defeat, everyone got together to celebrate. We had plenty of food thanks to everyone bringing something to the table, my dad manned the grill- and didn't let anyone approach his masterpieces until he plated them -and Centorea and mom went back and forth to the grocery store in case we needed anything else. It was pretty nice affair, especially since we didn't have to pay for it.

The only problem is that Smith and the MON Squad had invited themselves over. Miia and I were still pretty banged up from our fight with Sashenka and had planned to spend the entire day in bed, but well, since when has our coordinator ever respected my personal space? At the very least, they brought the drinks, chips, and plates.

In any case, we somehow managed to pull ourselves out of bed and join everyone in the backyard for the barbecue, Dad having already fired up the grill, slow cooking a… was that a lamb?

"Huh, I didn't know you liked lamb," I said.

"Oh, yeah I got a taste for it when I aided a research study in Sweden," he said, "It's just way too expensive over here in the US, or else I swear I could eat it for every meal."

I was almost barrelled over when Tio rushed up behind me, but she had the foresight to grab me and pull me into her J cups, hugging me like a teddy bear.

"Is it almost ready?" she said, wiping her mouth when I was steady.

"Give it a few more minutes, Tee," he admonished, slapping her forehead with his spatula, and while she pouted and rubbed her forehead, Zombina called over.

"Seriously, Tio. You have to let him cook it. This stuff is so good!" she said in between bites of a set of kebabs, "I can't get enough of this! Uncle C, you have to go professional!"

"Uncle C?" I teased, raising my eyebrow at him.

"I'm closer with your friends than you are," he shot back.

"I would hope not," I said meaningfully, licking my lips as lustfully as I could.

"Kayo," Dad said. It was short and sweet, and suddenly I felt like I was in court.

"Well, if you really wanted to, I wouldn't mind," Tio said.

"Not helping, Tee," I said with a flattered smirk, imagining a few scenarios I'd to enact with her before I slipped out of her arms and used my wings to fly over to the other side of the grill.

"Kayo, do that again," Dad said.

I looked at him curiously but agreed, and began flapping a few times, making sure to put some effort into staying on the ground this time, and after each gust from my wings, the fire in the grill grew larger and hotter. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. If wings were useful for mundane things like that, I wondered what else I could with them? Retracting them, though, I had a more fun idea. I wondered just what kind of things I could with my tail in less family friendly venues, and smirked devilishly at the prospect.

I heard the gate crash open, followed by a bit of shrieking. Mom and Centorea had returned, but Mom's face was flushed and she was holding up a half empty bottle of dark liquid, happily cheering for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Centorea sighed heavily and dropped off a few boxes labeled with all sorts of alcohol that they had probably bought for the party. Mom must have dove into them on the way home.

Jumping across the yard in a single bound, I landed right on Centorea's back, making her jump a little but smiling when she it was only me.

"Master, you must stop frightening me like that," she said.

"Aw, but that's half the fun isn't it?" I purred into her ear, and feeling her blush, I jumped off of her.

Reaching around, I took her hand and gave it a slow kiss on her knuckles, looking her in the eyes and spooking the poor centaur, freezing her in place. Snickering to myself, I poked her ribs. Frantically, she threw her arms out and flung them around in some poor effort of defense, puffing her cheeks out and glaring at me.

"Did they teach you those blocks in knight school," I said playfully.

"No, if you must know, my ribs are-" she paused, realizing when she realized what she was saying.

"Your ribs are what? Ticklish? Oh, that's good to know." I grinned maliciously.

"Master…" she whined embarrassedly. In an unconscious motion, I laced my fingers into hers and stroked her cheek with my other hand.

"Hey, listen to me," I said, snagging her attention, "I wouldn't be here without you. All that training you gave me on top of what I already had, the swordplay and how to maneuver against liminals is the only reason I'm here now. I only tease you like that because I love you. As soon as I figure out how to put my appreciation for you in words that aren't either sarcastic or riddled with innuendos, I'll let you know. I'm trying, alright?"

She smiled at me, but I couldn't tell whether she was debating slapping me or kissing me.

"I love you too, Master," she said, "You know I'm comfortable with your teasing, right? I know I don't show it, but I enjoy it. You don't have to change for me."

"I know," I said with a shrug, "It's not for you, though. It's for me."

"Isn't this sweet," came a certain arachne's voice from behind us, making my tail shoot out of my spine subconsciously, and I embarrassedly retracted it.

"How? Even now you can still make me quiver," I said flatly. She smirked.

"Don't even try to pretend that that choice of words wasn't intentional," Rachnera said coyly, crossing her arms and casually putting her hand to her cheek.

"You know me so well," I admitted, smiling warmly at her. Suddenly, I felt a string of webbing wrap around my arms and torso shibari style, and then myself being pulled into Rachnera's arms with my back to her chest.

"I know certain other things about you, too. Dirty, ravishing things," she mewled into my ear, nibbling on it for just a second, "Imagine what your parents would think if I told them about those magazines under your mattress." I blushed heavily.

"Rachnee, there's nothing wrong with men reading fashion mags," I pleaded.

"Oh, I know," she said, "But do they know?" She bit my neck lightly, and at this point, I was sure that we were starting to get angry looks, so I decided to try to end this the best way I knew how.

"Unh, harder Daddy!" I moaned quietly.

"OK, that's enough!" she said embarrassedly and threw her string off of me, scuttling back a few feet with a slight blush on her face.

"What you thought you had the power here? I know things about you too," I said with a cocky smile, then leaned in and put on the huskiest tone manageable, "Dirty, ravishing things."

"You make it sound like I care," she said with a smile of her own.

I rolled my eyes. This had gone on long enough, but I still had a promise I made to myself that I had to keep and moved towards her, wrapping my hands around her waist. Using my wings, I floated upwards, and I planted a kiss on her lips. There wasn't anything special or out of the ordinary with it other than that it was the biggest, wettest smooch I had ever given her, pressing into her face as hard as I could and pushing her head back with the power of it. When I pulled back, all six of her eyes blinked at me, her face boiling red.

"What was that for?" she squeaked.

"For being such a smart aleck," I said as if that were obvious, "And just so you know, I owe you a coffee."

At that, I started walking off, but not before I saw her and Centorea share ecstatic smiles and walk off to the grill to grab something to eat. Looking around, I took in as many sights as I could. Mom was drunkenly hanging off of Smith's shoulder, but the coordinator didn't care as she just rolled her eyes and helped Mom stay on her feet, the pair treating one another like old friends. Fortunately, Smith opted for coffee, which was good since I didn't think I could handle them both under the influence.

Zombina and Tio, on the other hand, didn't even bother drinking, but crowded around my dad at the grill, waiting for the lamb to finish while snacking on anything else he threw their way, and if I was being honest, he looked kind of pleased with the audience. I saw him make a few hand gestures and say something, the girls nodding a few times. Was he teaching them how to grill? It seemed like something he'd do if his "students" took interest in it, but if I knew Zombina and Tio, they only cared about the food he was cooking rather than actually cooking it.

I didn't care too much about them, though. I was too focused on something, or rather someone else. Someone who was currently slithering around the yard with Papi the Happy Harpy straddling her shoulders. Smiling, I caught her eye and waved at her. She didn't get a chance to wave back, though, as Papi smacked her head with her feathers to get her to keep running around. I think Miia saw the urgency in my face, despite the casual way I shook my head at them, and she set Papi down. Slithering over to me, she wrapped her arms around one of mine and gave me a kiss on the cheek, lacing our fingers together with the motion.

"Hello, Darling!" she said.

"Morning, Love," I said, brushing my hand through her hair to straighten it up after her playtime, "So, I had a thought."

"What's that?" she asked, leaning further into me and waving her tail around for Suu to ride on, wearing a raincoat so she didn't break apart or get Miia wet.

"So, we're engaged, right?" I asked, somehow feeling embarrassed by the prospect.

"Yes, I think we are," she giggled.

"So did I, but… we haven't done anything about that recently," I said, rubbing the back of my neck bashfully.

I glanced over at her, and saw a weird look on her face. Her mouth had dropped open and her tail had become all but mostly still, giving me a dumbfounded look like she was trying to process what I had told her.

"What do you mean?" she said, "We join together at least once a day now. At least. Usually more." She giggled again and slapped my chest, but I gave her the same look she just gave me.

"Yeah, but that… that's not…" I started, and saw Doppel giving me an amused smirk from over her shoulder, making me groan inwardly, "Can you tell me what you think marriage is?"

"Um… sure?" Miia started, "It's when two people decide to spend their lives together, sleeping only with each other, living together and bearing children, but some species like lamias usually have multiple partners. My tribe is a little… more extreme with this, but that's usually how it works. Why do you ask?"

I tried to hide it and it probably put a hilarious look on my face, but I laughed a little bit and promptly received a dirty look. I tried to bite my tongue. After hearing that explanation, I was suddenly reminded that purpose of the Interspecies Exchange Program was to help monsters integrate into human society, and even though the Program had put me and her into a unique position, I guess I had failed in that regard.

"Marriage for humans is just a bit different," I said, "There's supposed to be some kind of ceremony involved, and a ritual involving a church and a priest or something, and trust me, I'm making this sound way more simple than it really is because these things usually cost several thousand dollars, but yeah. There's a little more involved in it than just sharing a bed."

I looked up and saw Rachnera and Centorea continue to gossip with each other, and they caught my eyes went they felt me watching them. Rachnera was nonchalant about it. Centorea, on the other hand, gave me a polite nod and a salute over her shoulder. I didn't know what arachne or centaur culture said on this matter, but I was glad to know that lamias were more or less OK with sharing a single partner. Although, it kind of made me a bit nervous to meet her mother. In any case, I figured if there was any problem with it, either of the girls would have said something in the months we had been together, but after being together for so long in a healthy polyamorous relationship, even if their respective cultures did have a problem with having multiple partners, I doubt they would cut things off at this point for such a stupid reason.

Really, human culture seemed like it was a bigger issue for this than monster culture. Even in the current year, humans still held a pretty strong stigma towards… let's call it "romantically liberated people." If I tell someone that I was in love with multiple people, they would look at me like I was a manwhore who was incapable of holding a girlfriend. If I told them that I was dating three women, I would be a cheater. Even if I told them that all of these women consented to the alternative relationship, and that each and everyone of us filled our days with love and respect for each other, not giving into to jealousy and maintaining a healthy level of communication- and I hate that I have to be so specific about it -most people could still not possibly comprehend the idea of a healthy polyamorous relationship.

Frankly, I didn't care. As long as we were happy together, who really cared about what anyone else had to say about how we lived our lives. We loved each other. At the end of the day, that's all that really mattered.

"I'm glad you two are discussing this," Smith said, coming over and dropping my mom off with Papi who was immediately pulled into her lap, "There was something regarding this that I had to tell you."

"Knowing you, this is going to be good," I said flatly, Miia burying her head into my neck and groaning. Smith gave us a dead look, but continued.

"Because I've been running interference for you, the heads of the United Nations and the Interspecies Coalition don't know what you've been up and that you've been needlessly distracted from planning the wedding. They've been patient so far, but now they want results," she explained. Miia and I blinked at each other a few times, then buried our heads in our hands.

"I forgot this was a political thing," I grumbled. For us, we were getting married for love, but for the various world governments, this was a matter of promoting peace all across the world regardless of one's genetic classifications. Miia had been a coma for a long time, so that distracted us enough on its own, but after getting targeted by demons and having to fight for our lives, wedding plans had been on hold for far too long. It didn't surprise me they were getting impatient.

"Oh, relax," she said, dismissing my concerns, "All they're doing is putting pressure on you to hurry things up, so to help you set a date, pick out the food, and all of that romantic garbage, they've actually enlisted a wedding planner and our sending them out in a few weeks to help you move things forward. Just be aware that they're also sending a few agents with her since she's under commission from the ICEP, so I would be careful with, you know-" she discreetly poked a finger out to where Rachnera and Centorea were sitting, the latter arm wrestling Tio while the former lazily noshed on some coleslaw "-Other than that, you guys aren't in trouble, so just chill out, alright? You have nothing to worry about."

Just then, a flash of light beamed into the center of the yard with a booming thunder accompanying it. Lightning splashed this way and that, and we all watched as the air around the scene distorted and shifted, then breaking the laws of physics, the air began to ripple like a pool of water. None of us knew what was going on. Instinctively, I pushed Miia to the side and made sure she, Suu, and Papi were all behind me. That's when two familiar faces stepped out of the portal. As if we hadn't just had the battle of a lifetime less than 24 hours ago, Sashenka and Lala gracefully stepped onto our property, Sashenka's arms crossed and giving all of us a look, daring us to challenge her. Lala stayed at the side uncomfortably and carrying… a suitcase?

"OK, now you might have something to worry about," Smith said.

Meeting her challenge, I stepped up to Sashenka's prone form. With Papi and Suu within blast radius, the situation had become far more dangerous than last night's, Miia protectively standing between them and us so they weren't hurt. We had left them at home last night because they were too young for this. Mentally, though, since physically they were still adults.

When I got within striking distance of Sashenka, neither of us attacked, only silently meeting the other's eyes, watching each other as carefully as possible. We waited for the other to make a move. It didn't take our ability to sense energy signatures to see that both of us were tense and ready for a fight.

I didn't want to deal with this.

"Do you want to grab something to eat?" I tossed out. Sashenka's shoulders dropped and she let out a breath she was holding in, relief washing over her.

"I'd love to," she agreed.

My dad had already prepared us a couple of plates. I had a particular diet for barbecues like this, and my dad knew to plate me a plain cheeseburger and two hot dogs, a handful of chips on the side and a big slice of melon on the side, tossing me the ketchup afterwards. As for Sashenka and Lala, he didn't know them, so he gave them the basic burger with all the fixings and a side of potato chips with it. Once we had our food, Miia immediately joined us. As if sensing what was happening, far before we did, Papi and Suu waltzed over and snagged Lala, pulling her away from the three of us talking to her as easily as they did with everyone else.

The three of us sat in a surprisingly comfortable silence for a bit. We looked out over the family, gently nibbling on our dishes, and watched as everyone tried so hard to not feel put off by the demons' intrusion, but if I could see the disconcerting looks that Sashenka was getting, I was sure she could.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it Sachi?" I said in a poor attempt to make conversation.

"Oh yeah, like at least ten hours," she agreed flatly, "Almost a whole day. Wow, I can't believe I could ever be away from you for so long."

I tried to push back my amused smirk. She was sassy and sarcastic as Loki himself, the best comparison I could think of at the moment, and I loved it. If she hadn't tried to kill me, we might have been friends.

"I don't know why Darling let you join our party," Miia grumbled.

"Don't blame you," Sashenka agreed, "After all, I did mess up that pretty face of yours, didn't I?"

"Listen here, you little-" Miia charged for her, but I twisted her arm and turned her into me, holding her closely and pretending that it was affectionate, but I was really trying to make sure a fight didn't break out.

"I'm only teasing," Sashenka said frustratedly and turned away, "Sorry…"

Things were awkward again.

"You um… Enjoying the food?" I asked.

"Really? I just beat the crap out of you, and you're asking me if I like what I'm eating? Really?" she asked, completely in disbelief.

"Last I checked, we won that fight," I shot back.

"Barely," she said, a smile crossing her lips.

"You want a repeat of last night then?"

"Oh, bring it on!"

"Anytime, anywhere!"

We both looked at each other, and for the first time since I knew her, Sashenka didn't seem at all threatening. She smiled at me, and her eyes were still flashing dangerously, but unlike any other time she gave me this look, she actually seemed like she was having fun rather than trying to scare me. She and I actually ended up laughing with each other, even Miia offering an uncomfortable chuckle. I couldn't believe it, but talking to her under any circumstance that didn't require having to defend me or my family was really fun.

Not that I knew if she was here just to break bread with her enemy, or to try to hurt us again. With her being so close to me, I felt very naked not having my mom's coat, guns, or Drakmor anywhere nearby. I had put them back in mom's private study.

"So, why are you here, anyway?" I finally acknowledged the elephant in the room.

"We made a deal," she said, "And demons always hold up any agreements they make. You beat me so… Well, you get my maidservant now." Miia and I blinked at her.

"What?" Miia stammered, "Another one?"

"You were serious about that?" I asked. She turned to both of us and gave us the same bemused looks we had.

"Were you not?" she asked.

"I may or may not have gotten caught up in the moment," I admitted, scratching the back of my head nervously.

"Are you kidding me?" Sashenka grumbled, "We already got all her stuff packed up. She even said goodbye to the rest of her family and everything."

"Oh, I'm not about to go back on my word," I said hurriedly, "She's still free to move in. She will have to fill out some paperwork to join the exchange program though, or else she'd just be an illegal immigrant and that comes with its own problems, but I don't see a problem with her moving in. We're all family, and-"

Miia elbowed my ribs. I was rambling.

"You… you sure? This is OK?" Sashenka asked.

"Yes," I agreed.

"Oh… kay…" she said and shook her head, "This food is amazing. I'm going to go get some more."

She walked off and went back to Dad's grill just as he handed Tio her lamb, and just when she stepped out of earshot, Miia leaned into me a bit harder, wrapped her tail around me anxiously, and whispered to me. Her nails dug into my arms sharply. She wasn't bothering to hide the fear and anger in her voice when she snapped at me.

"What were you thinking?" she hissed quietly.

"I wasn't- I thought I was going to die!"

"You have another homestay now!"

"I was about to fight someone!"

"Did you not give it any thought?"

"She's a child!"

Miia looked over her shoulder at me and went silent. I wasn't sure if she was upset by this, or if she was trying to figure out how to respond, but since she didn't say a single thing, I groaned and mumbled into her hair.

"OK, you have a point," I said.

"I know you're just now starting to fight your depression. I'm not trying to be mean or anything," she said.

"I know," I said a little more harshly than I meant to, "I mean… I have more people to think about than just myself. I've learned that. I just need to figure out how to deal with it better than what I've been doing."

"Have you ever thought about… therapy?" she asked nervously. I glanced over to Sashenka, but she was amicably chatting with my dad at the moment. I also noticed that my mom jumped out of the house, sloppily dressed in her battle gear, but Smith intercepted her and drug her back into the house.

"Honestly? No, I haven't," I admitted, "I… Do you think…?"

"Yes," Miia said before I could finish that.

"Then, I'll schedule it tomorrow." I hugged her close and kissed her forehead a few times. "You make me a better person, you know that?"

"Mhm, I'll believe it when I see it," she teased, a smile crossing her face and hugging me with her tail, "Plus, I don't think having another girl move in will be that bad. Not when she's only a teenager and you're the one looking after her."

"You flatter me, but I know you'd have a problem with her if she were a few years older."

"I'm not jealous!"

"I didn't say you were."

I grinned and we shared laugh while she elbowed my ribs. That's when Sashenka started for us, holding a plate filled with donuts and brownies stacked a foot high, amused with our antics and raising an eyebrow as she smiled at us.

"Aw, how cute," she said, "You guys are almost sweet enough to rot my teeth out."

"Said the bakery's best customer," I countered, nodding to her plate of pastries.

"Yeah, I have a sweet tooth. What of it?" she didn't bother continuing our banter and leaned on the fence next to us, "There is one other thing you should know. It's the other reason I came here."

"OK… What's that?" I asked, Miia and I both turning to her nervously.

"Lala is a demon, yeah? Gloria was the first demon to join the ICEP, but that's because she has no ties to the Demon Realm itself, but Lala? She's my maidservant. Even though she's moving in with you, and has essentially become your servant after you beat me, she's still very close with the Coldfire royal family. That's my family, by the way." Explaining the situation, Sashenka didn't seem at all disconcerted with the pressure she was adding to us.

"So, what are you saying?" Miia asked.

"I'm saying that Kayo is right. He is one of the only two incubi in existence, so he gets to decide how he wants to treat the title," she said, "But he's also wrong on one count. Even if he doesn't want to be, he will still be a bridge between monsters and humans."

"No pressure or anything," I grumbled, "But what does that have to do with Lala?"

"Think about it. Lala is a high ranking demon, you're the bridge between humans and demons… The Demon Realm is interacting with human society more than we ever wanted to, but if we're being honest, you being a host in the ICEP and breeding peace between liminals and humans creates an issue for us. How do we handle our second incubus siding with humans instead of his own kind?"

Mii and I stared at her blankly. She took a second for her words to sink in, finishing off her pastry plate, and after she had licked all of the frosting off her fingers, she kicked herself off the fence and started walking off. She didn't keep us hanging, though. While she opened another portal, slashing her claws through the air in front of her to do so, she turned to us and gave us one imperative look, her words filled with meaning and power when she finally told us what she was hiding.

"We're not asking you to do anything you don't want to do or play any part in demonic politics that you don't want to take part in," she said, "But just so you know, my mom, Demon Queen Kalisis Coldfire IV, has decided to join the Interspecies Coalition. In maybe a few years, when we earn the trust of the human governments and can take part in this exchange program you guys have going on, you might see little demon feet running around your neighborhood. Keep in touch, alright?"

She turned to walk into the portal, but much to my surprise, and before I could stop her, Miia separated from me and jumped for her. I panicked. I thought she was going to start a fight and my tail shot out of my spine and slapped the ground around me subconsciously, but I didn't need to move or defend my fiance. Miia wasn't going to attack her. Instead, she turned Sashenka around and gave her a single tight hug.

"We're not going to fight anymore, right?" she asked.

"I… I guess not?" Sashenka stammered. Then, Miia separated from her and gave her a warm, motherly smile.

"Then, come visit us sometime! We'll be happy to have you," she said. I jumped for her and wrapped my arm around her waist, sharing her smile.

"I couldn't agree more," I said. Sashenka stared at us, completely stunned that we would treat our attempted murderer so kindly.

"I… You guys are idiots," she said, and biting her lip, she jumped into the portal, closing it behind her.

I wrapped my hand in Miia's. Giving her a comfortable smile, she gave my hand a tight squeeze and started pulling me towards where Agent Smith was watching us, waiting to hear what happened with the Princess.

I had wanted to spend the rest of my life with Miia from the moment I met her. She was the first woman who I fell in love with, and the first woman I felt loved me just the same, and it was because of her I learned how wonderful peace and happiness could be when you experience a relationship like ours. While it bugged me that our marriage would be partially political, I knew I wanted nothing more than for it to happen, as it would open the gateway for other liminals and humans to stop hiding their relationships, to not feel the fear of hiding their relationships from their coordinators and risk deportation and capital punishment. After learning how beautiful this feeling was, it filled me with hope for society that we were able to spread our love around the world. I didn't expect it to have such far reaching consequences.

A woman who loved me, a growing family, and no small amount of excitement. I could never even fathom all the things one person could add to your life, but after having her with me for so long, I could never again imagine what my life would be like if Miia wasn't with me.

Our futures together looked bright, and I knew that with her, our lives would only get better.