A week passed with no way that Ryu and Zariah could think of to get back to that place.  No matter how much they tried to convince Mu to take them with the best cafeteria food, treats, new leashes and endless attention, it was no use.  Mu would simply bask in the attention but there was no portal to lead them.

Before he knew it, the week passed by without even a hint of a new tower popping up.  At least he was able to research based on the information the Pharaoh Hatshepsut transferred to him and Zariah.  The downside was that it was in too many pieces as if the transfer didn’t go smoothly and the group was busy trying to put it together.  The best they could do was wait and prepare for the next round of towers.

Mu barked, snapping Ryu out of his thoughts.  The group were picking straws everyday to decide who would walk the little fox and today was Ryu’s lucky day.  Mu was so well behaved she didn’t need a leash so she was happily trotting along the path, chirping at everyone who passed by on the grounds at headquarters.

Ryu smiled as another soldier snuck a treat to Mu before saluting him and walking by.  It only took a week for the whole compound to fall for Mu and she could have anything she wanted at this point.

But then again, she’s technically a mini God so it made sense that she was being worshipped.

Mu barked again, excitedly jumping into some nearby bushes.  He glanced around him and realized they were reaching the end of the compound.  Beyond the property, there was a ravine and a few hangars that housed the military vehicles but after that, there was a larger gate before leading out into the civilian area.

“Let’s turn back Mu.”  Ryu called out, watching her little body disappear through the bushes.  He heard her excited bark turn into a yelp.  Worried she might have found herself eating something she shouldn’t, Ryu pushed through the bushes and peered around the space.  It opened up to the edge of the southern gates a few feet away.  He could see the watch tower from where he stood and glanced back to try and find where Mu might have gone.  

Not seeing her, he began to get worried and waded through another nearby bush.  

“Mu?  Where are you?”

He opened his stat screen, hoping to locate her when he heard her cry again.  This time it sounded more like a growl.  He ran towards where he last heard her, putting a hand out to lean against a large tree when it passed through and he nearly fell.  

“Whoa!”  He caught himself in time and looked at the tree with a puzzled expression.  He shook his head, making a mental note and went around it to see if Mu had found her way further out.  Sure enough, he saw her golden tail behind another bush and he approached her, feeling relieved.

“Mu, what happened?”  He asked, kneeling to pick her up.  

“You’re not Mu.”  Ryu blurted, staring at a small wolf pup with grey and red colouring.  With wings like Mu.  It wagged its tail and barked at him.

Notice.

Name: Ophois, the “Sky Opener”

Preferred Nickname:  Po

Affiliation: Son of the God of Chaos, Set

Ability: open roads, warrior

Level: ???

Ryu stared at the wolf pup in amazement, while Mu popped her head from a nearby bush, chirping happily again as if nothing happened.

“Um, so Mu did you invite your brother here or something?”  He weakly asked, trying to wrap his head around the fact that he seemed to be collecting Set’s children at this rate.  He wondered if Set was playing tricks on him and decided to just push all the babysitting to him.

“Arf!” Po barked back while Mu hopped out of the bushes to rub her face against Ryu’s leg.

“Kai’s going to have another headache once he sees you guys.”  Ryu can already imagine the looks on everyone’s face.  It seems like he’s always bringing something new and unexpected to them.

Po barked again, wagging his tail.  

Ryu sighed.  “Okay, walk over.  Let’s go get you checked in with the gang.”  Mu started walking ahead but when Ryu tried to set Po down,  he whined, clinging onto him with his little paws.  “You’re going to be an even bigger spoiled brat than your sister.”  He muttered, letting him stay in his arms as he caught up with Mu.

A few hours later, after many photos and cries of excitement and passing around the new one, Ryu sat back in his chair and breathed out a sigh of relief.  He watched Brock laughing heartily as the Mu and Po launched themselves onto him and he fell back on the ground catching them.  The group was back in the courtyard getting acquainted with the newest addition.

“So you found him near some holographic tree, you say?  South quadrant?”  Kai asked, watching the wolf cub with a small smile even as he sat at the table, reviewing the screen.

Ryu nodded, pointing to the map.  “There was this tree that my hand passed through.  I didn’t take a good look since I had my hands full with that one.”  Sensing Ryu’s attention, Po barked happily and hovered unsteadily towards him with his tiny wings.

It was a range of squealing and heart melting while more phones flashed to record it before Ryu caught him.  “Should we go check it out?” He wondered, while Po settled himself onto his lap.

Kai nodded.  “I already asked a few of the soldiers to secure the area until we can get there to check it out.”

Zion chuckled, reaching over to pet the wolf cub.  “Who knows.  Maybe it’s the new location for the portal.”

Ryu shrugged.  “Could be.  Should we all head there?  The Pharaoh did mention she was expecting more of us to visit at some point.”

Gia was kneeling beside Ryu, trying to take another picture of Po, who was yawning and lightly chewing on the edge of Ryu’s sleeve.  She stood back and sat back down in her seat, putting a more serious look on her face.

“We’ll need to make a decision.  More towers have finally popped up.”  She turned to Brock, who was still playing with Mu a few feet away near the Koi pond.  “Brock, if you would be so kind!”

Brock stood up and brushed himself off before walking back to the table, with Mu walking off to check out the pond.

“Ahem, yes there’s been new sightings of upcoming towers.”  He confirmed, bringing out the statue of Andromeda on the table.  Sure enough, there were three towers this time that were highlighted across the city map on the screen.

Ryu noticed that Po opened one golden eye and stared at the statue.  It seemed to whine softly before closing his eyes to continue sleeping.  He gently patted him while he scanned the locations.

“They’re all small towers.  Two C’s and one B.  Are we supposed to be tackling all of them?”  

Gia shook her head.  “The lower ranked ones, other hunters will be dispatched.”  She pointed towards another blinking tower in the southwest corner that Ryu missed.  It was in Shizuoka and his eyes widened.

“There’s a tower on Mt. Fuji?  And a S rank one?”

Zion grinned.  “Let’s do this!”  

Zariah was leaning back in her chair, finishing up posting all of the pictures of Po and Mu on her social media account before setting down her phone and raised her hand.  

“Dibs on Mt. Fuji!  I always wanted to go there!”

Kai and Gia exchanged glances and shared a pained smile.  “Glad you guys are eager to go.  We’re all going actually.”

Ryu scratched behind Po’s ears as he kicked a leg light in the air while he slept.  “What about the weird tree?  Can it wait?”

“I can check it.”  Brock volunteered.  “It’s the least I can do while you allow me to stay here and help me look for my people.”

Kai nodded in appreciation.  “Great, then it’s settled.  Let’s move out in an hour.”

Zion clapped a hand on Ryu, a gleam in his eyes.  “I’ll drive my baby.  Come with me, my friend.”

Ryu was about to gently turn him down, knowing how crazy he drove but Zariah beat him to it.

“No way, Ryu comes with me, brother.  He promised.”  She exclaimed, winking his way.  

Ryu inwardly groaned.  He wasn’t sure what was worse, driving with a maniac in a small car or on a motorcycle. He was saved when Kai shook his head.

“This isn’t a road trip guys.  It’s mountainous so your vehicles will be tricky to climb that terrain.  We’re all taking the Jeep.”

Zion groaned while Zariah pouted but Gia supported Kai by giving the siblings a look before they grudgingly accepted.

Po woke up in time while Mu climbed onto Zion’s lap and the two chirped in unison, as if to say they were coming too.

The group didn’t have the heart to resist.