Monsters Don't Retire II (The Nekromonga)

Hotaru's cell was a far cry from a prison cell. It looked more like a warm, colorful playroom with plastic furniture and an anime-covered bed. She was busy humming a tune and coloring in a book.

"Ano~?" Taru responded to her name, looking up from her coloring books on the floor. Hotaru was about Diana's age group but... she had special needs.

"Heeeeey, Taru... it's me, Princess, and Tyler. Grandpa sent us to fetch you." Princess Diana approached Taru like a long lost child who'd she finally found.

Her face lit up as she recognized them. She forgot about her coloring books and hopped to her feet with no trouble, much like a ninja would. "Hime-chan! Tyrer-kun!" She gave them both a big hug. The slim lady had quite the strong hug.

"So you ready to go?" Diana asked.

She shook her head no. "Hm. Chokoreto?" Taru didn't budge from her spot, but instead asked for candy.

"Uh... they didn't give you..." Diana asked worriedly. The expression on her face was one of forgetfulness.

"Nani no chokomasen!" Hotaru chimed, revealing the frustration of a period of chocolate deprivation during her incarceration.

"Uhh... You got any chocolate or candy, Ty?" Diana asked Tyler, a hint of worry in her voice.

With Hotaru pacified, Diana let out a sigh of relief. "Let's go home then." She got the magical key and used in on the cell door. When it opened, it opened directly to the rooftop from where they came.

HASASHI RESIDENCE

Hotaru Hasashi was well behaved the whole trip thanks to the chocolate, and only asked for a piggy back ride once they were on estate grounds. Diana excused herself to go, uh, "water the crysanthemums", quickly leaving the task to Tyler. And Hotaru did like to squeeze tightly.

The Viper King was up and about, albeit in a wheelchair. He cheerily welcomed his own flesh and blood back, but Hotaru didn't quite grasp why grandpa was sitting down and embraced him around his broken spine. "Aaaack!" He tried to avoid sounding too distressed.

Of course, to his apprentices, he was his usual condescending self, wondering what took them so long. "...If I was your age, I would have been done by lunchtime. Hmph. Anyway, you pulled it off somehow."

"Now, Diana, while you're here, you can finish your training with Hotaru."

"Thank you, Master Kotaro." Diana bowed, and with a grim face entered the Dojo to begin training immediately. Hotaru treated training like a game, and cartwheeled inside. In a few minutes the sound of wooden swords clashing would echo through the garden, as well as Taru laughing and Diana grunting in pain.

"We shouldn't stay here too long though. We should make preparations to return to Japan... the Dark Judges will retaliate soon. I'd prefer to die in my birth country." He said, stroking his beard.

"I understand completely master, I wish the best for you and if I can prevent it I will not let you die." Tyler said to his master with a bow. When he mentioned that he may die soon Tyler's mind went back to his early days of training with Hasashi and he started to choke up a little.

--END--