January 12th, 1972

My name is Kyle and I'm kinda a prince. Kind of.

I'm the son of the president of the most powerful nation in the galaxy. Pretty cool fact, but what's ironic, is that's important to me, only because I wish it weren't so.

Jessica had started a fire and I was roasting a rabbit. Roasting actually isn't a very involved task, so I just sat back on a large rock and looked up at the stars, every so often turning the branch the former rabbit was on with my barefoot.

I looked around the campfire.

Across from me was Jessica, she looked about seven with black hair. She was my bodyguard and best friend. She normally wore clothes that-absolutely clashed. Today it was a yellowish-green shirt and bright red pants... at times I had to avert my eyes and blink a few times cause it almost hurt to look at. Such was Jessie's random personality though, and I wouldn't change it for the world. Not sure she wasn't born that way, she did somehow have freckles on only one side of her face and a super skinny frame so- maybe?

Between the two of us sat the brown-haired Xao who looked about thirteen. Xao was dressed in plaid and blue jeans with a brown pub cap.

There was then, of course, me. I looked about five with black hair and skin that was rather pale for the fact that I was Arab. I wore blue jeans, a redshirt, and a blue open vest.

We were pharaohs, my friends and I, a human mutant race that inhabits another world. Each of us ages once every twenty years.

I thought casually to myself about my friend Jess. About- two hours after we arrived on earth and moved into the secret societies, Jessica rather spontaneously got the notion to look for and rescue lost human children. Then in a few days, she just decided to call herself and me the "Globe Tracers", like two people constituted an organization. Even now the idea of how we got started made me smirk.

These days we lived on the road, hunting animals, only stealing if we needed to, and often being put up by strangers who we pretended to be lost children ourselves for. After all, we can't stay in one place too long.

Currently, we were in the woods near Beaverton Oregon.

Jessica perked up. "It really is too bad we had to kill it, that rabbit was cute once."

"You're the one who got it," I said. "I'd have been just as happy eating something else."

Jessica giggled. "The cutest things tend to be the tastiest in my experience."

Xao chuckled. By the way, he was a friend, but not directly connected to our being on earth- Jessica had still inducted him into being a Finder. After all, he stayed with us basically as a traveling companion, therefore he was part of our... detective agency?

He bit his lower lip and then said, "Pigs are pretty good, and so are chickens. Not so sure they're cute."

"Well, there's piglets and chicks. I tell you, little chicks and piglets," Jessica smacked her lips together and waved her hand as if tasting a delicacy. "very good."

"Aren't you the one who keeps talking about how cute human kids are?" I said nervously.

"Why yes Ky, as a matter of fact, I do say such things." She looked at me with a huge grin.

"What's with the look," I said, scooting away from her.

"You know you're kinda cute yourself."

Xao looked over at both of us, summing up my feelings on the matter. "Next time we're eating something like a lizard or a snake." Jessica sat back, cackling to herself.

She thought for a moment. "Little Jady..." Jessica mused. "We'll be there in time right?"

"Well his birthday is tomorrow and on foot, we'll be cutting it close, however, I think we'll make it by evening pretty easily," I said.

"You guys do know that we really don't need to walk the whole way right?" asked Xao.

"Yes Xao, everyone here knows you're still a trickster god and you can still call upon great powers through the bazaar inventions of your compatriots to give us just about anything we want. However, Kyle and I made you promise you would never use that power again, remember?" Jessica blurted out. She rolled her eyes. "It corrupts n' stuff."

"You didn't have to spell it out like that Jess," Xao said. "Actually I meant we could just go into the city, find a payphone, call Allen and he could drive us to Portland."

Jessica paused for a minute. "Oh... right... maybe I'm projecting- oh and making a scene, not sure if you notice but I tend to do that."

"No, never noticed," Xao said.

"I'm subtle about it aren't I?" she asked. Xao grinned.

"Projecting what?" I asked, ignoring the exchange.

"My feet hurt Ky," Jessica responded with a groan. "We've had a nigh mystically powerful being traveling with us this whole time and still we've been walking across Oregon. He could have freaking teleported us!" She looked over at our soon-to-be meal. "Not to mention I had to kill a cute little bunny rabbit and I've been trying to look on the bright side of that for the last hour."

"We've hoofed it before Jess," I answered, starting to laugh at her whining.

"Doesn't mean I like it." She started looking around. "Well... hmm... I don't have a book right now so I'm getting bored... what else can I whine about?"

"Wait... you know you're whining?" I asked.

"Course I do, now give me a minute... I don't know how to nickname Xao, the ground is lumpy, the grass is green and the sky is blue. Help me out here Xao... Zee... Za... what else can we complain about?"

"Um..." Xao began.

"Ow sucks at complaining." Jessica finished in a resentful tone. She looked down. "Still doesn't work."

I shook my head laughing. She grinned in response. I took a small photo out of my backpack. The image was of me, Jessica, Xao, and three other people, one man, one woman, and one child.

The man was Allen, who had helped us adjust to earth and gave us guidance when we first arrived. He was kind of a father figure for us. He had a stocky frame and even back then he was balding.

The woman was his wife, whom admittedly we never really got to know.

Finally, the boy was Allen's then four-year-old son, Jaden, whom we had both thought was so cute when we first landed. Brown-haired, freckle-faced, and a little shy back then. I wasn't sure what he was like now.

 I smiled looking at the image. There was Jessica, holding Jaden up on her shoulders as he put out his hands to impersonate an airplane. Everyone else in the shot was just smiling. "Ya know, Jaden isn't little anymore. At least not to us. By now he might even be bigger than you and I put together Jess."

Jessica waved a hand at me dismissively. "Oh don't worry about it, that's just because you're so short." I closed my eyes. "You do know you should have seen that one coming right?" I just nodded to this.

It was at this moment that we heard the call of a bird, one that repeated over and over again. "That is one annoying bird," Xao finally said, exhaling, but not getting up the energy to try to find the bird.

"I think that's how they mate," said Jessica, watching me dive into my backpack. The bird call just kept repeating over and over. She started to look around to find the bird. "I'm so glad humans don't make annoying sounds to attract mates." The creature continued, over and over, that same annoying call. "Can we kill it?" She flicked her hand, electricity dancing between her fingertips. Xao waved at her and she stopped.

Finally, I pulled a small black object from my bag and flipped open its lid, the bird "song" stopping. "That wasn't a bird. Dad disguised the ring tone on my comlink to sound like one."

"You've had a mobile com link this whole time and we've never used it?" Xao asked. "Also, just to say, that's a terrible disguise."

"You come up with a less conspicuous ring tone. Anyway, how would we use it? It's Pharaoh technology. It can receive but it can't transmit since there are no devices on the planet that are compatible with it anyway."

"Oh right... Hard to remember just how far ahead of humans the Pharaoh civilization is sometimes," said Xao.

"We have space ships, I think that says it all," I replied. I looked at the box. "It's a broadband message, gerratro wave type, pretty clear reception... downloading."

"It's a what?" Jessica asked.

I thought for a moment about trying to explain the physics behind what I just said, but for the sake of brevity I just settled on, "Um... it's a space letter." I guess I could have put in more effort, it's not like I had no idea what, what I said really meant- no, not at all like that.

Besides I doubted very much Jessie didn't know what I meant and was just asking to mess with me- her grin was a good clue my suspicions were correct.

I read the letter.

"Dear Kyle,

Your father and I have been missing you these days. We're sorry you had to leave but it was for the best. The insurgency back here on the homeworld has only gotten worse since you left. I am relieved to hear that you have yet to encounter any of their agents according to the werewolves.

Rest assured that your father and I have had words about you being sent with naught but your bodyguard Jessica. Jessica has a unique power, and I admit even I have been taken with her personality from time to time, so I can see why you like her, but she is not a true warrior.

To that end we are sending Joseph, our house servant, with a small platoon, to integrate into human society and protect you. You are to be seen as their master when they arrive.

Please know that your father and I love you, and wish for your safe return. I know our communications have been few, but that's only for fear of exposing your location. Your father will only retain his position for a while, or so I keep telling myself. There are few races in the galaxy that would call two hundred years "a while", and it's far too long to be separated from my son. I'm counting the days until I can hold you in my arms again and there are still over seventy thousand seven hundred and fifty days.

Love,

your mother,

P.S. Your father also sends his regards, but you know he can't send official messages because of his position."

I put the communications box down starting to get misty-eyed. "Mom always did love numbers," I said, looking at Xao, who was chuckling.

"She does know they only allowed me to tag along because of a need for subtlety right?" Jessica said. "They send a full platoon they might as well paint a neon sign on your back."

"I suspect mom didn't leave him alone until he agreed to send the extra people. They probably have something in mind for the subtly angle." I held my head in my hands. "What are we gonna do Jess?"

"About what?" she asked back.

"About me?" asked Xao. "Look I get that you're a big shot back home, but I'm no threat-"

"This isn't about you," I snapped at Xao quickly. "In fact, you know what this is about."

Xao thought for a moment. "Oh... that." he looked down.

"Yea, that," I said, with obvious disgust in my voice. "Considering "that", do you even want to associate with the homeworld?"

"Kyle, this is your mom and dad we're talking about here-" Jessica began.

"I know who we're talking about here. Did you forget what we learned six years ago when we first came to this planet? I think we all know who we're talking about. We're talking about my mom and dad." I gritted my teeth. "Let me state it in case you forgot- two military commanders who presided over one of the worst massacres in the history of the galaxy. The Purge." I was starting to snap. "They tried to wipe out the entire gargoyle race and created propaganda so that ever since all of the secret societies here on earth have been living in fear of gargoyles like boogie men." We were all silent.

Finally, Jessica spoke up. "I mean... there were bad gargoyles... let's not be rash. It'll be a few days at least before anyone arrives."

"The date and location are with the message... What do we tell Allen?" I asked.

"Everything, just like we always do. But the day after tomorrow. I don't want to ruin Jady's birthday." Jessica slumped her shoulders and continued watching the roasting rabbit.