The year 2507 on the Hourai calendar, it's a beautiful, normal day in Nadila, the capital city of the Hourai empire, the phoenixes are singing, the no-winged dragons are drifting peacefully next to the clouds, the sylphs are dancing and a stampede of regular cows is running through the market.
Okay, maybe the day wasn't so normal after all. Three brats were spotted riding on these cows. A small kid with silver hair and a fox tail, a small kid with blond spiky hair and a tiger tail, and a small kid with black hair in a braid and a cat tail. They were riding the cows and seemed to be having fun. That couldn't be said of the people on the market, but the market wasn't the destination of these troublemakers, the stampede rushed through and left for the city gate.
On the way out some of the brats grabbed some fruit and spices from some stalls. Three figures were running behind the stampede trying to catch up, one was a kid of about 9 years old with brown hair and bear ears, another one a woman with red hair in a gold-orange feathery dress and the other woman was clothed in a casual shirt with a palm tree print and wearing sunshades, this woman had blonde spiky hair and she had a tiger tail.
“Say Yuna,” the blonde woman said to the woman with red hair and a feathery dress.
“Hmm? What’s the matter Tallys?” Yuna responded to the blonde spiky-haired woman.
“Why does your little brother always drag my cute Raishin into trouble?” Tallys continued.
Yuna looked puzzled.
“Isn't it your little brother who drags Agnis into trouble all the time?” Yuna said skeptically.
They both are troublemakers. The 9-year-old boy said, huffing and puffing.
I take my eyes off them for one second and they hijack some cows and start cow racing!
“Didn't you temporarily put Gregory in charge of them?” Tallys asked.
Well, I did yes but they bribed him with square pears, which is his favorite fruit, and that they wouldn't play with him if he didn't let them go cow racing. After that, he just gave into pear pressure, what a cow-ard.
“You need to ease up on those dumb puns” Tallys responded while facepalming. Yuna's arms turned into wings covered in yellow and orange flames, each wing was as long as she was tall. Her body got engulfed in flames and the temperature spiked. She spread her wings and took off in the direction the cow race was heading towards.
Tallys asked Ted, the brown-haired 9-year-old if he knew what was up with Yuna's family since Yuna is a phoenix but her little brother Agnis seems to be a nine-tailed fox.
Hmm well you know that our Empress Edea is a nine-tailed spirit fox as well as a Phoenix right, it seems that passing these traits on is quite hard and Agnis’ two older sisters are phoenixes while he seems to have both.
"Wait, he is both?" Tallys asked, surprised. “I have never seen him exhibit any phoenix traits”.
I don't know the details but it just seems to be a preference. It might be related to the palace almost burning down 2 years ago. Ted said as he and Tallys started running towards the gate where the cow race exited out into the plains outside the capital.
“Don’t phoenixes have 2 strong elemental affinities besides fire?”
Yeah, the empress has lightning and doubles down on fire, Yuna has water and also doubles down on fire and his oldest sister Xelia has lightning and water. Agnis seems to have lightning and Ice.
“Isn't ice the same as water?”
It is not but I forgot why that is the case.
They exited the gate and entered the plains. They encountered a dust cloud in the distance and Yuna raining fire down on the stampede.
“She's gonna turn them into tailed-flavored beef dinner!” Tallys shouted.
She grabbed Ted by the back of his shirt and started imbuing herself with lightning and started speeding toward the commotion. Tallys jumped up and aimed a lightning kick at Yuna who was still frying some beef and lighting a fire under the troublemakers' asses. Yuna easily dodges the kink.
"What are you doing?"
"I just felt like it" Yuna sighed at Tallys' comment and looked at the beef buffet and the slightly burned troublemakers.
“Ok, bringers of chaos what do you have to say for yourselves?” Yuna said in a stern tone to the three brats lying on the floor. Raishin’s head was stuck in the ground and his butt was on fire, Gregory was looking at his fried pear and looking through a cooking book wondering what he could eat it with and Agnis was laying on his back, holding up a piece of beef his sister fried and was adding salt to it.
“Hey, Yuna I don't think they are listening” Tallys whispered to Yuna.
Yuna approached the three kids and was about to pull Raishin out of the ground when she noticed something. The image of the troublemakers blurred and shattered as if they were made out of glass. What she was looking at was an illusion! The three kids had escaped when they had the chance.
“Another of my little brothers' illusions”, Yuna sighed. “I don't know if I should be happy or upset that he’s getting better at this”, as she looked for the escapees. She didn't find any, however, just a small mound on the ground. “Ted! They went underground, help me out!”
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Meanwhile underground
Are you sure escaping was a good idea? Yuna is going to be pissed. Gregory said as he was using earth magic to dig his way through the ground.
She already was pissed, she almost fried us! And at this point, it doesn't matter if she’s pissed or even more pissed, we’re screwed anyways if she catches us. Agnis said while he was carefully looking around.
Hehe, this is all possible because of the hole I dug! Raishin shouted as he slapped his right biceps.
Landing with your face in the ground isn't exactly digging a hole and do I need to remind you that I am the one digging here?!
I don't want to rush you Greg but they’re coming for us, Ted is digging after us with sis and Tallys in tow.
Yeah, no pressure Greg but we need to speed up!
Greg kept digging with earth magic and speeding up, Agnis felt a weird energy that disappears almost as suddenly as it appears. He looked back and checked the area where he felt the energy and noticed something but didn't understand it well but made a mental note.
Hmm, the ground here is getting softer, it might be a good idea to stoo… As Gregory said this the ground under them collapsed and they fell into something that looked like an underground cave complex. The fall wasn't long because the cave was filled for the majority with water.
Ugh great, I dig down and what do I find? Water... Greg said unamused.
What is all this water doing down here?
Blub.
I have no idea; I can't tell if it was always here or if it's new.
Blub Glub
I wonder if our moms know about this.
Oh shit, I forgot! Gregory can't swim! Agnis said as he dove down to save Gregory.
He successfully caught the sinking Gregory but also saw some interesting energy flowing on the bottom of the body of water. It was the same energy Agnis spotted earlier on saw briefly when Gregory was digging.
Just checking, do you guys see that energy flow on the bottom of this underwater lake?
Nu-uh. …..
Greg get a grip! Agnis slapped Gregory’s face and Gregory regained consciousness.
What happened?! Gregory coughed and cleared his throat.
You drowned.
Ugh, I hate water. Is there a way out of here?
I don't know, I don't see anything that could serve as an exit, although there is a current so there should be an exit somewhere.
Can't you just make an ice floe and use it as a boat?
Hmm, I could but you'll freeze your asses off on it.
No problem! I will make a flame to keep us warm!
There is no reality where that would work.
Gregory sighed.
Agnis could use regular ice or ice element but both won't support your plan because with regular ice your flame will melt our boat and with ice element, it will keep sucking the mana out of your flame until you collapse from mana deficiency.
We could also try diving down to find crevices we can enter into.
You really can't find anything with your eyes?
There is a lot of strange energy flowing here and since I don't know the nature of it, I don't want to come close to it, leaving not many options.
Hmm, can you link up your eyes with mine? Maybe I can manipulate it.
Sure, and you should teach me how to do that, seeing the flow of energy isn't always useful when I can't interact with it.
Sure.
Agnis linked his eyesight with Gregory and felt the strain on his eyes and magic depleting. Agnis' Elgards eyes allowed for him to see things that were normally invisible. It worked with filters so he must know which filter to use for which situation. If he doesn't know what he is looking for he might miss it. He currently only has a few filters and one of these showed different flows of energy. For the first time in his life, he felt a wave of an uncomfortable nauseating feeling associated with the use of magic. Gregory followed the energy flow with his eyes and tried to manipulate it. The energy flow showed no signs of budging. Gregory poured more magic into his energy manipulation but didn't seem to make a change in the energy flow. Gregory’s complexion changed pale just like Agnis.
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Ugh, I feel a bit nauseous.
You too?
Feel what?
For some reason using a lot of magic made us feel uncomfortable and nauseous.
It's not from that beef buffet we ate earlier? Raishin started to drool while thinking about fried beef.
I have confidence in my sis' skills to fry stuff so I don't think it was undercooked.
Yeah, Yuna never misses a beat with frying stuff, speaking of which weren't they chasing us? We can't afford to waste time.
Well about that, they were quite close last time I checked and we wasted quite some time here and yet they still haven't arrived.
Maybe they gave up? Or maybe the water repelled Yuna! Or, or! We're in a different dimension. Raishin said in a mysterious tone, looking into the distance.
All quite unlikely.
No, he’s right.
Agnis looked around with a different filter and noted that the dimensional energy was slightly different than where they were originally from. Since the change was subtle it didn't ring a bell. Nine tailws spirit foxes know when they get moved from one dimension to another but detecting this subtleness came with experience.
Wait, the water repelled Yuna? That is unlike her.
No, we're in a different dimension, but it's subtle. I think breaking the boundary between this one and ours is quite easy, which is probably how we ended up here.
Wait, how did Raishin?
Hmm, maybe coincidence.
Agnis indicated to Greg that he was about to grab him and dive down. Gregory held his breath and Agnis, Gregory, and Raishin opened their private telepathy channel.
Anyways can you move this energy now we’re closer?
Hmm, this energy doesn't seem to budge, I don't even feel like I'm compatible with it even though three-tailed shadow cats are supposed to be compatible with any form of energy. How odd.
Let me try!
As Raishin shot like an arrow into the energy flow.
How is he so fast underwater?
Hmm, that's quite smart using your tails as propellers.
Agnis made 2 more tails appear and made them spin like propellers and shot through the water while dragging Gregory along.
Wait where are we going?!
Raishin showed that this energy is harmless so maybe we could learn more about it by camping in it.
Raishin was making wild moves in the energy flow trying to move it and the energy flow started showing some fluctuations.
Well, isn't this interesting?
Agnis looked at the wild movements of Raishin and observed how they affected the energy fluctuations. He also inspected Raishin to determine if there were any abnormalities in his body.
It doesn't seem like he's getting anywhere.
I think I got it, yoo Raishin come carry Greg, let me try.
Agnis threw Gregory to Raishin as they swapped places. Agnis enhanced the 3rd person view he had of himself with the filter that showed the strange energy.
Greg, a crash course in manipulating energy, please!
Right, you first try to unify or remove as much mana from your system as possible, then you try to match your energy with the energy you want to manipulate, for shadow cats, this comes automatically but with your eyes, it shouldn't be all too hard, then you have to connect your internal energy with the one you want to manipulate. Now for the roughest part, when you make the connection the information the energy carries rushes into your body, loaded with instructions on how to use it, what it is for, etc. This places the biggest burden out of all the steps and this is the reason why most shadow cats choose a type of energy to specialize in because dealing with every type of energy is like stuffing a library in your body. Not a great idea. After this, you just move the energy by directing it with magic.
Out of curiosity, at what step does your energy manipulation attempt fail with this one?
Hmm well for some reason I can’t feel this energy, it is that I know this energy exists but I can't feel it at all so I can’t attune myself to it. Do you feel it?
Hmm seeing as there's a high concentration of this energy, I can say I feel it weakly.
Agnis went to where the energy was the densest and followed Gregory’s instructions. Since using magic made him nauseous not too long ago, he decided to clear out as much magic in his system and move it to his tails. This went easy since it was a basic skill of tailed beasts. The matching of energy, however, was quite difficult.
Agnis went at it for 30 minutes, constantly resurfacing to catch some air. Until he got a semblance of success. Raishin and Gregory both were watching closely and silently.
Some energy matching needs some kind of energy within you to move about, not all work with still energy.
Agnis made the natural energy within him swirl and suddenly the matching was successful. He attempted the connection, but it failed. He tried again once more and it felt like something clicked. A lot of information flooded into his body. But he also heard a loud voice that spoke incomprehensible words. Agnis clutched his head as a throbbing headache assaulted him, he lost focus and thus dropped the connection. Because of the pain, he released the air from his lungs and started to drown. Raishin shot towards him, lightly imbuing himself with lightning, grabbed Agnis at the back of my shirt, and headed towards the surface. Agnis coughed heavily as he gasped for air.
You, ok?
Kinda, I lost focus.
What happened? I succeeded in making the connection and the information rushed in as you said, but I also heard a loud voice talking in an incomprehensible language. Gregory looked at Agnis in a confused manner before adopting a pensive look.
Hmm, that is odd. I have never experienced a voice when connecting to energy, nor have I read about it in the Shadow cat Book of Energy. Is this a new type of energy? I don't want to pat my own shoulder but my peers tell me I am quite exceptional in energy manipulation but I can't even feel this energy, forget manipulating it. If it wasn't for your sight, I wouldn't have known it exists.
Hmm, something is up with this energy yes. Maybe it's because I made a brief connection but I'm starting to sense this energy stronger and stronger. I'm gonna try it again. Now that I know about the voice, I'm prepared. I want to know what it is but since I don't know what language it is and we’re stuck in a dimension that can wait for now.
Yeah, I'm quite interested in that energy. Let's go check out the library later to see if we can find some books about foreign languages.
Hey don't forget about me, I'm here too. I don't like books though.
That is fine, I will go with you to hang out with the sylphs, you do have to make up with the kelpies though!
Nice, there is this one sylph that is super hot!
Yes, yes, we know Raishin now be quiet, let Agnis concentrate.
Agnis dove back down to the energy stream and repeated the steps. After connecting, the information did not rush in because he had already possessed it but the voice returned. He tried to block it out but it was quite unsuccessful. However, it was in the background enough that it wasn't super annoying and he could focus.
He compiled the observations of Raishin’s movements in his head and moved my body. Gregory suggested moving the energy with magic but some information about this energy suggested that it doesn't interact with magic or even repel it.
Agnis combined the most impactful movements Raishin made with what he simulated in a tail of what could work.
Agnis made wide-flowing movements while exchanging his internal energy with the energy flow and cycling it through his arms and chest. He made the energy flow into the fingers of his right hand, while while left hand expelled the energy his right hand brought in. While the energy flowed from right to left, he mixed in some of his own energy with it before expelling it from his left fingers.
This made the energy move greatly. It more or less moved to match his movements. It felt like Agnis was physically moving the energy, so it was straining his body. His physical stamina wasn't that great because he is just a brat and nine-tails specialize in ranged and magical attacks so their physical condition isn't anything special.
Agnis decided against using magic to enhance himself because he had learned from the information that entered him earlier that this energy interacts poorly with magic and he was unsure what would happen if he brought magic into the mix.
He attempted to use this strange energy to enhance himself which succeeded. The burden on his body was still quite heavy. He suspected that he could only pull off 1 big move before his physical stamina would run out. And this is where he decided to do something impulsive.
Greg, Raishin, get out of the way! We’re going up!
He shouted telepathically at them while gathering the energy in a loop around himself and sending it all upwards. After releasing the energy it all turned into water. What the… Oooh, shiiiit! Whoops.
The energy that Agnis sent up, which had turned into water, dragged all the other existing water with it and broke the rock ceiling like it was paper.
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Meanwhile above ground,
“I don't understand, how could they just disappear?” Yuna said worriedly as she paced around.
Any chance this was another of Agnis' Illusion?
“My brother is adept at illusions for his age but when I or Tallys focus on finding him it shouldn't be a big issue to find him. You even did a seismic scan and didn't find anything close did you?”
Hmm yes, this is a problem.
“Noo. I’ll never see my little brother again!” Tallys cried dramatically.
Common, Tallys, those guys are really tough, I'm sure they are fine!
Ted said in a comforting nmanner
“They won't be after I find them!” Yuna said angrily but also with a sign of being worried.
So, what do we do now? We have no idea where they are. Agnis is good at covering their tracks but never have they seemingly disappeared.
Yuna sat down as the three were brainstorming about what to do.
Uh oh.
“Whatsup Teddy?” Tallys asked.
My name is Ted! Not Teddy and… oh it's too late…
At that moment a loud rumbling was heard and at the spot, where Yuna was sitting calmly, a huge waterspout of about 100m shot out of the ground, launching Yuna up in the air. Everyone freaked out including Yuna but that didn't last long because a head covered in blond hair collided with her head and knocked her down.
So… tired.
Please! No more water!
Hmm, I think I hit something on my way out.
Three small wet individuals landed next to the waterspout, suggesting they rode it to the surface. Yuna was clutching her head and rolling on the ground from pain.
“How hard is your head? You three are so dead!” Yuna said as she got up and ignited.
“Uh oh Yuna is pissed again” Tallys warned, she imbued herself with lightning and blocked a flame wave.
Whoa, Yuna is going berserk again, run for it!
Jeez, Tallys did you anger Yuna again?
I don't think I will drink water for a long time.
Yoo guys what's up! I would suggest running though, Yuna is pissed at you guys.
Why? We didn't do anything? Agnis seemed visibly confused
Yeh, we’re innocent! We didn't do whatever she thinks we did! Said Raishin indicating that he agreed with Agnis.
Gregory took a pensive stance. Maybe I should order 200 liters of my mom's liquid shadow vodka.
Uhm well, you guys kinda disappeared, tell me all about it later but you gotta run now!
Oooh
Ohh yeah, we totally did that.
Hmm, only 30 silver I'll have to ask Jusay to deal with the logistics.
Raishin grabbed Gregory who was too busy ordering liquid shadow vodka at the back of his shirt and dragged him. He also grabbed Agnis who was too exhausted to move.
“Oi, c'mere you brats!” Yuna shouted while being held back by Tallys. Agnis and Raishin looked back at Tallys blocking Yuna’s flames and throwing lightning jabs back at her. Tallys teleported behind Yuna and kicked her downward.
“Let me through!” Yuna said with an intimidating tone as her flames blazed even hotter.
“You need to work on your temper Yuna”.
Yuna’s face turned red and she was about to send a wave of flames at Tallys when a golden Phoenix touched down. A shadow separated from her and formed into a silhouette that turned into a woman with black hair and cat ears. Shortly afterward a lightning bolt struck next to the 2 that just arrived and a woman with long blonde hair and tiger ears appeared.
“Always as flashy as ever with your entrances”, the phoenix woman said in a clear enchanting voice to the blonde woman.
“Where is Viridian?” The blonde woman asked.
“I think he took Hisui for the graduation assignment and since she is his daughter, he wanted to make sure everything was in order”, the black-haired woman replied.
Oh crap, our mothers are here, Raishin speed up!
I’d like to but I'm kinda carrying both of you, and y’all be heavy like a bag of potatoes!
Did you just compare me to potatoes?
Hmm, I could eat fried pears with ginger and chili butter next to the liquid shadow vodka.
The three women collected their sons with ease and apologized to their daughters and Ted.
“We know our sons are a handful and thank you for keeping an eye on them, Ted do you want to come with us to the palace?” Ted nodded and the blonde woman picked him up by the back of his shirt and they flew off. Does this family only have one way to transport others?! Ted shouted as for the second time he got transported away similarly by another member of the Torai family.