Chapter 18 Human Trials

"WHA~!" Melody squealed as she ran out of the house and over to me.

I scooped her up into a hug, and we kissed before I put her back down and turned to Kitsune.

"This is Kitsune; I named her. And then the other three are her children; I want you to pick one of their names," I said to Melody, whose eyes lit up, and I turned to Kitsune and said, "What are their genders? I don't want to be rude and go look."

"They are all females, and they would not care if you checked them. You are our master," Kitsune said, sounding proud.

"Aye, enough with the master; you are all friends. Call me Dan, master it weird, your not my slaves. Since you are all helping me, I will feed you and get you all cleaned up, plus you can sleep in the house," I explained, and Kitsune nodded, but she looked unsure.

"Don't worry, Dan is really nice, and we are all really friendly. I wanna call the one on the left Zuzu! She looks like she will be fun, and I always wanted a little sister!" Melody said as she walked off and hugged the massive fox as tall as she was.

"Zuzu? For me? You're my sister now?" Zuzu asked in confusion as Melody hugged her.

"Not a real one, silly! I am going to treat you all like little sisters! Oh my god, Dan! What have you done to me?! I am never gonna let these go! You are all sleeping in my room when I'm not sleeping with Dan, got it?!"

I groaned and rolled my eyes, but she was so cute it was hard not to love her more. She was still rambling on, but there was still one more thing that I wanted to try, but I was a bit leery.

"You really care for your mate; I can see it in your eyes," Kitsune said from beside me, bringing me out of my thoughts, and I nodded; then she asked, "Once she is pregnant, will you leave her, and go find more mates?"

The questions shocked me, and I stayed quiet for a moment as I compartmentalized my thoughts. While her intelligence was more significant now, she would still have some instincts and memories from before.

"No, I will always stay by her side, along with the others. I would never leave them, and I will do anything to keep them safe. That is why I am asking you to protect my family, but don't be reckless. You are all my family as well," I explained and headed into the house.

Kitsune's eyes had been wide, but there was nothing more to say on the point, and I had to get moving. I opened the door to the house, and there were some bags with clothes in them with both Henry and Martha sitting on the couch waiting.

I closed the door behind myself and walked over to stand in front of the table. I would have to ask the eccentric about this first, but if I was right, this could change everything.

"Before you guys leave, I would like to try something. I will talk to Orphus for a moment to see if it is possible," I said, and Orphus answered right away, even before the question.

[Yes, it will work. The human body gets old and dies because it can produce enough cells. Give them a boost!]

"What do you mean, son?" Henry asked.

"What would you do if you were young again?" I asked, and the old man smirked.

???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????-????????????.????????????

"My wife!"

"Henry!" Martha scolded him.

I reached out and offered each a hand, and then both took one, and the menu with outlines of their old bodies and all their ailments popped up. I ignored that and focused on them being in the best shape of their lives.

Suddenly, both of them froze, and the clock seemed to unwind for them. Both of them started to get younger rapidly, but that wasn't all.

Henry straightened up, grew hair, and gained muscle definition like a pro athlete.

Martha became a stunningly beautiful woman with a perfect body, and you could barely tell they were the same people.

The couple were shaking as they looked at their hands, and both of them started to cry when they looked up at each other. The two hugged, and I slowly turned to leave the house, but Martha grabbed my hand.

I turned back, and both of them had got up abnormally fast, catching me in a pincer hug. I returned it, and we stood there for a long while until we finally broke apart.

"You know Daniel, you have done so much for us," Martha said with tears, and I nodded.

"Same; you guys have been like family, so let's work towards a better future. I am sure that I can trust you two to keep your granddaughter safe," I said with a smile, but it was stranger than fiction to see them so young.

"What is Melody going to think?" Martha asked, touching a finger to her lip, and I could see Henry eyeing her.

"Do you think we might have some time to spare before we, umm, go??" Henry asked as he looked Martha up and down, making her blush.

"Keep it in your pants till I get you back to your new place in the city! I need to get going, but let's go see your daughter, and I will introduce you to the other new family members," I said and turned to head back out of the house.

The two followed, but Melody looked at me with a strange look when we got outside.

"Where did you pull those people out of? Do you have anyone else hiding up your sleeve?!" Melody asked as she tried to get up in my face but failed by a foot.

"That's your grandparents."

"Of course, it is, cause...." Melody said, turning back to Henry and Martha, but her words trailed off.

"Umm, hi. Dan helped us become young again, so it's like we are the same age, right?" Martha said, but I could tell she was grasping at straws.

"So, I will see you all back at the tree," I said, and then quickly kissed Melody as the wagon wrapped a branch around my waist and said, "Gotta go, love you, and safe travels!"