DISCLAIMERS: Any person involved in a sexual act is above the age of 18. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. This story contains some supernatural events, but is not intended to disrespect any religion.

This story also has fictitious members of the Imperial family of Japan. Presently, there are two unmarried princes in the royal family, ages 6 and 62. My characters are not the same ages as existing members of the royal family. I have made up two unmarried brothers, ages 18 and 26, whose mother is now a widow, or dowager princess. There are presently no dowager princesses in the royal family, either. I am hoping that I have treated the royal family, even my fictitious members, with respect.

As for sex, there is little in this one. It has some graphic descriptions, because the main character goes through an involuntary Transgendering from a man to a woman. I am posting it here because I am not sure how it would go over on a non-sexual literature posting site. The story is meant to be open ended, so that the character can be used in many additional stories.

Chapter 10 - Escape

Ahiko's Cave

At 4AM, here were loud bangs on the door that resonated throughout the tunnel. Ahiko rousted from her sleep and put herself into her wheelchair. I slowly got up and used a pair of crutches that had been placed by my bed. Before we could get into the tunnel, there were several lights beaming down it. "Angel? Are you there? We've come to take you away from here."

More lights appeared in the tunnel, and Ahiko was a little leery of going out into it. She motioned me back and peered around the corner. The lady spoke again, "You three go check the upper tunnel. We'll head to the main chamber. We don't have much time."

Ahiko moved her wheelchair into the tunnel. "Mistress, is that you?"

"Oh, thank heaven you're still here! We need to take you away from here. The authorities think you have kidnapped the princess and her son."

"What!...No!...I rescued them!...And healed their wounds!"

Three ladies in black leather outfits carrying flashlights were now in sight. A light flashed in my face. "They're here? Angel, what did I tell you about bringing anyone in here? And what's with putting up this flyer? You have to keep a low profile, or we'll lose you."

Ahiko was slumping down in her wheelchair, and sat with her head down, looking at her lap. I moved towards her and tried to support her. "Ahiko has done nothing wrong! We will just need to explain what happened, that's all." I went over and grabbed the handles on her wheelchair for support, and dropped the crutches.

"Angel! How does she know your name? Angel! You've broken almost every protocol that we have to keep you safe." The mistress turned to me. "Princess, how much do you know about our little angel?"

I squared off and faced the lady Ahiko called 'Mistress' directly. "I know that if you are trying to protect her from being some sort of lab experiment, and that I am on her side. She can see in the spirit world, she can heal, and she can regenerate. She has probably lived in that nine year old body for over 25 years in Japan, possibly another 40 years in the United States, and then possibly some more time in Europe, probably France.

The mistress shot a deadly glance at Ahiko which had the poor girl reeling back, and then one at me.

I pushed further, "Some of those were just guesses, but now you seem to be betraying her too. I tried to figure out the worst thing that someone could do to such a sweet child, and you practically confirmed it. Tell me, is it the French, Americans, or the Japanese who are after her? You are not with a religious order or you would have bowed to her, so who are you with?"

Ahiko was sweating, and starting to look very uncomfortable.

The mistress completely ignored my question and came back at me, "Our members near the American base told us that two teams of special forces came in early yesterday evening, about 9 hours ago." The Japanese security forces have already joined up with these groups, and two other groups, including your Royal Security are activated in this area. A third team of Americans landed three hours ago, and they were flown directly up here on helicopters and a transport plane, carrying specially modified panel vans. You are part of the problem here. You're part of the government trying to capture him! And, I'm not going to tell you who I represent!"

Ahiko started crying. "I don't want to go back! Don't let the Americans take me! I don't want them to do tests with me again! I'm sorry! They were going to freeze in the cold. I'm just trying to be good, and the spirits told me that the boy and this lady needed my help! I didn't know who they were. I'm trying real hard! You have to believe me!"

The mistress stopped and looked over at Ahiko. "The spirits are here? Can you hear them now? Are you saying that the spirits told you to help them?"

I came in for Ahiko again, "Ahiko only saw at the spirit of my father and followed his non-verbal instructions. I think my son and I were merely pawns to affect the onset of her maturation process. That's what this is all about."

The mistress glared at me. "You mean he's lost his immortality! You've got to be kidding! Ahiko, is this true?"

"She never was immortal, she is actually growing younger if you found any time to actually sit down and really talk to her. You're just using her too, just like the Americans want to. You just don't want to lose your little plastic surgeon that does everything without using cuts or plastic. You can't tell me those torpedoes on you and your friend's chests are standard Japanese issue, and our little angel hasn't given you a few upgrades."

Ahiko started to glow, she was sweating heavy now.

"How did you know, what did you force him to do you too?"

"Nothing! She did make my son's little happy pole a little bigger, if you must know! And that was a few days back, before I even came here."

"Well, it's still wrong to alter our angel. You may have altered his life span. We have accepted our angel just as he is, and you should not change him."

"OUR ANGEL? Did you say OUR ANGEL? I want what best for her, and I'm not looking to exploit her, and we don't even know that this it going to do to her. We don't know that for sure, but if heaven wants her to mature, and used my father to send this message, then I think it was the right thing to do. I trust my father's judgment. She may only age 20 years, and then remain a woman for the rest of her life." I was taken back. "What a minute! What's this 'he' and 'his' business about?" I was just starting to think about the first marriage of a prince to a person of non-Japanese heritage. Ahiko, were you originally a man?"

Ahiko looked up as if in a dream world. "I'm going to be a princess?", and then fainted.

The mistress looked up at me. "Now look what you have done!"

"ME! She was sleeping peacefully before you came in!"

I held up my hand, and took a deep breath.

"Mistress, this arguing is getting us nowhere, except to stress out our little angel. I understand that you want to secret Ahiko away from here. If there are military forces in town aready, and they will start to search in the morning, then we need to pull Ahiko and whatever she needs out of here as fast as you can. I think you should let her decide what things she needs to take."

The mistress looked back at me. "Then you will help?"

"She has my son's sperm swimming inside of her right now, and I have a possible grandchild at stake here. You need to think of me as a potential mother-in-law, and not as part of the government. I will help in any way I can, but I need to be kept in the loop."

The mistress's face lit up with astonishment.

"That could be an emperor of Japan some day! You are still going to be watched, and coming in contact with you will be dangerous for her. I don't trust you. Can you give me any idea if what you think is going on here?"

"The child can't become emperor. Ahiko has to be a legally recognized consort before her offspring will be recognized as royalty. But I have an idea what might be happening."

I was looking at the kimono that I wore earlier, and started to push myself and the unconscious Ahiko towards the display where she hung the kimono. "I need some information. Did she tell you how she came to Japan?"

"She said that she burned some men, and then ran away. She healed you, didn't she? The wound gets warm. I think if she goes too far, she could burn someone."

I pulled next to the kimono and stopped. I smoothed to the fabric and then pointed to the bird on the Kimono. "Can you tell me about any winged creatures with a tail that are known to rejuvenate something by burning them, possibly to ashes?

The mistress stared at the kimono. "A phoenix! You think she might be the Feng Bird?"

I point further down. "It fits...and what is the prophesy about the marriage of a Feng Bird and a Dragon?"

"It marks the entrance into a golden age. Are you saying she is going to marry your son?"

We both looked over at me son, who was snoring peacefully. He had never even woken up since this commotion began. "Some defender of Japan you are!

I turned back to the mistress. "I already told you that some of his sperm IS inside Ahiko's vagina. I don't know if they will, but it is a possibility that they will marry."

I looked at one of the others, she had a weapon pointed at me.

"Are you really going to shoot me?"

The mistress went over and grabbed the gun away from the lady. "Yes, but it shoots a tranquizer dart."

"Well, if you have some sort of anesthetic, I want my son out for the next two hours. I don't need him knowing about you. It will make my job to come up with an alibi for us easier. Now, would I tell you to drug my son, a prince of the Imperial House of Japan, if I didn't think Ahiko's life was so important?"

The Mistress thought for a moment, and shot my son. I didn't flinch, "Thank You."

"OK, you've convinced me. You'll need to be contacted after the dust settles. It would be better for you if you don't exactly know who we are, and don't ask too many questions. Do you agree?"

I nodded in approval. "Yes, I will look after our little angel for now, and try to find her doll Miss Flowers. She is going to need her on this trip. I will also get the three of us ready for travel. You can drop the prince and me off at a location away from here, and I'll call the Royal Security to pick us up from there. You start removing anything that you think she needs.

By now, there were eight stunning looking women in black leather outfits milling around. Ahiko started coming to, and I stroked her hair and tried to comfort her. "Angel, we all are sorry that we upset you. We are all going to leave here together, and we need to know what precious things you need to take away from here. I know you will want Miss Flowers, so we will look for that first. The bad men will be in here in a few hours. Can you tell the mistress what things you also want to take away?"

"I need my diaries from the upper tunnel, and my instruments from the lower tunnel."

The mistress looks at her crew. "You two start pulling the diaries upstairs, you, and you, go get some boxes for them. The rest of you start taking out the instruments. Ahiko, are you going to take any of the gold or the Kimonos?"

"We can take some of it, I have never figured out how to pay taxes, so we should leave most of it to cover my debt to Japan. I also want my instrument jigs from the workshop. I can buy new tools, but I need the jigs."

I looked a Ahiko. "Jigs? You're a musical instrument maker?"

Ahiko roller her eyes, "Yes, I am a Luthier. I told you I had clients! What did you think I did?"

"Why doctor, of course."

"Oh... Yes, I do that too, but that's a secret."

We all broke apart and start on our assigned tasks. Ahiko and I removed our sleepwear, and put on the Kimonos from the night before, and we dressed the prince in an entire outfit that Ahiko had picked out while shopping for food. A third wheelchair is brought down from the upper level and I used it. The mistress came by and stares at us in our finery. "Couldn't you find anything less conspicuous?"

Ahiko chimed in. "Oh, like the 'Sisters of Bondage' outfits that you are wearing? Today is the 3-5-7 festival. This is less conspicuous than yours is."

I giggled at our angel calling her eight rescuers the 'Sisters of Bondage'. "Honey, I am going to need a cover story. I showed Ahiko a tabloid that I had picked up. How would you like to be a princess, a snow princess?" She smiled, "I'd like that." I asked for some paper, and I am given a blank diary. Ahiko and I wrote some things down in it while the others busy themselves with loading items into the vehicles.

The harps are the largest instrument taken, the piano is left behind, and her collection of flutes and stringed instruments are quickly loaded in, along with the wooden jigs, diaries, and a few everyday clothes. My son and Ahiko are put in wheelchairs and moved into a van. With an hour an a half before dawn, each of the eight ladies makes four additional trips into the home, twice to remove kimonos, and twice to remove sacks of gold. . While the ladies make their final trips, Ahiko finished healing my ankle, so that my story of wheeling my son from the snow princess's lair would be plausible.

We ended up leaving about half an hour before dawn. The caravan had one cargo van, one passenger van, and two cars.

We drive out the twisting roadway, and past my car. The road runs along the river and the walls of the canyon that we are in. After five kilometers, Ahiko has the van stopped at a curve in the road. "Princess, take care of that diary. I am counting on you to follow through with your part. Mistress, you will have to trust her, and contact her when I am safe. Mistress, I will get out here, and please come back for me in five days in full daylight. I'll need my backpack. "

The mistress is puzzled. "Angel, how can I leave you here, you can't even walk."

"The spirits are telling me that there are people ahead, and that it is not safe for me. The Americans have detectors that can track me, and they work best at night. There is a crack in the wall over there which leads to my emergency cave. I have two months of rations stored in it."

The mistress got the wheelchair from the back, and bought it to the passenger door. Ahiko slid into in and quickly pushes herself over to the sheer rock surface. Using her good leg and her two arms, Ahiko climbed up the wall about 5 meters up and disappeared. I scanned the wall, and even though I know Ahiko is up there, I couldn't make out an entrance. The mistress returned with the wheelchair, and a whistle. Ahiko must have given her the whistle as a signal. She stood for a while, looking in different directions, trying to memorize this particular bend in the road, and then returned to the driver seat. She finally whipped out a GPS device, and marked her position.

"Since Angel told me to, you will be notified when I pick her up. I was not planning on ever having contact with you again, but she has made some sort of arraignment with you. She trusts you to not give up her location. What's in the diary that is so important to her?"

I turn to the mistress. "A request for Political Asylum, a possible adoption into the Imperial Family, which gives her diplomatic immunity, details for a Japanese birth certificate, and possible people to might be willing to adopt her." I paused for a moment. "It would help to have a member of royalty push paperwork through, don't you think? I've also figured out that you're Geisha. You come from a very private society, and I am confident that you know how to keep her private."

The mistress was taken back, "OK, you will definitely be contacted. We will keep her safe until all of the paperwork is complete."

We start drive on the train station. The mistress helped me put my son into a wheelchair, and we started to push him onto the platform. The only other person at the station was an elderly woman carrying a case. The woman limped over and offered to help my son and I get onto the platform. As the two of us sat down next to my son, the mistress returned to her van. Before the mistress could get to her vehicle, and the cars drive off, the elderly lady pulls out a meter from her purse and points it at the vehicles.

After checking the readings, she asks, "Has Angel been moved to a safe location?"

I do my best to deflect the question. "Please forgive me, I don't speak much English."

"I would have thought that you would know quite a lot, from when your father serving as a diplomatic aid in the Japanese Embassy in London. I am willing to have this conversation in German if you wish, since you majored in Political Science, and minored in German at Oxford."

I stiffened in shock, "Who are you?" I tried to recover, by simply staring into the bay that the train station overlooked.

"My name is Janice Williams. I called you about sixteen hours ago, and I was the American who told you that I would help find your son, and the Angel of the Mountain. I was Angel's psychologist in America. I wanted him to have his violin. How is Angel doing?"

"Angel? I don't know what you're talking about." The morning light was just starting to highlight the mountains across the bay. We said nothing to each other, and the only sound was the waves of the ocean lapping against the shore.

The lady pushes the case towards me. "Just, have it tested before you give it to angel. You will find no tracking devices on the violin or the case. I checked it myself. Besides, who in their right mind would glue anything on to a Stradivarius? Tell him Janice saved it for him, the accident was not his fault, and everything has been forgiven."

I look down at the case. "This is a Stradivarius?"

The lady nodded. "I also have something more personal that I made."

Janice put the detector gadget back in her purse, and pulled out a doll, a handmade doll.

"Did you make Miss Flowers?"

She nodded, "I make a special doll for all my patients, we use them to talk in the therapy sessions."

Janice looked at my son and checked out his eyes and pulse. "Our angel has very good taste. You need to give your son the antidote before others see you. A train will be coming soon, and they will depart the train, once they see that you here with your son. I want to help angel. If you need it, I will help you with your cover story for the public."

I finally gave up any semblance of innocence, "She doesn't want to go back. She said he burned people."

Janice removed her glove and showed me her charred hand. "Yes, she did. I don't hold this against her. She doesn't have to go back. She is a servant of Benzaiten now, and I don't think that the Goddess Benzaiten would allow her subject to leave Japan. I'm glad she has finally thinks of herself as female. I've been worried about her all these years". She returned the glove to her hand.

"The Goddess Benzaiten?"

The lady nodded her head.

I gave my son an antidote for the anesthetic, which meant that he will come around about 3-4 minutes. I called Royal Security, and they were now on their way to pick us up. I gave her our weak cover story. Janice pauses and excuses herself to make a phone call, and came back. My son was awake for not more than five minutes when a train pulled into the station.

People saw us, and left the train. They crowded around us, and wanted to know what had happened. I tried my best to relay the weird fantasy story, but I don't think that many of the people bought into it. I told them that my son had been found by the snow princess who called herself the 'Angel of the Mountain'. She had healed his wounds, and had fallen in love while caring for him. She wanted to make him her husband. After crashing my car, I had followed a faint trail of blood to her lair. I had played along, and even agreed to marry them in the morning, until she fell asleep. I then grabbed my son and wheeled him to safety. I was not sure that anyone bought my story, but while I was telling it, the royal security showed up ready to take us away.
Then it happened. The roar was more than my ears could take.

In the bay, a large gray form appeared in the water. The roar was deafening. As it rolled around in the water, arms and tentacles could be made out. A large head appeared. The morning sun had still not touched the water, but the long 30 meter form was defiantly a live creature. A bolt of electricity hurled itself over us and headed into the heavens. There was a second roar as the creature started coming straight at us.

The head became more apparent, and someone on the platform cried "It's a dragon!"

With that, a second lightning bolt burst into the skies.

I would like to tell you that the next two minutes of terror was my best acting job I ever did, but I would be lying. I turned into a blithering mother screaming, "Save my baby! Save my baby!" There were shouts of "Save the Royals", while others calmly simply pulled out their cell phones and took pictures of the dragon in the ocean. The businessmen and students who had gotten off the train grabbed us and covered us with their bodies. Royal Security emptied their firearms into the beast, as it turned away and dove back into sea. It didn't matter how weird my story sounded, it was now believed by all, and they had become heroes when the snow princess had turned into a dragon and came after my son.

We were hustled into the royal security vehicles. As we neared into the limousine, I saw Janice. I went near her and took her hand. We entered the limo together. We sat as security helped my sone in the car.

The lady had her cell phone to her face. "Yeah, your whale submarine just blew a gasket or something. You were lucky that it didn't beach itself. It served its purpose, and I think the Imperial House has a solid cover story now."

I looked back at her in relief, "That was a Submarine?"

"Yeah, with all your fascination with robots and tech devices, I figured the Japanese would be the first to build a Mech, but we beat you to it. It was supposed to look like a whale, but I have to admit that it made a pretty convincing dragon, don't you think?"

I nodded, and gave her a hug. "We will need to talk later. I still have some trust issues with you, but we need to talk. Can we set up an appointment in a week or so, when this calms down?"

I held out the doll. "I don't know about the violin, but this doll makes me trust you."

Janice presented me with her card, and left the violin with me. She got out of the limo, and disappeared into the crowd on the platform.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Simultaneously with the departure from the cave.

Bob stood a half Kilometer away from the Train station with the interpreter and the member of the Japanese Special Forces unit. Their instructions were clear; at the train station, only Janice could be dropped off, and they had to drive away. They had followed the instructions until the jackal who was sitting on the vehicle gave a thumb's up sign. They turned to a side road and parked at a curve in the road, and flashed their lights. Janice Williams waved back.

Bob pulled out a suitcase and started setting up the camera array, much to the dismay of the jackal.

"There was nothing said about recording the event."

When the jackal didn't respond, Bob had the interpreter repeat his response. The jackal nodded.

The cameras looked like modified brownie cameras, and were made to all take a ten second exposure at the same time. With dark matter photography, the lens is ignored, because it bends light, but not dark matter waves. A pinhole camera is best, but it gathers little information. With the sun coming up soon, Bob had to make a judgment call as to whether or not to keep the lens caps on. The caps were made of plastic, the regular light would be blocked, and just dark matter images would appear. The cameras, including the shutter, were gold plated, and then painted with black lead based paint. To avoid strange looks from the other two humans, Bob decided to remove the lens caps. The array had seven cameras, in a hexagonal pattern, with a camera in the center, mounted on a tripod.

The cameras would act together, and the seven photos would be computer enhanced later.

With each camera loaded with a 72 shot roll, Bob took a few pictures of Janice and Benzaiten. Benzaiten was not illuminated, but would still show up in the images. He then waited until the four vehicles pulled up to the train station, and two people get out and put a third person into a wheelchair. Bob started to slowly take pictures. One person walked back to the vehicles, and all of them took off.

Bob became confused. The two people had normal souls, and not enhanced souls. Where was the target?

After a few minutes, Janice went over to the side, and Benzaiten signaled, and four jackels came into view. Bob started taking more pictures. Three jackals were assigned to Janice, and the two other people in the platform. One jackal stayed close to Benzaiten as she changed shape.

Bob had never seen a transformation, and he tried to take as many images before Benzaiten stopped, but it only took her 30 seconds to complete, and with ten second exposures, this meant only three photos were shot.

Two of her arms flowed down her back and down onto her legs, while four extra arms started to lengthen. Then the two arms had reached her ankles, all six started to gain feathers. Benzaiten was not just an angel, she was a seraphim, a high angel. She sported two set of wings on her back, and a third set on her ankles, similar to the Roman god Mercury.

Bob uttered one work, and it was heard by both men neadby. "Raphael?"

She grabbed the jackel and took off, with Janice and the two at the train station none the wiser. Bob got one image with the final transformation, before Benzaiten ascended from the platform. The two other observers heard Bob mention the Angels name, and were now wondering what was happening.

The train arrived and Bob took a few pictures of the people streaming out, and gathering around the three people on the station platform. Bob kept turning his head and following the angel carrying the jackal out to sea. The angel started to descend, and dropped the jackal. Once again, the angel started to change shape.

The other two both knew that Bob could see, because of the dock. They had heard him say the angel's name. They watched him track the angel out to sea. It didn't surprise them when he started to swing the camera array towards the sea.

Bob started to take more pictures, but this time, at a dark object that was surfacing.

Then the thundering noise came, and the angel elongated and became something else, landing on the object. The jackal grabbed something and started to yank on it. The item broke and a lightning bolt shot out of whatever the jackal had grabbed. Benzaiten then illuminated, and everyone on the station platform could clearly see the head of a large creature. The jackal grabbed another object and another lightning bolt shot past the platform, and Bob saw it terminate into a tentacle.

Bob took another picture, but it was of the object in the water, and not the leviathan that was slowly floating away.

"What the hell?"

The two observers were shocked as Bob dropped the camera control, and walked away from the camera array, The interpreter grabbed the camera control and began wildly shooting up the rest of the roll, taking photo after photo of the object. Bob looked down at the platform, where he saw lot of people with their cell phones taking pictures. He knew from the tests, and even the illuminated angel would not show up on the electronic devices, they were useless. The dark matter waves reacted to the silver nitrate in regular camera film, especially black and white film, but not to electronic photocells. They would get inconclusive blobs.

"Damn it! It's a fucking dog and pony show!"

What amazed Bob was that the leviathan had actually assisted in this farce. Everytone thought that the leviathans were actually non-intellegent monster jellyfish. The object, whatever it was, was supplying sound, and some sort of charged devices to fake lightning bolts. Benzaiten was illuminating herself to make the object look like a dragon like creature, but it was all just for show, and not an actual close encounter with a actual creature. Everything was set up for later deniability, just as it always was. It was fucking Area 51 again, and their fucking light shows!

Bob was pissed. The world was going to be kept in the dark, again.

Janice appeared a half hour later, and they drove off.

*** *** *** *** ***

Back at the train station.

I had my son, and we were safe in the Limousine of the Royal Security Forces.

I had Royal Security drive us back to my car and the tunnel. We secured the place before the Americans or regular Japanese Special Forces could get there. I toured the entire series of tunnels, and found three diaries that the 'Sisters of Bondage' had missed, and took them with me. I held a press conference in the tunnel and repeated the story. It didn't hurt that almost ninety three thousand one ounce gold coins were found in the tunnels. It was declared a genuine 'Dragons Lair'.

The next day, my son was unable to participate in the Kendo tournament at the 3-5-7 festival. But he had so many girls around him asking about the snow princess, I don't think it mattered. That simple 5 course meal turned into a 17 course meal full of the most savory treats. By the end of the day, my son had gorged himself with so much food, that he could hardly move.

A week after the event, I was slipped a note from a Geisha entertaining at the palace. 'OUR ANGEL IS SAFE'.

Chapter 11 -- Aftermath

As I was looking for my son the previous afternoon, several photographs of Ahiko surfaced as 'The Angel of the Mountain', but some of them were over twenty years old. The tabloids had a field day, spinning stories about the snow princess. With Japan having only a foreign population of only 1-3%, a cute foreign nine year old in pilgrimage clothing had attracted many cameras over the years. Within days, over 12,000 photographs and 2,000 videos appeared, spanning the last 24 years showed up, all having the same foreign child, who never seemed to age. The regular news media started featuring the stories, too. With an ageless child could not be explained away by any expert, and the dragon/snow princess legend grew. It didn't hurt to have a dragon's lair, with almost a hundred thousand gold coins in it. Stories then started to surface about miracle healings that had occurred to people who had gone on pilgrimages, and many remember having lunch with the little girl, and being hugged by Ahiko. The photographic evidence made it so that almost every Japanese person knew someone who had personally come in touch with the dragon. My son got such a swelled head, as the man that a dragon had fallen in love with. He was impossible to live with, for the next three months.

A contest was held to name the dragon. Because of the European features of Ahiko, many European nations claimed that the dragon was theirs. The English claimed that it was Viviane, the name for the Dragon Queen from King Arthur Legions, who is also known as the Lady of the Lake. The Polls claimed it was Melucine. The French claimed that she was Melucina, and when my son mentioned that she had sung French nursery rhymes, it stuck. Some of the French Royaly is supposed to be descendant from the Fountain Fairy's daughter Melusina, who later turned into a winged dragon, and Ahiko's image did have a striking resemblance to a young Marie Antoinette. The idea of the French Royalty and the Japanese Royalty joining gave rise to many romantic stories in the press. In the weeks that followed, 'Melucina' caused a renaissance for the Shinto Religion. Plans were even submitted to build new shrines to the 'Dragon of Japan'. The gold coins found in the cave were re-pressed with a specially designed dragon logo, and sold to pay for the new shrines. People paid way over the actual going price for a one ounce gold coin, to have a piece of the dragons lair. From the diaries, I found out who Ahiko really was. Robert Hennski was an American of Polish/French decent from Indiana. After Poland fell to the Germans in 1939, his father went to Europe to fight against Germany. He ended up being part of the French underground, where he fell in love with, and married, a French woman named Loraine. They had Robert in France, while living in northern France. It turned out that not only Loraine's heritage could be traced back to Melucina legend, that Robert's heritage placed his ancestors in the in the Polish city of Vistula, which is where the water Spirit Melucine was supposed to originate. That had me a moment of shock, when I realized that several of the names given by the Europeans were having some basis of truth. Maybe I was living in a fairy tale?

The French songs that Robert had sung were taught to him by his mother. He had transformed in America from a man into a girl. In an effort to figure out what was going on to his body, he had become nearly a lab animal in the fabled area 51. He had escaped, and managed to get to Vietnam. The Buddhist spirits took him in, and helped him avoid recapture. The spirits then advised Robert to flee Vietnam, and sequester himself in Japan. The Shinto goddess Benzaiten welcomed him, and led him to the abandoned tunnel, which he converted into his home.

I had records checked, and Robert was never divorced. He was now a widow, as his first wife died eight years earlier. I relayed this information, along with the obituary to the Geisha.

In her twenty five years of living in Japan, the goddess Beinzaiten had been particularly helpful, and Robert had vowed to serve her. Robert, the man, ceased to exist, and became Ahiko, shrine maiden to Beinzaiten, goddess of eloquence and the arts. I also confirmed that the 'Sisters of Bondage' were actually Geisha, who also consider Benzaiten their patron goddess. Ahiko figured out that 'healing' a perfectly normal breast caused it to grow a half a cup size, and had opened up business serving only licensed Geisha. She had been performing around 250 'breast augmentations' a year for the past 20 years. She also had an entire maternity package worked out, which included removal of stretch marks, breast lifts after lactation ceased, strengthening the Cooper's ligaments, and vagina reconstruction. She could not open a bank account, so she had been accepting her fees in one ounce gold coins. The Flower and Willow World of the Geisha was full of secrets, and Ahiko was one that the ladies of entertainment would never give up. Ahiko had a powerful ally whose tentacles stretched into every business, private or public, in Japan.

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In March, I received a call from the mistress. "She's miscarried, and she's asking for you. Will you come?"

"Is it safe?"

"I don't care about that anymore. I worried about angel. She's in love with your son, she's miscarried, and she's asking for you. Will you come?"

"Yes."

I got to see Angel again. She was safe, and her miscarriage had left her at deaths doorstep. Her efforts to save her daughter had drained her. In the end, she was performing a healing on her unborn daughter several times each day, to keep her daughter alive. Ahiko could not keep up, and her body could not recover before her unborn daughter was once again at death's door. After six sleepless days, where the healings dropped to every 90 minutes, Ahiko collapsed. Two days later, when Ahiko came to, she could no longer see her daughter's soul within her body, she collapsed into a depression. She never got to say goodbye to her.

The happy smiling girl that I knew was gone, and now looked like a survivor of a death camp. She had lost 1/3 of her weight. Her skin was nearly translucent, and what was left of her muscular physique was clinging to her bones. As I picked her up, I watched her try to say "I'm Sorry", but she was too weak to speak. She was so dehydrated, that she could not cry. As she sat on my lap, I told her, "It's OK Ahiko, I will cry for you." I openly sobbed for her daughter and my grandchild.

After holding Ahiko for over an hour, and getting her to take in some fluids, I spoke to Mistress.

"There is a time for discretion, and a time for action. You can come if you like, but I am taking her to the Royal Physicians."

There was no argument from Mistress. The three of us walked out and got into the Limo. I held her as we went to the Imperial Palace. She was still on me lap when the royal physicians came in.

I looked sternly at the physician and the two nurses. "This is not the snow princess as the press has made her out to be, but a mortal woman with birth defects. She is the oldest person in this room, and she can't mature into puberty. She ran away, and was chased into the sea. This lady found her washed up on the shore, and we are going to nurse her back to health. If this gets out, and everyone finds out that this is just a mortal woman with some birth defects, then we are going to lose all the momentum that has just come over our country in the Shinto faith. I hope I have made myself clear."

Everyone cooperated, and she was soon resting in bed with an IV pumping fluid into her. I started to get her to drink fluids. I called Janice Williams, and she came back to Japan. The three of us took turns holding our little angel, and nursing her back to health. After two days of constant attention, she started to gain weight. It was over a month before I would see her smile again.

She went through a partial rebirth, and started aging normally. She had gained DNA from the pregnancy, including some green eye pigment which gave her hazel eyes, black hair, the Asian single eyelids, and her skin deepened to an Asian completion. Her tail, angel buds, and vocal chords remained, but the other changes made her look different from the photos that were now recognized everywhere. Her two sets of nipples had also changed, and she was now blossoming into a woman. She now sported four little buds that would develop into breasts. Ahiko no longer looked European, and she could walk out in public, and not be recognized.

I took her in, and kept her company. I spent many a night holding her as she cried herself to sleep. Her breasts shrunk after the miscarriage, but after while, her body started to smooth out, and she started to grow, and began the process to change from a girl to a woman. Her well toned body started to lose its crisp detail, as her skin thickened and softened her form. By the end of the summer, she was ready to gain back her strength. Janice accompanied her on a trip to Shikoku Island to make the 88 temple pilgrimage. It took the pair eleven weeks to complete the entire 1647 kilometer hike, but Janice returned from the trip with a fully healed hand, and without a limp. Janice had spent at least two hours of each day counseling Ahiko, so Ahiko came back from the pilgrimage more whole spiritually as well.

Ahiko loved the arts, and wanted to become a Geisha. Ahiko loved to play music and sing, and felt protected under the white makeup of a Geisha. Many people think of Geisha as ladies of the evening, and this is far from the truth. I want you to understand, just like any western musician or actress, Geisha can and do fall in love and have relationships, but this is entirely a private matter, and never part of their job. Ahiko still became nervous when she was around many people. It was almost like she was slightly telepathic, and if she was around too many people, the thoughts of all the people around her would overwhelm her. As a Geisha, she could choose smaller venues to entertain, and this suited her.

When it turned out that there was no risk of deportation, Ahiko was secretly adopted by a highly regarded Geisha house in Kyoto. Geisha houses will occasionally adopt girls who want to go into the service, so it was not considered an unusual event. The house mother, who had spent over fourty years in the Flower and Willow World, had received treatments from Ahiko years earlier, and was honored to be the adoptee to the Dragon of Japan.
By the end of the year, Ahiko started attending an elementary school. As a Metallurgical Engineer, she had little problems making good grades. She did have difficulties with remaining calm in classes. The wildness of the boys tended to set her off. We urged her to try and go to an all girls academy for junior high and high school. Ahiko tested with top marks compared to the other Japanese eleven year old students, and managed to be accepted into middle school at Notre Dame Jogakuin School in Kyoto. It didn't hurt that I personally visited the head of the school, handed a recommendation for her, and used imperial funds to make a donation for a six year academic scholarship for a girl of their choice. I tried to act surprised when Ahiko called me, and told me of her full scholarship to the school, and I think I fooled her. I was glad that she didn't tell me in person, because she seems to know when anyone is lying to her. Even though she was adopted by another family, to this day, she still calls me 'Mama'.

Ahiko didn't need to go to a 'cram school' for college entrance, she did well academically. Instead, Ahiko went to Geisha school in the afternoon.

When the imperial family went to Kyoto, we would always ask for Geisha from a certain house. Ahiko was always in attendance as a Minari, a watching apprentice. Minari are not allowed to be hired alone, and may only assist and older sister. Even though she was not even an apprentice geisha, or Maiko, she was usually used as a musician. Her older sisters protected her, and she was kept from even coming in contact with customers. When Ahiko turned 16 on her Japanese birth certificate, my son and I went to Kyoto. We paid for Ahiko's first appearance as a Maiko. She was radiant on her debut.

As for the dragon...well...

I found out later, the American U.S.S. Greywhale, an eight man articulated reconnaissance submarine docked into its slip in an undisclosed home port. As a joke, it was instantly re-christened the U.S.S. Whoopee Cushion. It was hinged so that it would actually appear to 'swim' like a dolphin and confuse sonar. This was its first mission, and the seal on a hinge failed, when an amorous Humpback whale tried to mate with it. A huge pocket of compressed air had leaked between the metal hull and the half meter of rubberized skin used to deaden sonar reflections. The air pocket was trapped on the bottom of the submarine. The surfacing of the ship had caused the ship to roll, and when the air pocket expanded due to the reduced water pressure, and the 16 inch rubber membrane skin ripped. The rumble of the air through the rubber sounded like a dragon's roar. The ripped outer skin was made up to look like the skin of a grey whale, which everyone saw as a dragon, including me. Power cables from two superconducting units discharged into the air, making the lightning effect. It is now renamed the U.S.S Seadragon, and has had a very successful career as a culvert rescue submarine.

The crew for the submarine was six. In the incident that occurred, only one person, helmsman Bethany Glossman, had remained conscious as the seamen were thrashed about the submarine. With a broken arm, Bethany managed to turn the submarine around and execute an emergency dive. In the inner circles that know about this event, Bethany is still known to this day as 'The Dragonrider'. Ahiko and I met her many years later, and Ahiko cured her loss of hearing three weeks before Ahiko's second marriage, but that is another story.

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Thank You, for reading my story. This completes the first series of Ahiko stories. If the story is well recieved, I will write more. Most likely, the next story will be about the sacred white stone that Ahiko has secretly sewn inside Miss Flowers.