Chapter 268: Ass Kicking, Thank You For Everything

Tiga climbed into my arms as I lit with fire and spiraled up and out of the cave. I didn't think the girls would hurt him, but I had no idea what Beeno might do if he tried to interrupt her training.

"Do you think that my father will be alright?" Tiga asked, and I nodded as we got closer to the exit.

"We will be there in very little time; just hold on. The worst thing that will happen is that Noel put him into the training course with Mex, who will already be in a nasty mood. Still, then the two of them can't die," I explained, and the bust from the cave before she could reply, rocketing in the direction the Calbro had gone in.

I could see the Keep right away, but I didn't see the red Manticore anywhere in the air. I headed to where the large tower was standing that I had scaled earlier and dropped down to the ground with Tiga.

Beeno hardly noticed, but I could see why as I put Tiga down and looked up at the tower more closely. Now that I was at the ground level, I could see the very one-sided fight that was going on.

What is my father doing?!" Tiga cried as her father, in a human-like form, jumped at a very grumpy-looking Mex.

Mex turned almost as fast as I would have and sucker-punched the Manticore man hard in the face, and he smashed back into the cube. Tiga screamed, but Calbro exploded into smoke and then fell out of a magic circle twenty-five feet above the water.

"Don't worry, he will be mostly fine. The two can work together to get out, and they can die as many times as they need. Nothing we can do about it until they are done," I explained to Tiga, pulling her back around to me.

"What?" Tiga said with confusion, but I let go of her arms and offered her a hand.

"Come, I will introduce you to the girls and then can show you around. Don't worry about your father; this will help him get stronger like you wanted, so don't worry about him for now," I explained, and then Beeno spoke up.

"Don't worry about the flying cat; Mex has been laying an ass kicking into him since he got here and flew directly in. Noel forced him into the body after he was killed the first time. So now he will have to work with Mex, or they will be in there till they do," Beeno said casually without turning away from watching the men.

"I guess this is what my father needs. He is always complaining about Mex, but he is the one that helped me find that cave for me to stay in. I think if my father can get over his obsession with Candace, the Sphinx girl. Then he might be able to be friends with him," Tiga said as she watched her father climb back onto the cube in front of the big balls.

[This is really the best possible outcome, and now the two should come out stronger, faster, and hopefully wiser. I wouldn't put too much stress on the last one though, these two are like a pair of bulls, so I don't really see them getting any wiser or coming out.]

'That is a bit much.'

[Well, they are out of your hair until they start acting like well-behaved children. Now drop the girl off so we can get back to exploring!]

Tiga had an uneasy look on her face, but she still took my hand, and the two of us walked over to the apartment in the grass. I let the fire go and went back to just refilling my tank that always seemed to be running on empty.

The feeling of the grass on my feet reminded me of walking through the Keep when I first got here. I might have to see if we could get something like that on the boat, something I was also curious to see when It was finished.

We got to the double doors, and I opened one of them up and walked in with Tiga trailing behind me. Nushi was the only one in the living room, and she was reading her book but looked up at Tiga when I walked in and smiled.

"I suppose that you are looking to pawn her off on me to shower around," Nushi said.

She let her book go, and it disappeared, and Nushi focused on me for a moment, connecting her blue eyes with mine, and then looked at Tiga as she got up.

"Come with me, and I will show you around. When Kimera comes back, we will get you a room sorted out, but we aren't going to be here for much longer," Nushi explained as she got up.

Nushi came over to us, but I turned to Tiga first and put a hand to the side of her green-skinned face. I pushed some of her grass-green hair back and kissed her forehead before looking into her purple eyes.

"Are you going to be okay with me leaving you for now? I have some things to do before we leave, but when we get on the open water, we will talk and spend more time together," I explained, and Tiga nodded to me but then hugged me.

I hugged her back, and the two of us stood like that for a little bit. I almost got lost watching her tentacles moving together as one.

They moved in patterns around her scorpion tail that had a fleshy pink opening at the end. That was something curious that I was interested in exploring when we were on the boat and off the island.

"Thank you for everything you have done so far for my father and me," Tiga told me before finally breaking free from my hug.

"No problem, but I don't know if your father will thank me, but this is his own fault, and he is going to have to sleep in the bed he made. Too bad Mex had to sleep in the same one now!" I said with a chuckle as I headed back outside.